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July 22 2014
A Line Crossed in the Middle East
What the end of Christianity in Mosul means for Christians everywhere
by Mark Movsesian
Say goodbye to one of the most ancient Christian communities in the
world. Last week, members of ISIS--the "Islamic State in Iraq and
Syria," a Sunni Islamist group that recently has captured parts of
Iraq and declared a new caliphate--began going through the northern
Iraqi city of Mosul and marking the homes of Christians with the
Arabic letter "Nun." "Nun" stands for "Nasara," from "Nazarenes," a
word that refers to Christians. The implications were clear. Mosul's
Christians faced the same fate the Christians of Raqqa, Syria, had
when ISIS captured their city last spring. "We offer them three
choices," ISIS announced: "Islam; the dhimma contract--involving
payment of jizya; if they refuse this they will have nothing but the
sword."
The dhimma is the notional contract that governs relations between the
Muslim community, or umma, and Christians (as well as Jews) in
classical Islamic law. The dhimma allows Christians to reside in
Muslim society in exchange for payment of a poll tax called the
jizya--in Mosul, ISIS required a jizya of about $500--and submission to
various social and legal restrictions. The dhimma forbids Christians
from attracting attention during worship, for example, from building
new churches, and generally from asserting equality with Muslims.
The dhimma is said to date back to an "agreement" a seventh-century
caliph made with the Christians of Syria, though nowadays most
scholars dismiss that claim. Most likely, the rules developed over
time; by the eighth or ninth centuries, they were standardized in the
Islamic law books. From the classical Muslim perspective, the dhimma
reflects the fact that Christians, as the recipients of an earlier,
incomplete revelation, merit some protection and communal autonomy.
But there is a price. The jizya and the many dhimma restrictions are
meant to keep Christians in their place and provide a salutary
incentive for them to convert to Islam.
By last week, most Christians in Mosul had already taken a fourth
option--evacuation. Their departure marks the end of a continuous
Christian tradition in Mosul. For thousands of years, Mosul has been a
center for Christians, particularly for Assyrians, an ethnic group
that predates the Arab conquest of Mesopotamia. Indeed, the ancient
Assyrian capital of Nineveh, where the Prophet Jonah preached, lies
across the Tigris River. Christianized in apostolic times, Assyrians
have divided over the centuries into a number of communions that
reflect the history of the religion: the Assyrian Church of the East,
a small body, historically associated with Nestorianism, which once
spread as far as China; the Syriac Orthodox Church, a member of the
Oriental Orthodox family; and the Chaldean-rite Catholic Church, in
communion with Rome. A small number of Assyrian Protestant churches
exist as well, the legacy of nineteenth-century American missionaries.
As recently as a decade ago, tens of thousands of Christians lived in
Mosul, some of them descendents of victims of the genocide the Ottoman
Empire perpetrated against Assyrians, as well as Armenians and Greeks,
during World War I. After this weekend, virtually none remain. On
Saturday, ISIS expelled the fifty-two Christian families still in the
city, after first requiring them to leave behind all their valuables.
For good measure, ISIS also burned an 1800-year-old church and the
Catholic bishop's residence, along with its library and manuscript
collection.
What ISIS has done in Mosul is a worrying hint of Islamism's possible
future. For the moment, ISIS is unique among Islamist groups in
advocating formal reinstatement of the dhimma. Although Islamists
everywhere reject the idea of equality for Christians, they typically
avoid calling for the dhimma, as they understand that most
contemporary Muslims would reject the idea. Nothing succeeds like
success, however. ISIS has now shown that it is possible to
reestablish the dhimma at the center of the Muslim world. Other
Islamist groups will take notice.
The expulsion of Mosul's Christians also serves as a reminder of what
can happen to religious minorities when secular dictatorships in the
Arab world collapse. Principal responsibility for this outrage lies
with ISIS, and with Iraq's Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, whose Shia
sectarianism has alienated Sunnis and created a situation in which
ISIS can flourish. (ISIS brutalizes Shia Muslims as well as
Christians.)
But the United States bears some responsibility as well. Its invasion
of, and subsequent withdrawal from, Iraq set in motion a chain of
events that has allowed radical groups like ISIS to succeed. Having
intervened in the country, the United States had an obligation to take
reasonable steps to prevent disaster from occurring. For Iraq's
Christians, American intervention has been an unmitigated disaster.
In the Middle East, secular dictatorships can be very brutal. But, bad
as they are, they are often the only thing that stands in the way of
the absolute destruction of minority religious communities. Toppling
such dictatorships and hoping for their replacement by "moderates" is
not a good bet. Incredibly, this seems to be a lesson the United
States still has to learn. Consider Syria.
Mark Movsesian is the Frederick A. Whitney Professor of Contract Law
and the Director of the Center for Law and Religion at St. John's
University School of Law. His previous blog posts can be found here.
http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2014/07/a-line-crossed-in-the-middle-east
July 22 2014
A Line Crossed in the Middle East
What the end of Christianity in Mosul means for Christians everywhere
by Mark Movsesian
Say goodbye to one of the most ancient Christian communities in the
world. Last week, members of ISIS--the "Islamic State in Iraq and
Syria," a Sunni Islamist group that recently has captured parts of
Iraq and declared a new caliphate--began going through the northern
Iraqi city of Mosul and marking the homes of Christians with the
Arabic letter "Nun." "Nun" stands for "Nasara," from "Nazarenes," a
word that refers to Christians. The implications were clear. Mosul's
Christians faced the same fate the Christians of Raqqa, Syria, had
when ISIS captured their city last spring. "We offer them three
choices," ISIS announced: "Islam; the dhimma contract--involving
payment of jizya; if they refuse this they will have nothing but the
sword."
The dhimma is the notional contract that governs relations between the
Muslim community, or umma, and Christians (as well as Jews) in
classical Islamic law. The dhimma allows Christians to reside in
Muslim society in exchange for payment of a poll tax called the
jizya--in Mosul, ISIS required a jizya of about $500--and submission to
various social and legal restrictions. The dhimma forbids Christians
from attracting attention during worship, for example, from building
new churches, and generally from asserting equality with Muslims.
The dhimma is said to date back to an "agreement" a seventh-century
caliph made with the Christians of Syria, though nowadays most
scholars dismiss that claim. Most likely, the rules developed over
time; by the eighth or ninth centuries, they were standardized in the
Islamic law books. From the classical Muslim perspective, the dhimma
reflects the fact that Christians, as the recipients of an earlier,
incomplete revelation, merit some protection and communal autonomy.
But there is a price. The jizya and the many dhimma restrictions are
meant to keep Christians in their place and provide a salutary
incentive for them to convert to Islam.
By last week, most Christians in Mosul had already taken a fourth
option--evacuation. Their departure marks the end of a continuous
Christian tradition in Mosul. For thousands of years, Mosul has been a
center for Christians, particularly for Assyrians, an ethnic group
that predates the Arab conquest of Mesopotamia. Indeed, the ancient
Assyrian capital of Nineveh, where the Prophet Jonah preached, lies
across the Tigris River. Christianized in apostolic times, Assyrians
have divided over the centuries into a number of communions that
reflect the history of the religion: the Assyrian Church of the East,
a small body, historically associated with Nestorianism, which once
spread as far as China; the Syriac Orthodox Church, a member of the
Oriental Orthodox family; and the Chaldean-rite Catholic Church, in
communion with Rome. A small number of Assyrian Protestant churches
exist as well, the legacy of nineteenth-century American missionaries.
As recently as a decade ago, tens of thousands of Christians lived in
Mosul, some of them descendents of victims of the genocide the Ottoman
Empire perpetrated against Assyrians, as well as Armenians and Greeks,
during World War I. After this weekend, virtually none remain. On
Saturday, ISIS expelled the fifty-two Christian families still in the
city, after first requiring them to leave behind all their valuables.
For good measure, ISIS also burned an 1800-year-old church and the
Catholic bishop's residence, along with its library and manuscript
collection.
What ISIS has done in Mosul is a worrying hint of Islamism's possible
future. For the moment, ISIS is unique among Islamist groups in
advocating formal reinstatement of the dhimma. Although Islamists
everywhere reject the idea of equality for Christians, they typically
avoid calling for the dhimma, as they understand that most
contemporary Muslims would reject the idea. Nothing succeeds like
success, however. ISIS has now shown that it is possible to
reestablish the dhimma at the center of the Muslim world. Other
Islamist groups will take notice.
The expulsion of Mosul's Christians also serves as a reminder of what
can happen to religious minorities when secular dictatorships in the
Arab world collapse. Principal responsibility for this outrage lies
with ISIS, and with Iraq's Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, whose Shia
sectarianism has alienated Sunnis and created a situation in which
ISIS can flourish. (ISIS brutalizes Shia Muslims as well as
Christians.)
But the United States bears some responsibility as well. Its invasion
of, and subsequent withdrawal from, Iraq set in motion a chain of
events that has allowed radical groups like ISIS to succeed. Having
intervened in the country, the United States had an obligation to take
reasonable steps to prevent disaster from occurring. For Iraq's
Christians, American intervention has been an unmitigated disaster.
In the Middle East, secular dictatorships can be very brutal. But, bad
as they are, they are often the only thing that stands in the way of
the absolute destruction of minority religious communities. Toppling
such dictatorships and hoping for their replacement by "moderates" is
not a good bet. Incredibly, this seems to be a lesson the United
States still has to learn. Consider Syria.
Mark Movsesian is the Frederick A. Whitney Professor of Contract Law
and the Director of the Center for Law and Religion at St. John's
University School of Law. His previous blog posts can be found here.
http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2014/07/a-line-crossed-in-the-middle-east