The Slave's Aman at Shahrij
أمان العبد بشهريج
Shahrij held a full month's siege; one day a Muslim slave lagged behind — taken for a defector — and wrote the garrison an aman on an arrow he shot in. Next day they came out: 'here is your aman'; the Muslims wrote Umar, who answered 'the Muslims' slave is of the Muslims — his dhimma is as theirs: honor it', and they did. In another telling the fort was at Siraf, the garrison saying 'we know not freeman from slave', and Umar's answer the same.
At a glance
- Era
- The Rashidun Caliphate
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
Overview
Al-Baladhuri relates that the Muslims besieged Shahrij for a month. They fought its people for a day, then returned to their camp, and one of their slaves stayed behind. 1
The safe conduct
The slave wrote a safe conduct for the people of the fortress and shot it to them on an arrow. When the Muslims returned to fighting, the people of the fortress came out and said: this is your safe conduct. They wrote about it to Umar. 1
Umar's answer
Umar wrote that the slave of the Muslims is one of the Muslims, and that his protection is as their protection, so they should enforce his safe conduct. They enforced it. 1
Another account
In one account the fortress was at Siraf. The Muslims said the safe conduct of a slave was worth nothing, and the people said that they could not tell a free man from a slave. They wrote to Umar, and he replied in the same terms. 1
The data gives no specific date, and this needs an additional source.
Sources
- Futuh al-Buldan — al-Baladhuri (Mu'assasat al-Ma'arif edition)
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “The Slave's Aman at Shahrij”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/shahrij-slave-aman/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-17.