Muddling Toward Maturity Blog

"DHIMMITUDE" - THE STATUS OF NON-MUSLIMS LIVING UNDER ISLAMIC LAW

The quote below is from Andrew Bostom's review of Andrew C. McCarthy's The Grand Jihad: How Islam and the Left Sabatage America.  Bostom quotes the late Lebanese legal scholar Antoine Fattal, who as early as 1958 implored the West to awaken to the determined, civilizational threat we face.  

Dhimma (or dhimmitude) ... is one of the results of the jihad or holy war.  Connected with the notion of jihad is the distinction between dar al-harb (territory or "house" of war) and dar al-islam (house of Islam). The latter includes all territories subject to Muslim authority. It is in a state of perpetual war with the dar al-harb. The inhabitants of the dar al-harb are harbis, who are not answerable to the Islamic authority and whose persons and goods are mubah, that is, at the mercy of Believers. However, when Muslims are in a subordinate state, they can negotiate a truce with the harbis lasting no more than ten years, which they are obliged to revoke unilaterally as soon as they regain the upper hand, following the example of the Prophet after Hudaibiyya

Fatal went on to write:

The dhimmi, we might say, is a second-class citizen. If they [the ruling Muslims] tolerate him it is a calculated step, whether because they cherish the hope of converting him or for material reasons, because they force him to

PORNOGRAPHY - THE DIFFERENCE BEING A PARENT MAKES

- Albert Mohler expands on Steve Jobs' refusal to allow porn applications for the IPhone, Ppod and Ipad.  Good decision. 

- On the other hand, Apple Removed iPhone App that Criticizes Islam, Mohammed, Koran.  A dhimmi move.  Bad decision.

PENTAGON DISINVITES FRANKLIN GRAHAM FROM PRAYER SERVICE OVER ISLAM COMMENTS

HotAir covers the story well and includes a portion of a Sally Quinn interview with Graham.   He doesn't back down from his 2001 statement in which he referred to Islam as "a very evil and wicked religion."  He cites Islam's treatment of women.  

“[I]f you look at what the religion does just to women, women alone, it is just horrid. And so yes, I speak out for women…”

I honor Franklin Graham's forthrightness.   "Political correctness" tyranny must be broken by men and women with the courage to speak the truth.  Bravo! 

Unfortunately, the media turns a blind eye to anything negative about Islam.  Take the attempted censorship of the signs on buses in south Florida offering help to those wanting to leave Islam.   You hadn't heard?  Read the CNS coverage, one of only two news outlets to cover the story. 

Then there's also the media cover-up of Ohio jihadist's arrest.  Of related interest is Comedy Central's submission to Islamic intimidation. 

I was shocked (and encouraged), that CNN interviewed Ayaan Hirsi Ali a couple of days ago.  She's an outspoken critic of Islam.

Muslim Persecution of Christians Around the World

(Note: Most of the links below do not work properly.  I am working to remedy the situation)

Robert Spencer reviews the situation:

Traditional Islamic law mandates the death penalty for Muslims who leave Islam, in accordance with Muhammad’s command: “Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him.” This is still the position of all the schools of Islamic jurisprudence, although there is some disagreement over whether the law applies only to men, or to women also.

Many Muslims take this dictum quite seriously even today. In August 2007, Mohammed Hegazy, an Egyptian convert from Islam to Christianity, was forced to go into hiding after

Anti-Islamist Rally Banned in Brussels

From Vasko Kohlmayer's report:

An eagerly awaited public rally was to take place in Brussels - the capital of the European Union - on September 11 of this year.  Called 'Against Islamisation of Europe,' its intent was to protest the spreading of Islamic sharia law across the European continent and honor by a minute of silence the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks. 

The fact that the rally has been banned is a serious and significant development and reading the article will indicate why.  Kolmayer concludes his report:

It is hard to believe that

Daniel Pipes on Ways to Counter Saudi Arabia's Religious Discrimination, Arrogance, and Repression

As I noted before, travelers aren't allowed to bring Bibles, crucifixes, or Stars of David into Saudi Arabia.  Now Daniel Pipes weighs in advocating measures that should be taken to develop fairness and greater reciprocity.   He says:

The Saudi leadership runs a country that the American government has condemned repeatedly as having "no religious freedom" and being among the most religiously repressive in the world.

Saudia, the state-owned national carrier and its portal to the world, offers a pressure point for change. To take advantage of this vulnerability, Western governments should demand that

Teachers Drop the Holocaust to Avoid Offending Muslims

The U.K. Daily Mail has the story.

Schools are dropping the Holocaust from history lessons to avoid offending Muslim pupils, a Government backed study has revealed.

It found some teachers are reluctant to cover the atrocity for fear of upsetting students whose beliefs include Holocaust denial.

I am glad I started an "absurdity" category on this blog last week.  Most timely.

John Derbyshire Scorns the Kowtowing of Modern Brits

Update: Derbyshire maintains his position, saying he expects Marines to stand up to torture.  Here's his additional comment.

**

Derbyshire writes of the British captives held by the Iranians:

How on earth can Britons behave like that? A previous generation would not have done so. I knew the women of my mother’s generation pretty well (Mum was born in 1912), and I am certain that any one of them, given that headscarf and told to put it on, would have said: “You can hang me with it if you like, but I’ll be damned if I’ll wear the filthy thing.” The men likewise. What on earth has happened to the British? Where is John Moyse?

After some paragraphs he returns to ask:

What on earth has happened to the British?

What has happened is multiculturalism. The British no longer feel that contempt for other nations that sustained them for so many centuries. Or, if they feel it, they guiltily suppress that feeling, as being flagitiously “racist.” Boswell described Johnson as “a stern TRUE-BORN ENGLISHMAN, and fully prejudiced against all other nations.” (Boswell’s capitals.) That would have the Thought Police knocking on Johnson’s door nowadays.

He goes on to quote George Orwell and make other comments.  It's all quite stimulating and worth reading, even if you (and I for sure) have some reservations.    What he says, though, is somewhat reminiscent of C.S. Lewis's The Abolition of Man, where Lewis speaks of "men without chests."  There's something to contemplate here.

DHIMMITUDE IN GERMANY: MOZART OPERA CANCELLED DUE TO THREATS OF ISLAMIST VIOLENCE

UPI reports:

In Germany, Mozart bows to Mohammed

BERLIN, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- On the eve of the first German Islam Conference, a Berlin opera house has sparked controversy for canceling a Mozart show due to threats of Islamist violence.

The Deutsche Opera said in a statement security risks presented to the company by Berlin's police had caused them to cancel their show 'Idomeneo,' a Mozart opera in which King Idomeneo sets the severed heads of religious figures, including the Prophet Mohammed and Jesus Christ, on chairs and laughs at them.

The scene would pose an "incalculable security risk" for the house and its visitors, the opera said in a statement, referencing similar violence sparked by the cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad or the recent remarks by the pope.

More details here, including the following:

Ayyub Axel Koehler, the head of the Central Council of Muslims, one of Germany's largest Muslim groups, [said],  "While we are absolutely in agreement with the need for a free press, free opinion and free arts, we also think that there are certain limits to those freedoms," he said. "If there are issues that most deeply hurt the feelings of believers, then one should be considerate, as it should be normal
among civilized persons."       HT: Cliff May at The Corner.

UPDATE 9/28/06 - Roger Kimball concludes his article in Opinion Journal with these words:

Today it was Mozart. Tomorrow perhaps it will be Shakespeare. Or Dante, who after all has a pretty hot place reserved for Muhammad in "The Divine Comedy." It is not--not yet--too late to put a stop to our habit of appeasing a murderous fanaticism that demands privileges and indulgences it refuses to grant to others.

The spectacle of Deutsche Oper's decision to cancel "Idomeneo" suggests that the West's dealings with Islam have entered a new phase. Yesterday, we waited until after the Muslims took to the streets before capitulating; today, it appears we have moved on to pre-emptive capitulation.

Where will it end? I suppose that depends on how much we really care about the liberty and freedom we champion with words. Freedom, as some wit observed, is not free. Will we have the gumption to pay the cost? The jury is still out on that question. I hope and pray that the answer will be yes. "There is," G.K. Chesterton noted nearly 100 years ago, "a thought that stops thought. That is the only thought that ought to be stopped."

DHIMMIS AND DHIMMITUDE: AN EXPLANATION

See here.

Update: 9/28/06 - Michelle Malkin's extensive list of articles referring to dhimmitude can be found here. 

The West's Cowardly Acquiescence to Dhimmitude

I can't  remember when I have read an article that stated so clearly and so forcefully and so well the existing facts regarding Islam and the West.   I am referring to Clifford D. May's reminder of the West's cowardly acceptance of Muslim assymetry in relationship to Christianity and the West.

He writes:

Many commentators have noted the apparent irony: The pope suggests Islam encourages violence — and Muslims riot in protest.

Many commentators have pointed out the apparent hypocrisy: Muslims are outraged by cartoons satirizing Islamic extremism while in Muslim countries Christianity and Judaism are attacked viciously and routinely.

Many commentators are missing the point: These protesters — and those who incite them — are not asking for mutual respect and equality. They are not saying: “It’s wrong to speak ill of a religion.” They are saying: “It’s wrong to speak ill of our religion.” They are not standing up for a principle. They are laying down the law. They are making it as clear as they can that they will not tolerate “infidels” criticizing Muslims. They also are making it clear that infidels should expect criticism — and much worse — from Muslims.

They are attempting nothing less than the establishment of a new world order in which the supremacy of what they call the Nation of Islam is acknowledged, and “unbelievers” submit — or die. Call it an offer you can’t refuse.

May's article continues, offering incident after incident, example after example, and then he says:

Is the Western ideal of freedom of speech and of the press threatened? Of course but that’s only part of what is at work here. More significantly, Americans and Europeans are being relegated to the status of a dhimmi — the Arabic word applied to those conquered by Muslim armies between the 7th and 17th centuries. Based on sharia law, dhimmis are meant to “feel themselves subdued,” to acknowledge their inferiority compared to Muslims.

In some ways, we already have done so. For example, Muslims are welcome in the Vatican, even as Christians are banned from setting foot in Mecca. We do not object to Saudis building mosques in America and Europe, even as they prohibit churches and synagogues on Arabian soil.

We pledge to abide by the Geneva Conventions when waging wars against Muslim combatants. We do expect those combatants to follow the same rules. They are engaged in a jihad and they will show no mercy to infidel soldiers or even to infidel journalists. The “international community” does not seriously protest. With our silence, we consent to inequality.

Most of the world’s Muslims are neither rioting nor calling for the death of the pontiff. But quite a few may reason that if Christians and Jews haven’t the confidence to reject dhimmitude and defend freedom, they would be foolish to stick their necks out. After all, a Muslim who challenges the Islamist fascists brands himself as an apostate — as deserving of death as any uppity pope.