The dhimma contract is an integral part of traditional Islamic law. From the 9th century AD, the power to interpret and refine law in traditional Islamic societies was in the hands of the scholars (ulama). This separation of powers served to limit the range of actions available to the ruler, who could not easily decree or reinterpret law independently and expect the continued support of the community.Basim Musallam, The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Islamic World, edited by Francis Robinson. Cambridge University Press, 1996, p. 176. Through succeeding centuries and empires, the balance between the ulema and the rulers shifted and reformed, but the balance of power was never decisively changed.Hodgson, The Venture of Islam Vol 3, 1961, pp. 105–108. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution introduced an era of European world hegemony that included the domination of most of the Muslim lands.Hodgson, The Venture of Islam Vol 3, 1961, pp. 176–177.Sarah Ansari, The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Islamic World edited by Francis Robinson. Cambridge University Press, 1996, p. 90. At the end of the Second World War, the European powers found themselves too weakened to maintain their empires.Hodgson, The Venture of Islam Vol 3, 1961, pp. 366–367. The wide variety in forms of government, systems of law, attitudes toward modernity and interpretations of sharia are a result of the ensuing drives for independence and modernity in the Muslim world.Sarah Ansari, The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Islamic World edited by Francis Robinson. Cambridge University Press, 1996, pp. 103–111.Marshall Hodgson, The Venture of Islam Conscience and History in a World Civilization Vol 3. The University of Chicago, 1961, pp. 384–386.
The dhimma contract is an integral part of traditional Islamic law. From the 9th century AD, the power to interpret and refine law in traditional Islamic societies was in the hands of the scholars (ulama). This separation of powers served to limit the range of actions available to the ruler, who could not easily decree or reinterpret law independently and expect the continued support of the community.Basim Musallam, The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Islamic World, edited by Francis Robinson. Cambridge University Press, 1996, p. 176. Through succeeding centuries and empires, the balance between the ulema and the rulers shifted and reformed, but the balance of power was never decisively changed.Hodgson, The Venture of Islam Vol 3, 1961, pp. 105–108. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution introduced an era of European world hegemony that included the domination of most of the Muslim lands.Hodgson, The Venture of Islam Vol 3, 1961, pp. 176–177.Sarah Ansari, The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Islamic World edited by Francis Robinson. Cambridge University Press, 1996, p. 90. At the end of the Second World War, the European powers found themselves too weakened to maintain their empires.Hodgson, The Venture of Islam Vol 3, 1961, pp. 366–367. The wide variety in forms of government, systems of law, attitudes toward modernity and interpretations of sharia are a result of the ensuing drives for independence and modernity in the Muslim world.Sarah Ansari, The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Islamic World edited by Francis Robinson. Cambridge University Press, 1996, pp. 103–111.Marshall Hodgson, The Venture of Islam Conscience and History in a World Civilization Vol 3. The University of Chicago, 1961, pp. 384–386.