A Comparative Study of Surrender Treaties in Islam and Christianity with (with Special Focus on Islamic Spain)

Looking at the history of Spain in the Middle Ages, we find out that Muslims have dominated and ruled in this land for a period, while Christians being subjects. For another period as a result of changes in political affairs, Muslims were defeated and Christians dominated. On both occasions, the ruling class would conclude covenants with the defeated one towards further interactions. These treaties, concluded through the culture of dialogue, would define a framework towards guaranteeing the survival of defatted groups which were quite different from the ruling class in terms of religion, culture, and ethnic tendencies. Furthermore, these treaties would provide an opportunity for conquerors to convert the defeated people gradually. Discussing the concept of covenant in the Islamic culture, the present article deals with two types of these treaties very few of which have survived. It also discusses certain concepts such as covenant, one under covenant, and covenant land.