Indeed, the very touchstone for all conditions placed upon the People of the Book is his own set of stipulations. He even forbade employing a non-Muslim or entrusting him with any matter that concerns the Muslim community, or honoring him after Allah had humbled him, and it is reported that he burned foreign—especially Persian—books and the like.
He is also the one who prevented the innovators from gaining prominence, forcing them to wear the garment of humiliation, as he did with Subaygh ibn ʿAsal al-Tamīmī in the well-known incident.
Later—God willing—we shall quote his explicit rulings regarding the festivals of the unbelievers: his prohibition against visiting them during those occasions and his ban on learning the jargon of non-Arabs. These reports will reveal the firmness of his stance in forbidding imitation of the unbelievers and foreigners, in addition to the Sunan, legal rulings, and prescribed penalties that ʿUmar had laid down.
ʿUthmān—may Allah be pleased with him—endorsed all that ʿUmar had instituted and continued upon his path, and it is well known that ʿUthmān was in full agreement with ʿUmar on this matter.
(1) The preposition min (“from”) is missing in the printed edition.
(2) The printed edition reads: wa-albasahum (“and clothed them”).
(3) Ibn al-Qayyim relates in Aḥkām Ahl al-Dhimmah (2:750) that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said to Ṣabīgh ibn ʿAṣal—after the latter had asked him a series of questions—and ordered that his head be uncovered: “Had I seen you shaven, I would have gouged out your eyes until you became one of the Khawārij.” Ibn Ḥajar reports in al-Iṣābah (2:198) that Ṣabīgh used to inquire about the ambiguous verses of the Qur’an, so ʿUmar struck him until his head bled; Ṣabīgh then said, “Enough—what I felt in my head is gone.” Al-Dārimī also records the episode in his Sunan, “Chapter: Those Who Feared Giving Fatwas and Disliked Excessiveness” (1:54). This Ṣabīgh—also called Ṣabīgh ibn ʿAṣal, Ibn Sahl al-Ḥanẓalī, or al-Tamīmī—was a Companion, meaning he met the Prophet. ʿUmar suspected him of Kharijite leanings, which occasioned the incident just mentioned; see al-Iṣābah 2:198–99.
(4) Manuscript B reads: wa-sayatī dhikruhā (“its mention will follow”), whereas the printed edition has: wa-satatī ʿinda dhikrihā (“it will be discussed when it comes up”).
(5) Both manuscript B and the printed text read: yatabayyanu (“becomes clear”).
(6) The printed edition adds the word thubūt (“established”).