Maqna

مقنى

A locality on the Syrian coast inhabited by Jews of Banu Habiba, whose men fished with 'uruk rafts and whose women spun; the Prophet made peace with its people during the Tabuk campaign for a quarter of the 'uruk catch, a quarter of the spinning and a quarter of the fruits, writing them a letter of security and dhimma said to be in Ali's hand in 9 AH — though the edition's editors question its attribution since Ali was not with the Prophet on the Tabuk campaign.

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Dhimma (the covenant of protection)

Dhimma in al-Baladhuri is the written covenant of security granted to treaty peoples of the Book: its formula in the Prophet's letter to Najran runs 'they have God's protection and the protection of His messenger over their persons, religion, lands, wealth, absent and present', and its stipulated terms in the Najran peace include that they not be seduced from their religion or its ranks, nor levied nor tithed, and in the letter's text that no bishop be removed from his bishopric, no monk from his monasticism, no right of theirs or their images — crucifixes and icons — be altered, and no army tread their land, while whoever of them took usury the Prophet's protection was quit of him; the letter of the people of Maqna grants 'God's protection and His messenger's' with security and pardon for every blood; and the dhimma was renewed under the caliphs — Abu Bakr wrote to the people of Najran on the model of the Prophet's letter, and Uthman called them 'a people who have a dhimma' when he remitted two hundred of their hullas.

Maqna

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Dhimma (the covenant of protection)