whom the ruler authorizes to grant him protection, as the Prophet ﷺ said: “We have granted protection to whomever you have granted protection, O Umm Hani’” (1).

His statement, “a dhimmi”: he is one with whom we have a covenant and a guarantee of protection, allowing him to remain safely in our land. His rights are safeguarded and he is not to be harmed, but he is required to pay the jizyah.

A treaty-bound non-Muslim is one who has a treaty with the Muslims but remains independent in his own land; the Muslims have no authority over him beyond the treaty that exists between them. These groups inherit from one another when their religions are the same: all Jews, all Christians, all Magians, or all Communists. They inherit from one another when their religions are the same; but if they differ, there is no inheritance between them. The evidence is the Prophet’s ﷺ statement: “A Muslim does not inherit from a disbeliever, nor does a disbeliever inherit from a Muslim” (2). This indicates that difference of religion prevents inheritance. Hence, the author says:

“The protected non-Muslims inherit from one another when their religions are the same, but not when they differ.” Can the protected non-Muslims have different religions? Yes: Jews, Christians, and Magians. These are protected non-Muslims—three categories. The correct view, however, is that they are more than three categories, and that all disbelievers may become protected non-Muslims, with the jizyah imposed upon them, as is authentically reported by Muslim from Buraydah ﵁ (3).