Non-Muslims, from Infidelity to Subjugation

Division and diversification of human beings into two categories of Muslim and unbeliever (kāfir) means neglecting to include another category of human beings. This division has a long historical background and seems to be logical to reason and undeniable from the sharia perspective. Studies clarify that there are arguments sufficiently convincing for acceptance of a third category of human beings. Actualization of the rubric of Islam requires components and elements, without which this rubric would not actualize. Similarly, for the emergence of the rubric kufr there needs to be such components and circumstances as denial and disclaiming voluntarily, knowledge, and free will. With the lack of components, neither kufr would be actualized nor would Islam penetrate into hearts and behaviors. Besides, the conceptual contrast between Islam and kufr is in such a way that the acceptance of the third group is not faced with rational obstacles and difficulties in terms of confirmation and with prohibition by sharia in terms of verification. Therefore, the untruth and inadmissibility of the proposition “every non-Muslim is an unbeliever” is by way of universal affirmation (mūjiba-yi kulliyya) the outcome of examining the evidences. Documented by religious sources, this group can be called subjugated (mustaḍ‘af), which demand their specific legal rulings and it seems that, on the one hand, they do not enjoy the Muslims’ special advantages, and, on the other hand, they don’t lie under the restrictive and limiting rulings of the unbelievers.