EASTERN CHRISTIANS AND DHIMITTUDE UNDER ISLAM
AINA, CA
Assyrian International News Agency
Posted GMT 9-14-2006 22:9:42
[Editor’s note] The following article from the Byzantine Catholic
Culture website should give plenty to ponder on the part of all those
who seek to understand the genesis of islamo-fascism, as well as any
contemplated convivium with Islamic countries.
Eastern Christians, Orthodox and Catholic, have plenty of recent
experience with Islamic culture and polity that needs to be heard by
Westerners — Christian and non-Christian. Immigrants from Lebanon
and Armenia, from Greece and Turkey, the Balkans, Syria and Iraq,
Palestine and Egypt, all have stories of ethnic cleansing and centuries
of oppression under Islamic rule. Hispanic culture too was profoundly
marked by the centuries-long struggle with Islam on the Iberian
Peninsula, too. The crusades actually began in Spain when the first
Muslim invaders placed their feet on Spanish soil in 711. From then
on, Spain and the Christian faith struggled under Muslim masters who
at times were more or less congenial towards their infidel wards. The
struggle continued until 1492, just weeks before Christopher Columbus
landed in the Americas.
Those 700 years of struggle saw the intervention of other
Christian nations such as France and England, as well as the
person of Charlemagne himself, to rid the Iberian peninsula of
"dhimmitude". Catholics of the Byzantine or Mozarabic rite in Spain
in some places lived alongside their Muslim masters and kept the
Faith burning like a frail lamp that could be snuffed out at any
moment. The result was a militant Catholic religion that was to make
ultimately the fateful decision to demand One Faith under One King
during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. Even though at times
Muslim occupation brought technological and intellectual advances
(taken from the formerly Christian Byzantine Empire), the bitterness
of the struggle prevented any further melding of the cultures.
Lebanese Christian and Greek refugees from Ottoman and later Turkish
oppression came to the US during the early 1900s to find the freedom
of conscience that had been denied them at home. They fled massacres,
enforced servitude, and the gathering up of their young people to
serve in the Turk’s armies or harems.
Besides Spain, Western Europe had experience with Muslim onslaughts,
also. For example, Muslim pirates raided the coasts of Ireland,
Iceland, England, and northern France during the 1700s with impunity
and took hostages into slavery, forcing them to convert.
But these events are lost to most people, especially Americans who
have little experience with Islam. The Gulf War of the 1990s, and the
subsequent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are comparative turkey-shoots
when seen in the historical context of Christianity’s struggles with
Islam. The armies of Saddam Hussein and the ragtag Taliban offered
comparatively little resistance. It is well to remember that Muslim
armies were not always so inept: they got as far as three days’ march
from Paris and once besieged the walls of Krakow and Vienna. The
Middle East, and Africa, were Christian until the jihadi armies of
Mohammed swept through and demanded conversion in exchange for the
lives of the vanquished.
The current war, whether it is called a war against terrorism or
to save "civilization" as President George W. Bush puts it, must be
placed in the context of the previous struggles between Muslims and
Christians. The experience of Eastern Christians is much more vital
and deserves a hearing in the West.
Yes, let us discuss with Muslims the difficulty they have in
controlling islamo-fascists. But let us have returned to us the keys
to the Hagia Sophia. — Martin Barillas, Religion news editor.
CHRISTIAN FLIGHT FROM THE MIDDLE EAST
THE REASONS
The purpose of this essay is to advise our readers of the causes of the
Christian exodus from the Middle East. We shall not discuss absolute
numbers and percentages, for they are covered in other Web sites
and books referred to herein. Rather, we want to review the social
and political environment of Muslim societies in which Christians
constitute vanishing minorities in lands where their presence precedes
the invasion of Islam and where the Gospel of Christ was preached
to them two thousand years ago. The ancient communities of Christ’s
followers are now under unrelenting pressure to abandon the lands
where they have been for 20 millennia.
We invite our readers to imagine living in a social and political
environment as members of a religious minority, Christians, where the
dominant majority, Muslims, are told by their "holy book" that they
are the noblest of creatures and the former are the vilest of animals,
where the majority constitutes the only portion of society which counts
whereas those of the minority are outside of and subordinate to that
society, where the official state religion is that of the majority and
the religion of the minority is scorned if not actively persecuted,
where the legal system by its very language prefers the majority and
discriminates against the minority, where the news media promote the
interests of the majority and ignore or defame the people of the
minority, where opportunity in education, employment and business
are tilted toward the majority and away from the minority, where in
times of political and economic misfortune those of the majority feel
free to attack, plunder and kill those of the minority out of hatred
and revenge, where the clergy of the majority preaches hatred for
the minority and issues religious decrees urging its followers to
wage war against the minority, where the men of the majority regard
the women of the minority as shameless and frequently molest them,
where the important decisions in society are based on the religion
of the majority, on ethnicity, tribe, clan and family rather than
on merit, and where ignorance, superstition, corruption, abuse &
denigration of women, oppression, and persecution of religious &
ethnic minorities are the norms, not the exceptions, then you will
understand the predicament of Christians in Muslim societies and
wonder no longer why they seek to escape by emigrating.
Increasingly in recent decades Catholic and Orthodox parishes in North
America and elsewhere have experienced the influx of Christians from
the Middle East. The movement of Christians from the lands of their
ancestors evangelized by the Apostles is perplexing and painful to
American Christians, for it is in that part of the world where our
faith had its genesis. Eastern Christians, Catholic and Orthodox,
cannot separate their religion from the places of its formative
years. The first 600 years of the Christian era saw the growth of the
Christian Churches, the gathering of the books of the New Testament
into the canon of the Bible, and the early ecumenical councils
which clarified the doctrines of the Trinity and the dual nature of
Christ. In those years many of our saintly heroes, whom we venerate
today, appeared like the Three Holy Hierarchs, St. John Chrysostom,
St. Basil the Great, & St. Gregory the Theologian, and St. Nicholas
of Myra, St. Mary of Egypt, St. Anthony the Great, St. Cyril of
Alexandria and many others.
THE THREE HOLY HIERARCHS
In the 7th century a new religion stormed out of Arabia, the religion
of Muhammad called Islam.
Muhammad taught a new monotheistic doctrine in opposition to the
polytheism of Arabia, asserting that his incorporated the best of
Judaism and Christianity and replaced both, that his was the complete
and last revelation of his deity, Allah, and that he was his deity’s
last messenger. [2] Within a century of his death his followers, called
Muslims, carried his religion by fire and sword into the Christian
world of the Middle East, overwhelming the Christian populations
[3] and carrying Islam eastward to the borders of China and westward
across North Africa and into Spain and southern France. Everywhere
the Christian populations capitulated to the armed hordes of Islam. In
dealing with the captive populations the Muslim overlords were guided
by the experience of Muhammad in subduing the pagan, Christian
and Jewish tribes of Arabia. These experiences were incorporated
into Muhammad’s book, the Quran. Pagans were commanded to convert
to Islam. If they refused they were killed and enslaved and their
property seized. If the submitted without resistance, they were spared.
Christians and Jews [4], however, were regarded as "peoples of
the Book" and treated differently. If they surrendered without
resistance, their lives and property were spared conditional on
acknowledgment of their inferiority to Muslims and the superiority
of Muslims and further on payment of the humiliation tax called
"jizya". See further explanation of jizya in footnote 8 of
This arrangement or
understanding is called "dhimma" and the subjugated peoples of the
Book are called "dhimmi". See Quran Surah IX, 29. The legal, social
and cultural condition of the subjugated dhimmi in Muslim societies
is called "dhimmitude". Theoretically the dhimmi were to be allowed
free practice of their religion, but in reality that notion evolved
into mere sufferance under whatever other limitations the local
rulers might impose. For the first centuries after Muslim conquest
the Christian populations were the majorities under their Muslim
masters. Over time these majorities dwindled to minorities through
forced conversions and expulsions.
Dhimmitude
To understand the role of the dhimmi in Muslim controlled societies,
one must first examine the world view of the Muslims envisioned
by Islam’s foundation documents, namely the Quran, the Hadith or
traditions, and the Sharia or law code. Muslims view the entire
world as the possession of Allah and his surrogates on earth, the
Muslims. This world domination by Islam is called "khilafah" and it
remains the goal of Islam.
Jihad or "holy war" is the means by which the infidels are conquered
and the goal of khilafah is achieved.
All humanity must submit to Islam as the natural order of the
universe. The exception, mentioned above, allowed to Christians and
Jews, was and remains, as stated, mere sufferance, not an acceptable
alternative. Muslims divide humanity into two kinds — believers or
Muslims called by the Quran "the best of nations raised up to rule
over all others" Surah III, 110, and "kufr" or infidels defined by the
Quran as "the vilest of animals" Surah VIII, 55. Christians and Jews,
while not pagans, remain infidels, "may Allah destroy them" Surah IX 3.
The world is divided by Muslims into the House of Islam where Muslims
prevail and the House of War where infidels prevail. Between the two
abodes of mankind perpetual war called jihad reigns as the natural
condition or relationship. All Muslims are called to jihad as a moral
mandate to subdue the House of War and establish the universal rule
of Islam, khilafah.
All Muslim society everywhere is contained in the "umma", the universal
brotherhood of Muslims. In the early centuries following Muhammad
the umma was led by the "khalif", the Commander of the Faithful,
as the successor of Muhammad, in whom all matters of religion and
state were combined. Islam, then as now, sees no distinction between
the religion and the state.
Islam has no notion of inalienable natural or human rights
such as envisioned by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of
Independence. Moreover, Islam does not acknowledge civil rights,
i. e. rights which inure to people by virtue of their membership in a
political state. The only rights possessed by Muslims and dhimmi are
religious rights recognized in the Quran and codified in the Sharia. In
this scheme of things, the despised dhimmi fare badly, for they are
excluded from the umma and remain subordinated to it in law as well as
in practice. Muslims are even forbidden to befriend dhimmi Surah V,
51. By rough analogy the status of dhimmi may be likened to that of
the Negroes in the South during the worst days of Jim Crow. [6]
Seen in the above context and supported by 14 centuries of practice,
the Muslims are trapped in a "closed circle" of their own making
which denies them the opportunity to regard and deal with infidels in
any manner except that which is contemplated by their religion and
culture. Because the mandates of the Quran represent the complete,
final, eternal, literal and unalterable revelation of their deity,
the Muslims are frozen in the Bedouin mentality of the 7th century
and unprepared to deal with dhimmi or other infidels according to
the universal human rights standards of the present. As stated by
the author, Bat Ye’or, in her book, referenced below, entitled THE
DECLINE OF EASTERN
CHRISTIANITY UNDER ISLAM:
"Jihad and dhimma, emanations of the Creator’s will, are invested with
divine attributes: immutability, perfection, justice, infallibility;
considered as perfect systems, they brook no criticism. The subjugation
of Christians and Jews in Islam, in accordance with the
divine will, is achieved by the perfection of the dhimma. Any criticism
of jihad and dhimma — that is to say of the temporal realm —
becomes a sacrilege because of the unity
of the temporal and the spiritual." p 242
Although the above standards apply generally to the relationships
between the umma and the dhimmi in all times and places, the practical
application in many Muslim states has yielded to outside influences
and political realities. Accordingly the practical applications
have been modified resulting in a variety of situations in which
Muslim states have deviated from the norm, allowing in some cases
more benign treatment of dhimmi. In some states like Baathist Iraq,
Baathist Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia and Morocco the governments
eschew the overt persecution of Christians, although the Jews were
run off decades ago. Other states like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan
and Sudan apply the full vigor of Quranic discrimination.
The exodus of Christians from the Middle East is varied and complex. In
the 19th century the European powers began to intervene increasingly
in the affairs of Muslim countries, pressing the rulers to grant
relief to the dhimmi from the worst of their burdens.
In addition, European Churches moved in to establish schools, printing
presses and mutual aid societies to aid the Christians thereby exposing
them to new ideas.
Those who went abroad to study seldom returned.
Awareness of greater economic opportunities and notions of liberty gave
Christians in Muslim countries a growing appreciation that conditions
elsewhere were better than those which they knew so well. Political
turmoil and periodic rampages by Muslims against Christians motivated
interest in emigration. With the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at
the end of World War I, the emigration of Christians to the Americas
began in earnest.
The second massive emigration began after World War II with the
influx of Jewish refugees into the British Mandate of Palestine. The
concomitant conflict between Palestinians and Jews created instability
and inured to the harm of the Christian communities. The Palestinian
and other Middle Eastern Christians and their Churches sided largely
with the Muslims in opposing Jewish presence in the Middle East. With
the restoration of the people of Israel to the land of Israel in the
State of Israel the conflicts grew.
Rejecting the United Nations’ partition of the Mandate into Jewish and
Muslim parts and as a result of the four wars initiated and lost by
the Palestinians and their Arab allies against Israel, the condition
of the Christians became increasingly bad. The Israelis regard Arab
Christians as untrustworthy and the Muslims continue to treat them
as despised infidels.
Consequently the movement of Christians from the region of the former
Mandate to the West accelerates.
Elsewhere in the Muslim world where there are no Jews or Israelis the
same is happening. The growth and increasing intolerance of militant
Islam, the continuing discrimination against them as despised dhimmi,
economic opportunity elsewhere and the universal longing of people to
be free, prompt Christians to leave the lands of their ancestors and
to seek a better life in freedom elsewhere. As their sons go abroad
for education, their families in an ever widening circle of kin and
friends follow which is emptying out the Christian communities of
the Middle East.
THE FINAL SOLUTION
The final solution to the Christian presence in the Middle East is
rapidly approaching. Within a generation or two, the Christians
will have followed the Jews in fleeing the bitter oppression
of the islamo-fascist social and political order of the Middle
East. Increasingly non-native Christians will take over the custody
of the major shrines and churches. In the lands evangelized by the
Apostles the church bells will go silent and from their towers will
sound the demonic wail of the muezzin summoning Muhammad’s followers
to their prostrations.
Rather than repeat what is already available about absolute numbers
and percentages of Christians emigrating, we direct our readers to two
Web sites with such information. They are "Disappearing Christians in
the Middle East " at:
and "The Oppression of Middle Eastern Churches" at:
For English translations of
inflammatory anti-infidel agitation & propaganda emanating daily from
mosque & media in the Middle East, see the Web site of the Middle East
Research Institute at: See also our page entitled
Islam & the Church at:
and the books referenced below in footnote [8]
FOOTNOTES
[1] Hagia Sophia is the Mother Church of Eastern Christians, idealized
to appear as it might have been before its desecration by the Muslim
Turks. The life-giving cross has been restored to the dome and the four
minarets have been removed. Today it is neither temple nor mosque,
but a museum. Our Mother Church will be a metaphor of the Churches
of the Middle East, should current trends of emigration continue.
[2] The Quran. When one reads the Quran for the first time, one is
surprised to discover that Muhammad’s deity bears scant resemblance
to the Christians’ God.
Rather, it appears like an ancient Semitic war god elevated by Muhammad
above all others whose worship his followers seek to impose on mankind
by force. One chapter of the Quran, Surah VIII, entitled "The Spoils
of War", is devoted to the plundering, killing and enslavement of
vanquished infidels and the apportionment of their property among
the followers of Muhammad.
[3] Muslims do not regard themselves as conquerors of the lands of
the infidels, but their liberators. That is based on the premise that
the lands, people and property of all the world belong to Allah and
his followers and that they are merely taking possession of what
is rightfully theirs. The author, Bat Ye’or, states the case well
in her book, ISLAM AND DHIMMITUDE, referenced below, as follows:
"The general basic principles according to the Koran are as follows:
the pre-eminence of Islam over all other religions [Surah 9: 33];
Islam is the true religion of Allah [Surah 3; 17] and it should reign
over all mankind [Surah 34; 27]; the umma forms the party of Allah
and is perfect [Surah 3; 6], having been chosen above all peoples
on earth it alone is qualified to rule, and thus elected by Allah to
guide the world [Surah 35; 37]. The pursuit of jihad, until this goal
will be achieved, is an obligation [Surah 8; 40]. The religions of the
Bible …are deemed inferior as their followers falsified the true
Revelation which their respective prophets conveyed to them — this
Revelation considered to be Islam — before Muhammad’s arrival. Albeit
inferior, these peoples, each a beneficiary of Revelation, have the
choice between war or submission to the umma, whereas idolaters are
forced to convert to Islam or be killed". pp. 40 — 41
[4] The Jews, although one of the "peoples of the Book", incurred
the wrath of Muhammad for their rejection of his religion. In the
Quran Surah V, 60 he referred to them as "apes and swine". The terms
"apes and swine" or "descendants of apes and swine" continue to be
the preferred anti-Jewish pejoratives in the Muslim world.
[5] Dhimmitude is an image by Josef Yinnon and a word fashioned
by the author, Bat Ye’or, to describe the bondage, subservience,
isolation and abuse of Christians and Jews in Muslim societies, the
legal and social restraints under which they live, their culture and
attitudes which evolved under their condition, and the expectations
of the dominant umma. It refers also to Christian acquiescence to and
adoption of the prevailing policy in Muslim states which rejects the
existence of Israel and resists American foreign policy in the region
in a vain effort to curry favor with the Muslims.
[6] One dare not stretch this analogy too far. Whereas the Negroes in
America were able to prevail upon the fundamental religio-political
concept in American society of the equality of all humans in the civil
rights movement and succeed, the dhimmi in Muslim societies are not
so favored. In Islam only Muslims are equal; all others are inferior
and subordinated to Muslims by Quranic definition.
[7] The Lion of Judah. This image shows the Lion of Judah standing
guard over the Holy City of Jerusalem roaring defiance at the enemies
of Israel. The Lion of Judah represents King David and by extension
Jesus Christ as symbol of His victory over Satan. See Rev.
5, 5.
[8] We recommend to our readers the following books:
THE DECLINE OF EASTERN CHRISTIANITY UNDER ISLAM by Bat Ye’or, ISBN:
0838636888
ISLAM AND DHIMMITUDE — WHERE CIVILIZATIONS COLLIDE by Bat Ye’or,
ISBN: 0838639437
WHITNESSES FOR CHRIST — ORTHODOX NEOMARTYRS OF THE OTTOMAN PERIOD
by Nomikos Vaporis, ISBN: 0881411965
THE BODY AND THE BLOOD- THE MIDDLE EAST’S VANISHING CHRISTIANS by
Charles Sennott, ISBN: 1586481657
WHO ARE THE CHRISTIANS IN THE MIDDLE EAST? by B. J. & J. M. Bailey,
ISBN: 0802810209
THE CLOSED CIRCLE — AN INTERPRETATION OF THE ARABS by David
Pryce-Jones, ISBN: 0060981032
THE SWORD OF THE PROPHET — THE POLITICALLY INCORRECT GUIDE TO ISLAM
by Serge Trifkovic, ISBN: 1928653111
By R.L. Schwind
© 2006, Assyrian International News Agency. All Rights Reserved.
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
