Download the legacy of the crusades and muslim`s relations with the dhimmi

THE LEGACY OF THE
CRUSADES AND MUSLIM’S
RELATIONS WITH THE
DHIMMI
Major Issues of Contention
between Islam and the West
• The Crusades
• The Inquisition
: Western Muslims greatly decreased after
the completion of the Reconquista as non-Christians were forced to convert
to Catholicism or leave the Iberian Peninsula during the persecutions of the
Spanish Inquisition of the 15th century.
• European colonialism
• Rise, expansion, and decline of
the Ottoman Empire
11TH-13TH Century: the Crusades
• 8 military expeditions
• Christianity and Islam pitted against each
other
• Attempt by Roman Catholic Church and
Papal Authority to reconsolidate power
and control
• Offensive to drive Muslims out of Spain,
Italy Sicily, and the Mediterranean
• West: began to emerge out of Dark Ages
•Perceptions of Crusades
The West:
Triumph of Christianity
Crusades fought to liberate Jerusalem
Politically rather than religiously
motivated
Characteristic/reflective of Medieval
Warfare
Muslim Understanding:
Clear example of militant Christianity
Empirical example of Western
aggression and imperialism
Manifestation of Christian hostility
and intolerance towards Islam
Establishment of Islamic Hegemony
• After Muhammad’s death in 632, military,
cultural and religious hegemony was
established on Arab peninsula, Persia,
Syria, Egypt, Turkey and North Africa.
• 8th and 9th centuries: Spain and Sicily and
parts of France
• By 13th and 14th century: India, Indonesia
and parts of China had succumbed to
Islamic rule.
Mobilization of Crusaders
1. Pilgrimage
2. Holy War
Pilgrimage was sign of Christian piety;
promise of forgiveness of sins
Christian concept of holy war bestowed
crusades with a sense of righteousness,
honor, and chivalry. To die a martyr
meant access to heaven despite of sins.
Human Target of Crusaders
• Target were Muslims, local Christians,
and Jews
• Looting, killing, and violation of
women was prominent
• “Better the turban of a Turk than the
tiara of the Pope.”
Jerusalem: Holy City
• 1099: Christians captured Jerusalem
• 1193: Muslims mounted counteroffensive
under Saladin
reversal of ban that had prohibited
Jews from settling in Jerusalem
• 13th century: Crusades degenerated into
intra-Christian wars
Collapse of Arab dynasty
• The Moguls captured Baghdad in 1258
and assassinated the last Abassid Caliph
• Region was left without any central
authority until the emergence of the
Ottoman Empire to the North
• The decline of the Arab dynasty prompted
3 new Muslim dynasties: The Ottomans,
the Safavid and the Mughal Empires
Significance of Holy Land
• Muslims: Jerusalem is third most
important holy site after Mecca and
Medina


Dome of the Rock
Al-Aqsa Mosque
Jerusalem continued
• Jewish history is linked to sites in and
around Jerusalem
• King Solomon’s temple
• Center of God’s promised land linked
to ancient Hebrews and their
descendants as chronicled in the Old
Testament
Jerusalem and Christians
• Holy Land centered in and around
Jerusalem witnessed life of Jesus
• Nazareth, Bethlehem, Jerusalem are
sacred because of belief that Jesus
was born, died, and resurrected from
the dead there
Muslim’s and Dhimmi
• People of the Book
• Muslims used to face Jerusalem for
prayer
• Medina: first Islamic State
here prophet reached out to
Jewish tribes but was ultimately
betrayed
Central Pillars of the First Islamic
State
• The ummah
• Granting of religious and cultural
autonomy to non-Muslims; status of
protected people
• Medina’s constitution still heralded as
evidence of Islam’s inherent message
of religious pluralism
Muslim-Jewish Relations
• Alignment of Jews with Muhammad’s
enemies in Mecca led to killing of
Jews as traitors
• Hamas and al-Queda’s outlook on
Jews today
• Jews found refuge in many Muslim
areas under the Ottomans
Muslim-Christian Relations
Conflict and cooperation characterize this
relationship.
Rapid spread of Islam as religion
challenged political power and hegemony
of Christendom
Many Christians persecuted by Catholic
Christianity welcomed Muslim rule
Major Issues of Contention
between Islam and the West
today
•
•
•
•
The Crusades
The Inquisition
European Colonialism
Rise, Expansion, and Decline of
Ottoman Empire
Religious and Philosophical Debates
• Spain
• Mughal Emperor Akbar
The Ottoman Empire and the millet
system
• Religious community officially
recognized by the Ottoman Empire
1.Greek Orthodox
2.Armenian Gregorian
3.Muslim
4.Jewish
Non-Muslims in an Islamic State
• Graduated Citizenship
1. conversion to Islam
2. Retention of personal faith
a. Poll tax
3. if refusal of protected status,
warfare is justifiable
The contemporary Islamic State
Two major groups:
• Strict application of gradations of
citizenship
• Hierarchical approach to citizenship is
incompatible with pluralistic realities
of today and international human
rights
Islamic State: Application of
Sharia Law
•
•
•
•
•
Muslim’s vocation was to follow/obey God’s will
Knowing God’s will is prerequisite
Central expression in Islamic Law=Sharia Law
Law rather than theology was the dominant
discipline for describing and living by faith
God’s revelation and Mohammad’s prophetic
example were used as starting points for Islamic
law;
Four Foundations of Islamic Law
1. The Koran—many times in the Koran it says “obey me
2.
3.
4.
5.
and obey my prophet”
Tradition (sunna) of Muhammad
Ijma ( Consensus): today means consensus of qualified
scholars (ulema)
Qiyas (analogy): assumes that legal guidance in Koran
and sunna can be applied to other cases
Many outsiders consider Islamic law rather inflexible;
yet the application of the four roots often makes it
quite flexible in application
Sharia Law
• Sharia also known as path to God
• Islamic state=Islamic society governed by
•
Islamic law became blueprint for good, just, and
equal society; an Islamic ideal
Sharia is perceived as a set of divinely revealed
general principles, directives and values from
which human beings developed more concrete
laws, rules, and regulations which were
developed and applied by Islamic judges (qadis)
in Sharia courts
Islamic law continued
• Within a few centuries of Muhammad’s death,
•
•
pious Muslims concerned with the unfettered
powers of Muslim rules and the infiltration and
uncritical adoptation of foreign practices, sought
to preserve the true path of God and to limit the
powers of the caliph
Muslims codified Islamic Law
Work of individual jurists (members of ulema)
gave birth to different schools of law
Different Schools of
Jurisprudence: Sharia Law
• Schools of law began to emerge in urban
centers such as Medina, Mecca,
Damascus, Baghdad, Kufa etc.
• Though united in purpose and based upon
the same sources, their conclusions
embodied different geographic and
cultural contexts as well as intellectual
orientations.
Closing the door of Ijtihad
• Ijtihad=doors of interpretation
• By the end of the 10th century, legal
scholars felt that all major legal issues had
been decided; they said that the door of
interpretation (ijtihad) was closed and
Muslims had to consult past decisions
collected in the books of the various law
Schools (taqlid)