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The Dhimmi: Jews and Christians Under Islam

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This is a disturbing book which reveals what is described as a socially acceptable Islamic conduct against peoples who were classed as "inferior".

For the most part the book describes these peoples as Jews and Christians who were classed as "dhimmi". "Dhimmitude" being further elaborated as the religious, cultural, and political fate of non-Muslims living under Islamic rule, usually when their lands have been subject to Islamic conquest.

Where the politicisation/allegations of racial prejudice, segregation, apartheid and indeed genocide have become quite common-place in the Middle East against the Jewish state, a book such as this is very timely in showing another side to the story. A book that reveals the painful, disturbing policy of prejudice, racial hatred and segregation of countless people who the book describes were classed as "inferior"on the basis of their religion alone.

Many examples are referred to in this study and many issues are discussed. The book draws a number of distinctions drawn and prejudices applied upon Jews and Christians who refused to accept and bow to Islam. Just by way of a single example, page 56 of this study deals with the "Invalidity of the Dhimmi's Oath".

With legal cases being dealt with under Quranic law, every case involving a Muslim and a dhimmi received a "peculiar" treatment in that a dhimmi was forbidden to give evidence against a Muslim. The Dhimmi's oath being deemed unacceptable in an Islamic court, which made it virtually impossible for any Muslim opponent to be condemned. To further any defence, the book describes that the dhimmi would be obliged to "purchase" Muslim witnesses, often at great expense.

This refusal of Muslim religious courts to accept such testimony of the dhimmi being based on hadiths which maintained that the infidels were of a "perverse and mendacious character because they deliberately persisted in denying the superiority of Islam". The same law preventing any Muslim from being put to death on account of an infidel.

This principle alone is further elaborated in this book with the example of the frequent accusations directed at Jews and Christians of having "blasphemed" the Prophet or Islam, an offence punishable by death. In such a case, the dhimmi was clearly in no position to contradict the testimony of a Muslim making the accusation and could therefore only save his life by conversion to Islam. (Although some exceptions have been recorded, this was the abiding principle nearly always adhered to.)

This is a classic study of this subject and it is not a "light" read, but a subject which demands attention. Thank you.

The history of Jews and Christians living under Islam is not widely known. When thinking of it at all, one looks to the glories of Islamic Spain or to the Ottoman Empire. The general historical reality is different from these however. Bat Ye'or provides an excellent overview of this history in the first part of her book and a wide variety of source documents in the second.

Here we learn of the religiously sanctioned forced conversions, daily humiliations, massacres, oppression, inequitable taxation, and the like, which eventually led to the near disappearance of the extensive Christian and Jewish communities which had flourished throughout the Near East and North Africa prior to the advent of Islam.

As "dhimmi" (people of the contract) Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians and others of the accepted religions had no rights of citizenship within a Muslim state. As "protected peoples" they had no right to self-defense. They were at best tolerated and at all times living without security - subject to the law but not protected by it.

For example, Jews and Christians are specifically accused in the Qur'an of having falsified God's word. In past Islamic societies therefore, Jews and Christians were considered to be willfully and knowingly adhering to a lie. As religiously convicted liars, they were given no standing in courts of law and could be convicted of crimes on the unsupported word of two Muslim males. The abuses of this system were extensive.

All-in-all, Bat Ye'or's two books ("The Dhimmi" and "The Decline of Near Eastern Christianity under Islam") do much to re-illuminate the forgotten history of Jews and Christians under Islam. They deserve a wide readership.

As an aside here to prove the non-partisanship of my review, it's worth pointing out that the historical behavior of Christian societies toward indigenous Jews and heretics was no better.

This is the classic study of dhimmitude - the condition of non-Muslims who are permitted to live as permanent tributaries under the dhimma, a pact of submission to Islamic conquest. A profoundly moving human document, The Dhimmi is deeply challenging to the 'Andalusian myth', that Muslim relations with those of other faiths have been the epitome of peaceful coexistence. In The Dhimmi, Bat Ye'or provides her classical definition of the psychology of dhimmitude, which is of fundamental importance for understanding the current role of Islam in its full global context.

Dhimmi history is hard to study, in part because the conquerors have written their own version, and promulgated it with supreme moral self-confidence. It is also hard to access dhimmi documents, which are written in Greek, Latin, Farsi, Coptic, Ethiopian, Hebrew, Armenian, Serbian, English, French, Hindi etc etc. A great strength of this book is it's very rich collection of translations from dhimmi and Arab documents.

A must read in these times.

Why do Arabs attack Zionism? In this book, Bat Ye'or gives a surprisingly simple answer. I think she's absolutely nailed the cause of the problem:

"It is well known that the successful revolt of the colonized frequently traumatizes the colonizer. Vengefulness and hatred express the distress of the oppressor confronted by his victim's rebellion. An equality of rights with the inferior party humiliates the dominating group which, deprived of its superiority, seeks compensation in phantasms. Such reactions have been exhaustively analyzed in books dealing with the phenomenon of racism."

The author shows these attitudes in action, as various Arabs complain that the presence of Jews in Israel defiles the land, or that the land is all Arab, with Jews being mere "dhimmis." The liberation of the Jews is sometimes considered a crime against Nature, as we see Egyptian President Nasser call it "the greatest international crime that has been committed in the entire history of mankind."

The terms applied by Arab racists to Jewish dhimmis who sought freedom are now applied to Israel itself: insolent, arrogant, and needing punishment.

I think this book is one of the best at explaining why Arabs and Jews are at odds in the Middle East. And why they'll continue to be at odds until Arabs renounce such racism and until international applause for this racism quiets down.

Bat Ye'or explains the problems of being a dhimmi. A dhimmi lacks rights and is thus dependent on the good will of, um, real people. A dhimmi has no history; actually a dhimmi has no right to have a history, and real people write any history they please regarding dhimmis. And the author shows that although Zionism is more an Oriental phenomenon than a European one, the refusal to acknowledge Zionist history tends to lead to claims that Zionism is exclusively a European movement. In addition, she implies that the refusal of many Arabs to refer to Israel or to allow it to be on Arab maps is another symptom of the tendency to refuse dhimmis the right to a historical existence.

The author contrasts the outrage of many antizionist Arabs with the relative silence of some genuine victims: Jews who were expelled from Arab nations. She attributes some of this to a tendency of dhimmis, with their history of having been exploited, servile, and silent, to think in terms of gratitude and toleration rather than in terms of rights.

In this book, Bat Ye'or does a superb job of explaining the dhimmi condition. And I think we all ought to heed her warning that those who forget history are indeed condemned to repeat it.

I found the book helpful in defining the main drivers of the oppressive treatment of minorities in the Middle East. The documents included in the second part of the book lend much credence to Bat Ye'Or's analysis. I found the documents very painful to read because I started recalling stories told by my grandfather. I hope that Bat Yeor's work can contribute to the understanding of this complex subject and prevent the suffering of future generations.

The Dhimmi: Jews & Christians Under Islam is required reading for any American.

The author writes, in detail, in a marvelously researched manner. The mistake that many people make is that Islam is only anti-Israel and anti-Jewish. For from it. Islam is anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-Protestant, anti-Catholic, and anti-Buddhist, anti just about everything.

Even if there was no Israel, or the US was not an ally of Israel, radical Islam would still despise the USA.

When Islam despises you, your live is in danger.

This is a horrifying book. What is most horrifying is that it is non-fiction.

This is an insightful book for those that want to understand how Christians, Jews, and other religious groups have been treated by Islamic societies.

I found this book to be very interesting, albeit only the first half. The historical accounts in the book are all footnoted to the original sources, and the author lets the events and laws speak for themselves.

Charles Darwin didn't have an academic degree in evolutionary biology, yet no scientist refutes his findings by saying he was an amateur.

Dhimmi treatment is how Muslims should ritually denigrate conquered non-Muslims. The author shows that the denigration is specified in the Koran, Hadith and other key Muslim text. She also shows how that treatment has happened during the entire life-span of the religion, documented not just by non-Muslims but by proud followers of the faith.

Bat Ye'or was the first person in modern times to take an open look at Islam's history of treatment of the conquered infidel, and she showed that it didn't match the myth of the "Golden Age of Spain" or other bits of propaganda put out by apologists. Since the time of this book, many academics have taken a look at the same and other materials and shown that the author's original conclusions are valid.

Anyone interested in understanding global politics in relationship to the Muslim faith must have this seminal text.

'Thine own from Satan's tyranny. From depths of hell thy people save. And give them victory over the grave.'-"O Come, O come Emmanuel".

'O come, O come Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel.'

My favorite version of my favorite christmas hymn is sung by christian popular artist Aaron Shust. I first heard it on Christian radio this year. He captures in song, words, music the urgency, secrecy, spirit of the birth of this jewish King of Israel that christians celebrate this time of year. He doesn't sing all of the verses to this hymn, mainly the words that I've included in this review. For a little christmas cheer, google O Come O come emmanuel, and get to the free Aaron Shust download from the free christian resources website. You can hear his version in its entirety there. Also, watch his interview. He explains that this hymn was written in the 1100's A.D. The tune is probably from a French melody. It begins with a woman singing the song in Latin, the original language in which it was written.

'And ransom captive Israel'. Dhimmitude, a phrase coined by Bat Ye'Or herself refers to the state of people of other faiths than Islam in Islamic lands. In this monumental first work of hers, first published in 1985, she lays the groundwork for her subsequent publications. The preface is written by my favorite christian author, Jacques Ellul. "This is a very important book", are the first words he writes there, and so it is. My copy is a library book that, thankfully, is falling apart at the seams. (Hopefully, it has been read many times)! It's also overdue, and in demand, also a good sign. My fondest hope is that some professor at the University from which I got my copy, will use this as a standard text.

VERY DEFINITELY, A MUST READ!!!!