There have been many studies of Christians living under Islamic rule. There have been two main approaches from the Muslim scholarly field: a traditional defense and support of the Dhimma as a necessary part of God's law (Sharia) and a newer, reformist trend. From a Western perspective, the field is dominated by one of two approaches: acting as a polemic to demonstrate the evils of Islam or as a study of the final legal understanding of the concepts by Islamic legalscholars. A diachronic study that focuses on the origin and development of the Dhimma within a multidisciplinary approach is...