An Examination into the Views of the Sunni and Shiite Jurists as Regards the Purity or Impurity of Non-Muslims

The question of the purity or impurity of non-Muslims has always attracted the attention of the Islamic Jurists. The importance of this question has been due to the fact that the social and political interactions between Muslims and non-Muslims were quite inevitable. The present article is concerned first to examine the notion of purity and impurity as viewed by the Sunni and Shiite jurists and then decide what they think of the purity or impurity of non-Muslims. It will finally criticize the views of some of the jurists.