{"id":7149,"date":"2014-03-26T09:59:00","date_gmt":"2014-03-26T16:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/?p=7149"},"modified":"2014-03-26T09:59:00","modified_gmt":"2014-03-26T16:59:00","slug":"western-ignorance-of-the-conditions-of-omar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/western-ignorance-of-the-conditions-of-omar\/","title":{"rendered":"Western Ignorance of the ‘Conditions of Omar’"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/ PJ Media<\/em><\/a>
\n<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

A jihadi group occupying the Syrian town of Raqqa recently gave Christian minorities living there three choices: 1) convert to Islam, 2) remain Christian<\/p>\n

\"Church
Church in Raqqa, Syria, before and after: cross and church bell are now replaced with Islam\u2019s black flags proclaiming \u201cThere is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

but pay tribute and accept third-class subject status, or 3) die by the sword.<\/p>\n

According to the\u00a0BBC<\/a>, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria issued a directive<\/p>\n

citing the Islamic concept of \u201cdhimma\u201d, [which] requires Christians in the city to pay tax of around half an ounce (14g) of pure gold in exchange for their safety. It says Christians must not make renovations to churches, display crosses or other religious symbols outside churches, ring church bells or pray in public.\u00a0 Christians must not carry arms, and must follow other rules imposed by ISIS (also known as ISIL) on their daily lives.\u00a0 The statement said the group had met Christian representatives and offered them three choices\u2014they could convert to Islam, accept ISIS\u2019 conditions, or reject their control and risk being killed.\u00a0 \u201cIf they reject, they are subject to being legitimate targets, and nothing will remain between them and ISIS other than the sword,\u201d the statement said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Because several Western media outlets\u00a0uncharacteristically reported<\/a>\u00a0on this latest atrocity against Syrian Christians, many Westerners are shocked\u2014amazed to hear of such draconian conditions.<\/p>\n

In reality, however, these three choices are fully grounded in Islamic teachings, as shall be demonstrated below.<\/p>\n

So why is the West, here in the \u201cinformation age,\u201d utterly if not abhorrently ignorant of the teachings of Islam?\u00a0\u00a0 Because those responsible for making such knowledge available\u2014specifically academia, media, and government\u2014are more interested in whitewashing Islam andbemoaning Islamophobia<\/a>\u00a0(see pgs. 219-249 of\u00a0Crucified Again: Exposing Islam\u2019s New War on Christians<\/em><\/a>\u00a0for specifics).<\/p>\n

Western Dissembling<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most symbolic of all this is that right around the same time news that jihadis were subjugating and extorting jizya-money from Syrian Christians appeared, the Saudi-funded Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Christian-Muslim Understanding at Georgetown University, Washington D.C., \u00a0held a seminar discussing how Islam is misunderstood and being demonized by so-called \u201cIslamophobes<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

I have direct experience of this.\u00a0 Many years ago, as a graduate student at Georgetown University\u2019s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, my interest in medieval Islamic history, Sharia, and jihad received askance looks from professors\u2014not least because most classes offered were about the evils of colonialism and Orientalism, or Islamic \u201cfeminism.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the same when I worked at the African and Middle Eastern Division of the Library of Congress, a governmental institution; there, our conferences regularly focused on the purported achievements of Islamic civilization.<\/p>\n

As for the endemic\u00a0Muslim persecution of Christians<\/a>\u2014past or present\u2014apparently only an \u201cIslamophobe\u201d would raise that topic up.<\/p>\n

Speaking of government, also around the same time jihadis were giving Christians the three classic choices of Islam\u2014conversion, subjugation, or death\u2014a delegation of Syrian Christian clergy came to the Senate Arms Services Committee meeting room to offer testimony concerning the sufferings of Syria\u2019s Christians.\u00a0 Then,<\/p>\n

\n

Sen. John McCain<\/a>\u00a0marched into the committee room yelling, according to a high-level source that attended the meeting, and quickly stormed out. \u201cHe was incredibly rude,\u201d the source told Judicial Watch \u201cbecause he didn\u2019t think the Syrian church leaders should even be allowed in the room.\u201d Following the shameful tantrum McCain reentered the room and sat briefly but refused to make eye contact with the participants, instead ignoring them by looking down at what appeared to be random papers. The outburst was so embarrassing that Senator Graham, also an advocate of U.S. military intervention in Syria, apologized for McCain\u2019s disturbing outburst.\u00a0\u201cGraham actually apologized to the group for McCain\u2019s behavior,\u201d according to the source, who sat through the entire meeting. \u201cIt was truly unbelievable.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Less dramatically but equally revealing, CIA chief John Brennan recently\u00a0declared<\/a>\u00a0that the ideology of those offering Christians three choices is \u201ca perverse and very corrupt interpretation of the Koran,\u201d one that has \u201chijacked\u201d Islam and \u201creally distorted the teachings of Muhammad.\u201d<\/p>\n

And if the attempts to suppress the reality of Christian suffering under Islam by academia, media, and government were not enough,\u00a0months<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0years back<\/a>, when the plight of Syria\u2019s Christians was becoming known, even random (but supposedly nonbiased and independent) think tanks and writers also tried to suppress it.<\/p>\n

Is it any wonder, then, that Christians in Syria being offered three choices\u2014Islam, subjugation, or death\u2014is mindboggling to the average person in the West, appearing as a wild aberration?<\/p>\n

The Conditions of Omar<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yet knowledge of the particulars of Islam\u2019s three-fold choice has been available for centuries; early Western peoples were much acquainted with it, including the now much maligned \u201cOrientalists.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whereas Koran 9:29 provides divine sanction to fight the \u201cPeople of the Book\u201d \u00a0(namely, Christians and Jews) \u201cuntil they pay the jizya with willing submission and feel themselves subdued,\u201d the lesser known\u00a0Conditions of Omar<\/em>\u00a0(also known as the\u00a0Pact of Omar<\/em>) lays out in detail how they are to feel themselves subdued.<\/p>\n

Named after the second caliph, Omar bin al-Khattab (r. 634 to 644), the\u00a0Conditions\u00a0<\/em>was purportedly agreed upon between the caliph and a community of Christians conquered by invading Muslims, ironically in the region of Syria. \u00a0It has since been referenced in most major works on the treatment of dhimmis\u2014non-Muslims living under Islamic authority.<\/p>\n

There are different versions of the text of the\u00a0Conditions<\/em>, varying only slightly.\u00a0 Excerpts from one of the most authoritative versions follow (see\u00a0Crucified Again<\/em><\/a>\u00a0for my complete translation). As in most versions, the conquered Christians appear to be speaking and agree:<\/p>\n

\n

Not to build a church in our city\u2014nor a monastery, convent, or monk\u2019s cell in the surrounding areas\u2014and not to repair those that fall in ruins or are in Muslim quarters;<\/p>\n

Not to clang our cymbals except lightly and from the innermost recesses of our churches;<\/p>\n

Not to display a cross on them [churches], nor raise our voices during prayer or readings in our churches anywhere near Muslims;<\/p>\n

Not to produce a cross or [Christian] book in the markets of the Muslims;<\/p>\n

Not to congregate in the open for Easter or Palm Sunday, nor lift our voices [in lamentation] for our dead nor show our firelights with them near the market places of the Muslims;<\/p>\n

Not to display any signs of polytheism, nor make our religion appealing, nor call or proselytize anyone to it;<\/p>\n

Not to prevent any of our relatives who wish to enter into Islam;<\/p>\n

Not to possess or bear any arms whatsoever, nor gird ourselves with swords;<\/p>\n

To honor the Muslims, show them the way, and rise up from our seats if they wish to sit down;<\/p>\n

We guarantee all this to you upon ourselves, our descendants, our spouses, and our neighbors, and if we change or contradict these conditions imposed upon ourselves in order to receive safety, we forfeit our dhimma [covenant], and we become liable to the same treatment you inflict upon the people who resist and cause sedition.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

To \u201cbecome liable to the same treatment you inflict upon the people who resist and cause sedition\u201d simply meant that, if any stipulation of the\u00a0Conditions<\/em>\u00a0was broken, the Christians would resume their natural status as non-submitting infidels who \u201cresist and cause sedition\u201d against Islam\u2014becoming, once again, free game for killing or enslavement.<\/p>\n

Far from being merely a historical or theoretical text, the\u00a0Conditions<\/em>\u00a0are very much on the minds of some Muslims.\u00a0 Aside from the new reports that jihadis are enforcing the\u00a0Conditions<\/em>\u2014and to a tee\u2014on the Christians of Raqqa, Syria, consider the following words of Saudi Sheikh Marzouk Salem al-Ghamdi, spoken once during a Friday mosque sermon:<\/p>\n

\n

If the infidels live among the Muslims, in accordance with the conditions set out by the Prophet\u2014there is nothing wrong with it provided they pay Jizya to the Islamic treasury. Other conditions are . . . that they do not renovate a church or a monastery, do not rebuild ones that were destroyed, that they feed for three days any Muslim who passes by their homes . . . that they rise when a Muslim wishes to sit, that they do not imitate Muslims in dress and speech, nor ride horses, nor own swords, nor arm themselves with any kind of weapon; that they do not sell wine, do not show the cross, do not ring church bells, do not raise their voices during prayer, that they shave their hair in front so as to make them easily identifiable, do not incite anyone against the Muslims, and do not strike a Muslim. . . . If they violate these conditions, they have no protection.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2014\u2013<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

From here, one can understand why all around the Islamic world Christians are under attack\u2014their churches bombed, burned, or simply denied permits to exist or renovate, and their Bibles, crosses, and other symbols of \u201cpolytheism\u201d confiscated and\/or destroyed; why Christians who openly speak of Christianity are accused of proselytizing or blaspheming\u2014both which can lead to execution; and why Christians are being forced to pay tribute or else convert to Islam or die.<\/p>\n

Just the\u00a0other day<\/a>\u00a0in Pakistan, Christians \u201cbegan the construction of a church on land donated by the Christian Akber Masih, a resident in the area. They built the walls of the building and placed a cross in front of the main gate of the small construction yard.\u201d\u00a0 But \u201cwhen a large group of Islamic extremists saw the Christian symbol they arrived unexpectedly with bulldozers and started demolishing the building.\u201d\u00a0 Although the Christians notified police and authorities, \u201cthe perpetrators were not arrested.\u201d\u00a0 As for the aggrieved Christians, they \u201chave received threats and have to abandon the idea of the project to build a church.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thanks to Western intervention in the colonial era, the\u00a0Conditions<\/em>\u00a0largely disappeared\u2014not least because Muslim leaders and elites were themselves westernizing.\u00a0 But today, as Muslims turn back to their Islamic heritage and its teachings\u2014not least because Western leaders and elites are urging them to, in the name of multiculturalism if not moral relativism, the\u00a0Conditions<\/em>are returning; and woe to the Christian minority who dares break them by exercising religious freedom\u2014what I call the \u201cHow Dare You?!<\/a>\u201d phenomenon, which is responsible for the overwhelming majority of Islamic attacks on non-Muslims.<\/p>\n

Even so, thanks to the \u201cprogressive\u201d dissembling of academia, media, and government\u2014the supposed guardians and disseminators of truth and knowledge\u2014such simple facts about Islam remain a great mystery in the West, to our own detriment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/ PJ Media A jihadi group occupying the Syrian town of Raqqa recently gave Christian minorities living there three choices: 1) convert to Islam, 2) remain Christian but pay tribute and accept third-class subject status, or 3) die by the sword. According to the\u00a0BBC, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria issued […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[29,225,227],"tags":[366,192,1017,1044,934,1041,894],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-1Rj","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7352,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/christians-crucified-again-for-refusing-islam\/","url_meta":{"origin":7149,"position":0},"title":"Christians \u2018Crucified Again\u2019 for Refusing Islam","author":"victorhanson","date":"May 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim\u00a0\/\/ \u00a0RaymondIbrahim.com \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0To the awe of its readership, a recent Daily Mail\u00a0article\u00a0reports that the \u201cjihadist Islamic State of Iraq and Levant [ISIL],\u201d which is currently entrenched in Raqqa, Syria, \u201cpublicly crucified two Syrian rebels in northeastern Syria in revenge for a grenade attack on members\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Syria"","block_context":{"text":"Syria","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/syria\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.raymondibrahim.com\/_admin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/armen1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6911,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/armenian-christians-pressured-to-convert-to-islam\/","url_meta":{"origin":7149,"position":1},"title":"Armenian Christians Pressured to Convert to Islam","author":"victorhanson","date":"January 13, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Ibrahim \/\/ RaymondIbrahim.com\u00a0 Arabic language websites\u00a0reported\u00a0earlier this week that the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant\u2014which, throughout the course of the war against the Assad government has committed any number of atrocities, from decapitating \u201cinfidels\u201d to burning churches\u2014has successfully \u201cforced\u201d two Armenian Christian families to convert\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Religion"","block_context":{"text":"Religion","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/religion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6219,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/crucified-again-venn-institute-interviews-raymond-ibrahim\/","url_meta":{"origin":7149,"position":2},"title":"Crucified Again — Venn Institute Interviews Raymond Ibrahim","author":"victorhanson","date":"July 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Raymond Ibrahim [Note: The following interview was conducted by the\u00a0Venn Institute\u00a0with Raymond Ibrahim] Raymond Ibrahim is a widely published author, public speaker, and Middle East and Islam expert, and author most recently of\u00a0Crucified Again: Exposing Islam\u2019s New War on Christians. 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