istorian Bat
Yeor is a specialist on relations between Islam and the non-Muslim world
and on their peoples and religions. We are already indebted to her for
numerous scholarly articles and several books on dhimmitude (a
term which she practically invented and has popularized in historical
and political writing on the subject). Dhimmitude encompasses an
exclusive system of protection, condescension, discrimination, exclusion,
and persecution to which Christians and Jews, in particular, were subjected
after being conquered by Muslims from the mid-seventh century onwards,
if they refused to renounce their faith.
Islam and Dhimmitude
returns to the major themes of her previous works, both complementing
and greatly refining the analysis and documentation. The book's subtitle,
"Where Civilizations Collide," reminds us its subject has never
been more relevant.
Since the cataclysmic
events of September 11, 2001, and the start of the Afghan war, journalists
and politicians have often spoken of a collision or war of civilizations,
following Professor Samuel Huntington's hypothesis. Was that collision
determined by the traditional relations between Islam and infidel non-Muslims?
Both the historical roots of the question — and the answer —
can be found in Bat Yeor's works. The philosopher Jacques Ellul wrote
in the preface to her previous book that "the jihad is an institution,
not an event." This new volume examines that "institution"
and links it to dhimmitude, which also was to become institutionalized.
This study covers a period of 14 centuries — from the rise of Islam
and through the resurgence of dhimmitude in contemporary conflicts,
such as the breakup of Yugoslavia and the Palestinian intifadas.
THE
SHARIA: ADOPTED OR ADAPTED?
The author shows how, from the birth of Islam, the submission of the infidels
led to the dispossession of their lands and to their economic exploitation
through protection-ransom relationships. Freedom of worship was restricted
for Jews and Christians, and Christian proselytizing was prohibited. Individuals
were subjected to degrading treatment and their human liberties limited.
Though Europe's advances in the East brought hope and protection to non-Muslims
(the dhimmis), the rise of Arab nationalism — and the achievement
of independence by Muslim states — was to mark a return of repressive
regimes, not only in countries where the sharia is strictly applied
(Saudi Arabia, Iran, Sudan, Pakistan) but in countries which have "adapted,"
if not completely adopted, it (Egypt, Iraq, and the autonomous Palestinian
Authority).
The chapters dealing
with Islamic anti-Zionism detail this adaptation and clarify the present
phase of the Arab-Israeli conflict. They elucidate both the theological
foundations, and the adulterated rewriting of history that underpins the
campaign of hatred and incrimination against Israel, Zionism, the Jews,
and all those whom Islamism perceives as enemies. These chapters further
establish how anti-Zionism and third-worldism have collaborated and are
still collaborating, as well as examining the relationship between certain
Christian and Islamic trends: "Christian antisemitism has denied
to the Jews historic rights by the doctrine of the fallen deicide people.
For Islam, this same refusal results from a historical negationism which
Islamizes all Jewish and Christian biblical history." Curiously enough,
certain Christians continue to espouse this doctrine, little understanding
that they are shooting themselves in the foot: "neither the Vatican
nor the World Council of Churches has officially condemned anti-Zionism
as a criminal ideology advocating the elimination of the State of Israel.
European policy is automatically pro-Arab, pro-Islamic, and consequently
anti-Christian."
Palestinianism is
often an excuse for the politicized reevaluation of history. Thus, speaking
to the United Nations General Assembly in 1974, Yasser Arafat described
Ottoman Palestine in the late 19th century as a "verdant land,"
enjoying "freedom of worship" and populated by Arabs dynamically
developing a culture which had existed over millennia. The accounts of
contemporary travelers depict a very different reality: a neglected, semi-desert
land — dominated by "the desolation which the Turkish government
maintains in the countries still under its rule" — which is
scarcely cultivated, inhabited by a "wretched" population, with
"ruins everywhere." Palestianism often accepts myths as fact,
using them as the foundation for political claims.
WHAT
USE IS THE PAST?
Nearly 17 pages of documents complement the historical account. Clearly,
this is a work that can't be ignored. Practically every page and each
of the numerous — and often previously unpublished — citations
from original sources contain thoughtful insights germane to what is happening
today in Gaza and the West Bank, in Kabul, in Pakistan, in Sudan, in Nigeria,
and in Indonesia. Above all, it provides a clear vision of what the Islamists
believe and project — a premonition of what awaits us.
In a sense, Bat Yeor's
book is eminently political. It explains the need to modernize Islam,
and shows why the West must reevaluate the real dangers that confront
it. Moreover, the author does not stop at exhortations but suggests concrete
attitudes the United Nations should take within the framework of the existing
non-governmental organizations in the interreligious dialogue — a
real program of action for the start of the millennium. The author concludes,
however, on a pessimistic note: With the wave of anti-Zionist disinformation
that has engulfed the media, she observes, "Europe seems to be remembering
its past only to repeat it."
—
Paul Giniewski, a French journalist and writer, is the author of 30 books
(including translations), and a specialist on the Arab-Israeli conflict.
His latest work examined Christian antijudaism (La Mutation: L'Antijudaïsme).
istorian Bat
Yeor is a specialist on relations between Islam and the non-Muslim world
and on their peoples and religions. We are already indebted to her for
numerous scholarly articles and several books on dhimmitude (a
term which she practically invented and has popularized in historical
and political writing on the subject). Dhimmitude encompasses an
exclusive system of protection, condescension, discrimination, exclusion,
and persecution to which Christians and Jews, in particular, were subjected
after being conquered by Muslims from the mid-seventh century onwards,
if they refused to renounce their faith.
