Review (PDF) The Decline Of Eastern Christianity Under Islam: From Jihad To Dhimmitude: Seventh-Twentieth Century
In this study, Bat Ye’or gives an analysis of the dogma and strategies of jihad, offering a vast panorama of the history of the Jews and Christians under the rule of Islam. A pioneer in a virgin field of research for which she has coined the term “dhimmitude,” the author has included a documentary section illuminating the process of Eastern Christianity’s Islamization. In two waves of Islamic expansion, the Christian and Jewish populations of the Mediterranean regions and Mesopotamia, who had developed the most prestigious civilizations, were conquered by jihad. Millions of Christians from Spain, Egypt, Syria, Greece, and Armenia; Latins and Slavs from southern and central Europe; as well as Jews, were henceforth governed by the shari’a (Islamic law). A knowledge of this historical background is essential in order to understand contemporary events.
Paperback: 522 pages
Publisher: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press (September 1, 1996)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1611471362
ISBN-13: 978-1611471366
Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1.2 x 9.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (97 customer reviews)
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This book is about the Islamisation of the Middle East (primarily), North Africa, Persia and the Balkans and how Muslim apologists and their Western apologist allies have concealed the countless attrocities, oppression and forced conversions of conquered non-Muslims by "killing history" (i.e supressing the truth and reinventing history).Before the author is accused of tarnishing Islam and the Muslim community, it must be emphasised that this book draws heavily from quotes from the Quran (the Holy Book which Muslims claim was given by God to Prophet Muhammad); the Hadith (i.e. a compilation of the sayings of Prophet Muhammad); and articles written by renowned Muslim historians, theologians and jurists ....all of which advocates war against unbelievers until finally all of the latter are subjugated and the harsh and humiliating treatment which must be meted out on unbelievers until they embrace the "One True Religion".The process of Islamisation can be broadly divided into 2 stages :1) JIHAD - This concept is not only embodied in the Quran but is an obligation of every able bodied Muslim man as a means to bring Islam to the unbelievers. The Prophet Muhammad fought 66 to 67 wars (all or almost all of which were offensive) during his lifetime against Jews and pagan Arabs. A number of his wives and concubines (i.e. Reihana, Safiya etc)were actually taken from Jewish tribes which he defeated or massacred (i.e. Banu Nadir, Banu Quraiza etc). In the first stage of Islamisation (i.e. the Jihad) Muslim armies conquered the whole of the Arabian peninsula and then onwards to the Middle East, North Africa and Persia by the 7th and early 8th centuries. Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians were given the choice of conversion to Islam, death or becoming a Dhimmi (i.e. tributary).
Bat Ye'or has done the world an immeasurable service with this very scholary and sobering book on Islam and its Jihad and Dhimmitude against non-Muslims. We in the West, after having endured centuries of wars of religion, have come at last to accept the idea of tolerance of other religions. Islam, however, has an opposite credo: all non-Muslims live in "dar al-harb", the world of war; and Muslims mean this literally. The reader of this work must gird his loins as he learns of the persistent genocide throughout history of non-Muslims, which evil deeds go on even to this day (eg, against the Lebanese Christians). Of course, the same goes for Jews as well as all other non-Muslim religions. We learn from history here unveiled for Western eyes for the first time that, excepting only the Arabian Peninsula itself, the rest of the Middle East was originally (ie pre-Muhammed) non-Arab and pre-dominantly Christian, with large minorities of Jews as well as Zoroastrians, et al. These non-Muslim populations were brutally murdered (often with the women and children sold as slaves) and then the lands re-populated with Arab Muslims! This includes Palestine itself. The idea, then, that Palestinians have a "right" to this land, as they claim, is ipso facto absurd. It was originally Christian and Jewish land, then systematically and violently "de-populated" through Jihads, and then re-populatedwith Arab Muslims; and this occurred in the entire Middle East! That we are only now finding out about this sordid and tragic and unforgiveable history of unrelenting racial and religiious genocide is highly disturbing. And lest we think that this has stopped, read about the Muslims exterminating the Christian Armenians, millions of them, before and during WWI.
For all who enjoy the writing of Bat Ye'or, I will say that "The Decline of Eastern Christianity" is only a prelude to his new book (I've read a galley copy), "Eurabia", an examination of the European-Arabic anti-American/Jewish alliance. If "The Decline" presents a horrifying picture of the past, "Eurabia" projects a similar future for any non-Muslims unlucky enought to live within a Muslim society.If I hear another politician say, "Muslims are just like Methodists" (Bush) I am going berserk. Islam is NOT like any other modern religion in numerous respects. Nor, as the author points out, has it changed its fundamental beliefs and world view in the past 1300 years. It has, from its inception, spread through quite worldly methods - conquest, forced conversion and mass murder. Dhimmitude, that secondary status of all "infidels" within an Islamic society, has been and remains an integral part of the society. Byzantium was once a thriving culture, the original home of Christianity, the pathway between East and West. Yet, over hundreds of years those Christian areas - Turkey, Syria, Southern Europe, Southern Russia - became Muslim through sheer force. One should remember that this was state/church policy, not the decision of isolated kingpins. Muslims believe that subjugation, slavery and unequal treatment are not only allowable but moral if it furthers the faith. Thus, the question is viewed differently from the start.The writing is detailed, documented, researched. For the most part, the evidence comes from Muslim sources. If Islam has not exactly been open about its society (and it is strangely authoritarian in so many ways) it has not exactly covered up its past. No, it has celebrated the lack of diversity found in almost every Muslim country.
The Decline of Eastern Christianity Under Islam: From Jihad to Dhimmitude: Seventh-Twentieth Century Islam:A very short Introduction,Islam:What the west needs to know,Islam for Dummies,Islam:The straight path 2014 The Third Choice: Islam, Dhimmitude and Freedom Offensive and Defensive Lawfare: Fighting Civilization Jihad in America's Courts (Civilization Jihad Reader Series Book 7) Offensive and Defensive Lawfare: Fighting Civilization Jihad in America's Courts (Civilization Jihad Reader Series) (Volume 7) Una Historia De Dios / a History of God: 4000 anos de busqueda en el judaismo, el cristianismo y el islam/ The 4000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (Surcos) (Spanish Edition) Under the Black Flag: At the Frontier of the New Jihad In God's Image: The Metaculture of Fijian Christianity (The Anthropology of Christianity) The Story of Christianity, Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation (Story of Christianity) History of Ethiopian Religion: Christianity of different denominations, Islam, Judaism A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam The Crusades, Christianity, and Islam (Bampton Lectures in America) The Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam (Princeton Classic Editions) Chosen among Women: Mary and Fatima in Medieval Christianity and Shi'ite Islam Promises Fulfilled: Christianity, Islam, and the Bahai Faith El ala radical del Islam: El Islam político: realidad y ficción (Spanish Edition) This Is Islam: From Muhammad and the community of believers to Islam in the global community (This World of Ours) The Deception of Allah Volume 1 (study in depth of Islam, investigating Muhammad and Islam, volume 1 The Evil Teachings of Islam, Quran & Prophet Muhammad: Irrelevance of Islam Islam for Beginners: Basics of Islam and Muslim Customs (+ Gift Inside)
