Islam and Dhimmitude: Where Civilizations Collide
Encyclopedia

Islam and Dhimmitude: Where Civilizations Collide is a book by Bat Ye'or
Bat Ye'or
Bat Ye'or is a pseudonym of Gisèle Littman, née Orebi, an Egyptian-born British writer and political commentator who writes about the history of non-Muslims in the Middle East, and in particular the history of Christian and Jewish dhimmis living under Islamic governments.She is the author of eight...

.

Quote

"The ideology of jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...

 was formulated by Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

 theologians from the eighth century onward. It separates humanity into two hostile blocks — the community of Muslims, and the infidels. According to this ideology, Allah commands the Muslims to conquer the whole world in order to apply Koranic laws. Hence, they have to wage a perpetual war against the infidels who refuse to submit. Its principle is based on the inequality between the community of Allah and the infidels. The first is a superior group, whose mission it is to rule the world. The second must submit."

Content

In the book Bat Ye’or chronicles the history of non-Muslims living under the dominion of Islam in the status of dhimmitude
Dhimmitude
Dhimmitude is a neologism first found in French denoting an attitude of concession, surrender and appeasement towards Islamic demands. It is derived by adding the productive suffix -tude to the Arabic language adjective dhimmi, which literally means protected and refers to a non-Muslim subject of a...

 using a comprehensive body of primary sources and first hand witness historical records. The author provides a detailed description of the theory of jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...

 along with the consequential political, economic, social and religious constraints that were imposed on non-Muslims living under Islamic occupation.

Ye'or examines the status of numerous non-Muslim communities and the alleged exodus of their populations from the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

.
The author also examines the policies of modern day Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

 countries towards non-Muslims and allegedly the intention to re-affirm the conditions of dhimmitude towards non-Muslims within and outside the Muslims world.

The author makes 4 major points in the book:
1) The historical records of the lives and fates of the Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

 and Christians living under the yoke of Islam refutes any notion of tolerant intent on the part of the Islamic polity. The non-Muslims were subjected to a campaign of cultural subjugation with draconian
Draconian
Draconian is an adjective meaning great severity, that derives from Draco, an Athenian law scribe under whom small offences had heavy punishments .Draconian may also refer to:* Draconian , a Death/doom metal band from Sweden...

 penalties for any attempt at self determination which resulted in their collapse from a majority population to a minority and slow extinction throughout the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

. The conduct of the Islamic polity was not some much an aberration from the expected course but based on the Islamic doctrinal foundation of hegemony over non-Muslims.

2) Submission to the oppression of dhimmitude
Dhimmitude
Dhimmitude is a neologism first found in French denoting an attitude of concession, surrender and appeasement towards Islamic demands. It is derived by adding the productive suffix -tude to the Arabic language adjective dhimmi, which literally means protected and refers to a non-Muslim subject of a...

 eventually led to the total eradication of non-Muslim communities as demonstrated by the collapsing minority communities throughout the Middle East.

3) Modern Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

ans and Westerners are increasingly ceding their basic freedoms to an increasing vocal Muslim immigrant populations that demands a dhimmi
Dhimmi
A , is a non-Muslim subject of a state governed in accordance with sharia law. Linguistically, the word means "one whose responsibility has been taken". This has to be understood in the context of the definition of state in Islam...

 like conduct of their part akin to Islam’s subjugation of the dhimmi minority communities of the Middle East.

4) The bond between Jewish and Christian victims of the Islamic assault needs rejuvenation. The author calls for a Jewish-Christian dialogue and hopes that moderate are not a part of this dialogue.

Reviews

Mordechai Nisan
Mordechai Nisan
Mordechai Nisan is an Israeli professor and scholar of Middle East Studies at the Rothberg International School of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His most recent book, Only Israel West of the River: The Jewish State and the Palestinian Question, appeared in July, 2011...

 from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...

, reviews the book as
... an exceptionally relevant scholarly study of Islam in triumphant combat against non-Muslims. Islam and Dhimmitude amasses compelling evidence and employs powerful argumentation to expose and explain dhimmitude—the author's neologism. With impressive erudition and precision—and personal courage— Bat Ye'or here presents both her largest canvas and her most profound analysis of this condition. She challenges powerful misconceptions and establishes a new framework for understanding the inter-relations of the three religious civilizations and peoples.


Paul Fenton, Chair of Hebrew in the Department of Arabic and Hebrew Studies at the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...

, refers to the book as "revealing a detailed fresco spanning three continents in space and a millennium in time, in order to make clear how a 'protected subject' lived under Muslim sovereignty." He tells us that Islam and Dhimmitude "...will deeply enlighten the reader to the reality of the fate of Jews and Christians in Muslim lands."

Imad A. Ahmad, from the Minaret of Freedom Institute
Minaret of Freedom Institute
The Minaret of Freedom Institute is an Islamic libertarian organization established in 1993 and based in Bethesda, Maryland. It was co-founded by Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad, its president, and Shahid N. Shah...

 criticizes the book as a "Zionist project". He writes that
"This book has little to offer serious scholars of Islam or of world civilizations. It has much to offer propagandists who seek rhetorical ammunition to increase rather than decrease the hatred and strife in the world."

External links

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