August
9, 2002, 9:00 a.m. Islam,
Taboo, and Dialogue
Reclaiming historic
truths in seeking present-day solutions.
By Bat Yeor
n
the current political climate, it is tempting to maintain the taboos on
those historical subjects that could be easily exploited by xenophobes.
One such taboo is dhimmitude, which resulted when Christians and Jews
(dhimmis), in addition to other non-Muslim, indigenous peoples, were conquered
by jihad wars, and henceforth "tolerated" and "protected"
as subjects of Islam. This "tolerance" and "protection,"
however, was afforded only upon submission to Islamic domination by a
dhimma, or pact, which imposed discriminatory and humiliating regulations.
The main principles of dhimmitude are: (1) the inequality of rights in
all domains between Muslims and dhimmis; (2) the social and economic discrimination
against the dhimmis; (3) the degradation and vulnerability of the dhimmis.
Dhimmitude has existed
for 13 centuries in the Muslim empire established, primarily, on former
Christian lands. Extending over three continents — Africa, Asia,
and Europe — this field of history was the setting for jihad, the
Crusades, Reconquista, and the Balkan and Israeli wars of independence.
Countless populations, swept along in the whirlwind of centuries, were
marked in the crucible from which issued the death of civilizations and
the birth of others. Dhimmitude convulsed the whole 19th century, and
Europe — as obsessed as it was divided — floundered in endless
debates on the Eastern Question: how to put an end to dhimmitude.
World War I affected
a 180-degree turn. Colonial imperatives, World War II and the Cold War,
oil, economic, geostrategic and religious interests in the Muslim world
— all combined to suppress this history. Today, a heightened desire
for security recommends leaving this cadaver to rot in its bandages of
lies and oblivion. Is amnesia not preferable, particularly during the
crisis period we currently live in? Not at all. A candid discussion of
this history of dhimmitude, which embraces the three-dimensional relationship
of the People of the Bible — Jews and Christians — and of the
Koran, is essential if current ideological conflicts are to be unraveled
and deadlocks broken.
Let us hope we have
not missed the opportunity to talk frankly and initiate that critical
dialogue with the Muslim elites about dogmas and jurisdictions that were
so traumatic for the "People of the Book" — Jews and Christians,
whom Islam joined together in the same dhimmi status — "protected"
and "tolerated," because subjugated and humiliated. It is imperative
for Jews, Christians, and Muslims to explore together the cruel episodes
in this shared history in order to alleviate, if not eliminate, the cultural
conflicts in which religious fanaticism takes root.
Following the cataclysmic
events of September 11there has been a tendency to recall nebulous "Golden
Ages" of idyllic multi-religious societies, invented so effectively,
that today one feels defenseless and disoriented, when brought face-to-face
with the conflicts from another age, deliberately erased from history.
We must forego this whitewashing and opt instead for a shared, candid
reflection on the past to unite us in a joint effort for peace and mutual
respect. The history of dhimmitude, so long repressed by our collective
cowardice, is unfolding around us, before our very eyes. It is claiming
victims in Algeria, Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, the Sudan, Nigeria, Iran,
Pakistan, Kashmir, the Philippines, Indonesia, and elsewhere. It even
forms part of our daily lives, governed by antiterrorist measures in the
United States, Europe, and now worldwide, and it wreaks havoc among the
Muslim elites, responsible for having concealed it. This forbidden history,
banished from memory, is casting its dark shadow over the world's future.
Dhimmitude must be
discussed in academia, the media, and elsewhere, without apology. This
frank discussion will allow Muslim intellectuals to rethink their whole
relationship with the People of the Bible — and non-Muslims in general
— without renouncing their faith, and uniting all peoples in the
fight against tyrannical oppression and dehumanization. In the absence
of such genuine interfaith dialogue, I fear the 21st century will become
a bloodbath, in which civilizations will continue to collide.
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n
the current political climate, it is tempting to maintain the taboos on
those historical subjects that could be easily exploited by xenophobes.
One such taboo is dhimmitude, which resulted when Christians and Jews
(dhimmis), in addition to other non-Muslim, indigenous peoples, were conquered
by jihad wars, and henceforth "tolerated" and "protected"
as subjects of Islam. This "tolerance" and "protection,"
however, was afforded only upon submission to Islamic domination by a
dhimma, or pact, which imposed discriminatory and humiliating regulations.
The main principles of dhimmitude are: (1) the inequality of rights in
all domains between Muslims and dhimmis; (2) the social and economic discrimination
against the dhimmis; (3) the degradation and vulnerability of the dhimmis.
