Dhimmitude is it really a part of Islam or just scaremongering?
Sadly this is part of Islamic ideology. I've done a entire chapter on Dhimmitude in the project I'm working on. I'll reproduce it here (in multiple posts because of length.)
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Islam for DhimmisOne must go on jihad at least once a year. One may use a catapult against them when they are in a fortress, even if among them are women and children. One may set fire to them or drown them. If Jews and Christians are enslaved, their marriage is revoked. One may cut down their trees and must destroy their useless books. Jihadists may take as booty whatever they decide.
The dhimmi is obliged not to mention Allah or His Apostle. Jews, Christians, and Majins must pay the jizya and on payment must hang their head while the official takes hold of his beard and hits him on the protuberant bone beneath his ear. Their houses may not be higher than the Muslims'. The dhimmi may not ride a horse or mule; he may ride a donkey only if the saddle is of wood. He may not walk on the good part of the road and must wear an identifying patch, even women. Dhimmis must hold their tongue......Al-Ghazali (1058-1111)
(The most celebrated scholar in the history of Islamic thought)
As Islam grew, the governance of the ?conquered' needed to be formalised. In the Qur'an and Hadith it is clearly stated by Muhammad that those (Jews and Christians) conquered should submit to Islam, or pay the Jizya protection tax or be killed. For the Pagans (which included Hindus and Buddhists) however, the choice was reduced ? submit to Islam or be killed. In other words Islam will tolerate the continued practice of Judaism and Christianity within its state but certainly not any involving polytheism or idol worship. As this theory was not practical with the conquest of India, though 70 million Hindus were killed during Islamic rule there, Hindus by and large were allowed to continue practicing their religion once their Jizya tax was paid.
A non-Muslim in an Islamic society is referred to as a dhimmi (pl. dimam) living in a state of dhimmitude. A dhimmi is basically a protected person by dint of the fact that he pays his poll tax with humiliation. In essence it is a form of extortion on non-Muslims to subvert them and a method of raising funds for Islamic expansionism.
Should western societies start falling under the governance of Islamic rule as many experts are predicting is inevitable in the next 50-100 years, the life of non Muslims will be subjected to dhimmitude with strict rules and regulations, as has been prescribed throughout Islamic history.
The basis for life as a dhimmi was formalised under the caliphate of Umar, who when Syria was captured, drew up a pact with their leader to determine how their Christian population would exist under Islamic rule. These rules and regulations, based on the Qur'an and Hadiths, have become the norm in such societies for the last fourteen hundred years and formalised in a document known as the Pact of Umar.
Those who did not convert to Islam were forbidden from the following:
- Building and repairing places of worship or residences for monks
- Closing doors to Muslim passers-by and travellers requiring board and lodging for up to three days
- Sheltering or hiding anyone considered to be an enemy of the Muslims
- Teaching the Qur'an to non-Muslim children. (because it would be taught incorrectly)
- Displaying their religion publicly
- Converting anyone to their religion
- Preventing anyone from converting to Islam
- Sitting should a Muslim wish to sit
- Trying to resemble the Muslims by imitating any of their clothing or hairstyle
- Mounting on saddles
- Bearing or carrying any kind of arms
- Engraving Arabic inscriptions on their seals
- Selling fermented drinks
- Displaying crosses or religious books in the roads or markets
- Raising voices when following the dead
- Burying their dead near the Muslims
- Taking slaves who have been allotted to Muslims
- Building houses taller than those of the Muslims
- Striking a Muslim
Agreeing to these terms which are still relevant in today's Islamic societies, means that non-Muslims receive safety from the Muslims. Should there be any violations, the culprit forfeits protection as a dhimmi, and becomes liable to the penalties for contempt and sedition; in other words, death. Inability to pay the Jizya tax usually resulted in payment in the form of children, taken as slaves whose value would be deducted from the tax owed.
Topic: Dhimmitude fact or fiction?