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TWO UPDATES ON SYRIA'S CHRISTIANS
First Things
March 26 2014
by Mark Movsesian
Two updates on last week's post about the persecution of Christians
in Syria -one hopeful, one much less so.
First the hopeful one. As I wrote last week, the Islamic State
in Iraq and the Levant, an al-Qaeda affiliate fighting with Syrian
opposition, has succeeded in capturing the town of Raqqa and imposing
the classical dhimma on the town's Christian inhabitants.The dhimma is
a notional contract that Christians make with the Islamic community;
it offers Christians protection and some autonomy in exchange for
their agreement to pay a poll tax called the jizya and to accept
restrictions on their dress, movement, construction of churches, etc.
Although the historical origins are obscure, the dhimma was a standard
concept in classical Islamic law. The Ottomans abandoned the concept
only in the 19th century. Its revival now, even in this limited way,
is a very worrying sign.
In a response to my post, a post at Andrew Sullivan's blog points to
comments condemning ISIL by a scholar at Egypt's al-Azhar University,
the leading center of Sunni Islamic learning. The scholar, Sheikh
Abdul Zahir Shehata, maintains that Islamic law makes imposition of
the dhimma illegal in these circumstances. ISIL's collection of the
jizya , he says, is "a form of theft that uses religion as a cover."
It's gratifying to see someone from al-Azhar making the point. But
there is a certain ambiguity in Shehata's remarks. If you read them
closely, you see that he is not necessarily condemning the jizya as
such, only its collection by a renegade group:
"ISIL contradicts itself," Shehata said. "On the one hand they say
they are implementing the provisions of Islamic sharia, including the
'jizya', however the Islamic state must be a full-fledged state and
recognised by its citizens and subjects, which is not the case in
the areas where ISIL is imposing its control by force and bloodshed."
Maybe it's a problem with the translation, or perhaps one has to
read the whole interview to understand Shehata's point. But it's
important to focus on the nuances. Perhaps Shehata's real point
is that only a true Islamic law state, not a band of rebels acting
outside government authority, may impose the jizya-in which case,
Syria's Christians may find his rejection of ISIL's actions less
reassuring than first appears.
The less hopeful update: over the weekend, fighters with a different
al-Qaeda offshoot in the opposition, a rival of ISIL known as the Nusra
Front, captured the Armenian Christian town of Kessab. The fighters
crossed the border from Turkey, where their bases are located, and
attacked the town on Friday. By Sunday, it had fallen.
Thousands of Kessab's Christians-some of whom had sought refuge from
Raqqa-have fled to the nearby city of Latakia, where they receiving
assistance from the local community, the Red Cross, and Red Crescent.
Eyewitnesses report that the Nusra Front has looted Christian homes
and stores and desecrated churches in Kessab.
Many Armenian Christians in Kessab descend from refugees who fled
the last great persecution of Christians in the region, the Armenian
Genocide of 1915-itself a byproduct, in part, of a jihad the Ottoman
Empire declared against Christians during World War I. The sad ironies
will not escape any of the Christians in Syria today.
http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2014/03/two-updates-on-syrias-christians
First Things
March 26 2014
by Mark Movsesian
Two updates on last week's post about the persecution of Christians
in Syria -one hopeful, one much less so.
First the hopeful one. As I wrote last week, the Islamic State
in Iraq and the Levant, an al-Qaeda affiliate fighting with Syrian
opposition, has succeeded in capturing the town of Raqqa and imposing
the classical dhimma on the town's Christian inhabitants.The dhimma is
a notional contract that Christians make with the Islamic community;
it offers Christians protection and some autonomy in exchange for
their agreement to pay a poll tax called the jizya and to accept
restrictions on their dress, movement, construction of churches, etc.
Although the historical origins are obscure, the dhimma was a standard
concept in classical Islamic law. The Ottomans abandoned the concept
only in the 19th century. Its revival now, even in this limited way,
is a very worrying sign.
In a response to my post, a post at Andrew Sullivan's blog points to
comments condemning ISIL by a scholar at Egypt's al-Azhar University,
the leading center of Sunni Islamic learning. The scholar, Sheikh
Abdul Zahir Shehata, maintains that Islamic law makes imposition of
the dhimma illegal in these circumstances. ISIL's collection of the
jizya , he says, is "a form of theft that uses religion as a cover."
It's gratifying to see someone from al-Azhar making the point. But
there is a certain ambiguity in Shehata's remarks. If you read them
closely, you see that he is not necessarily condemning the jizya as
such, only its collection by a renegade group:
"ISIL contradicts itself," Shehata said. "On the one hand they say
they are implementing the provisions of Islamic sharia, including the
'jizya', however the Islamic state must be a full-fledged state and
recognised by its citizens and subjects, which is not the case in
the areas where ISIL is imposing its control by force and bloodshed."
Maybe it's a problem with the translation, or perhaps one has to
read the whole interview to understand Shehata's point. But it's
important to focus on the nuances. Perhaps Shehata's real point
is that only a true Islamic law state, not a band of rebels acting
outside government authority, may impose the jizya-in which case,
Syria's Christians may find his rejection of ISIL's actions less
reassuring than first appears.
The less hopeful update: over the weekend, fighters with a different
al-Qaeda offshoot in the opposition, a rival of ISIL known as the Nusra
Front, captured the Armenian Christian town of Kessab. The fighters
crossed the border from Turkey, where their bases are located, and
attacked the town on Friday. By Sunday, it had fallen.
Thousands of Kessab's Christians-some of whom had sought refuge from
Raqqa-have fled to the nearby city of Latakia, where they receiving
assistance from the local community, the Red Cross, and Red Crescent.
Eyewitnesses report that the Nusra Front has looted Christian homes
and stores and desecrated churches in Kessab.
Many Armenian Christians in Kessab descend from refugees who fled
the last great persecution of Christians in the region, the Armenian
Genocide of 1915-itself a byproduct, in part, of a jihad the Ottoman
Empire declared against Christians during World War I. The sad ironies
will not escape any of the Christians in Syria today.
http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2014/03/two-updates-on-syrias-christians