Posted on 07/05/2002 11:35:55 PM PDT by dennisw
Jihad and Human Rights Today
An active ideology incompatible with universal standards of freedom and equality.
By Bat Ye'or
Human rights and the concept of jihad are two incompatible ideas. In
Judeo-Christian societies, the concept of human rights is based on the
biblical interdiction against killing, and the equality of all human
beings. Though it has religious roots, this notion of human rights evolved
mainly from the 19th century in a secular European and American framework.
It then acquired a universal character, proclaiming the equality of all
human beings and the inviolability of their natural human rights. But
it was only after World War II that this concept became the core of an
international legal system, as a tool to prevent political abuses and
to protect civil populations from genocidal policies.
Other major civilizations -- including the Chinese, Hindu, and Islamic ?
have also conceived legal systems which protect the rights of their
citizens. However, in the Islamic case, specifically, the 54 Muslim
countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference have conceived
their own human-rights charter, contained in the 1990 Cairo Declaration
on Human Rights in Islam.
This document states in its preamble, and in articles 24 and 25, that
all its provisions are in conformity with the sharia, the religious
Islamic law , which has primacy. Moreover, it proclaims that God has
made the Islamic community (umma) the best nation -- and, hence, its
role is to guide humanity. We can see here the differences between the
Cairo Declaration and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which
does not refer to any religion or to the superiority of any group over
another, but stresses the absolute equality of all human beings.
The institution of jihad belongs to a religious, Islamic domain, outside
the realm of Western universalism and secularism. These two domains do
not meet. Secular laws can be changed, abrogated, or ameliorated, but
jihad regulations are believed to express divine commands. By definition,
human beings can neither discuss nor scrutinize the divine will, and
so those jihad obligations -- attributed by the theologians to Allah --
place jihad in the domain of faith. I would like to emphasize strongly
that jihad is a special domain of Islamic law. Not all Muslims know it,
and many reject its ideology. It would be a great mistake to believe
that each and every Muslim identifies with the jihad-war ideology.
The ideology of jihad was formulated by leading Muslim theologians and
scholars from the 8th century onward. Their voluminous writings make clear
the notion of jihad as a holy war of conquest. Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani
(d. 966), for example, stated,
Jihad is a precept of Divine institution... We Malikis [one of four
schools of Muslim jurisprudence] maintain it is preferable not to begin
hostilities with the enemy before having invited the latter to embrace
the religion of Allah, except where the enemy attacks first. They have
the alternative of either converting to Islam or paying the poll tax
(jizya), short of which war will be declared against them...
Jihad ideology separates humanity into two hostile blocs: the
community of Muslims (Dar ul-Islam), and the infidel non-Muslims (Dar
ul-Harb). Allah commands the Muslims to conquer the entire world in
order to rule it according to Koranic law. Hence Muslims must wage
a perpetual war against those infidels who refuse to submit. This is
the motivation for jihad. It is based on the inequality between the
community of Allah and the infidels, as was re-emphasized in the Cairo
Declaration. The first is a superior group, which must rule the world; the
second must submit. The current relevance of this ideology is apparent,
and disturbing. For example, Al-Muhajiroun, an Islamist newspaper in
London, published an article on January 27, 2001, which declared:
Upon the establishment of the Islamic State, the whole world will
potentially be Dar ul Harb since the foreign policy of the Islamic state
is aimed at conquering the world... Once the Islamic State is established
anyone in Dar ul Harb will have no sanctity for his life or wealth hence,
a Muslim in such circumstances can then go into Dar ul Harb and take
the wealth from the people unless there is a treaty with that state. If
there is no treaty, individual Muslims can even go to Dar ul Harb and
take women to keep as slaves.
Such an attitude assumes that the infidels have no rights and are totally
dehumanized. It breeds hatred and contempt and has led to historical
negationism, and the destruction of non-Muslim cultures. Moreover, such
views are not confined to the most radical Islamists. They were confirmed
in the Proceedings of the Fourth Conference of the Academy of Islamic
Research, held in 1968 (General Organization for Government Printing
Offices, Cairo, 1968), and regularly since then by eminent Islamic
scholars. These authoritative pronouncements have recapitulated the
theory of jihad in a manner completely consistent with the Al-Muhajiroun
statements. The theory of jihad against the infidels is composed of two
parts: the ideology, and the military institutions aimed at implementing
this ideology. According to these rules the infidels without a treaty have
no rights at all: they can be deported, reduced to slavery, abducted for
ransom, or killed. Women and children can be taken into slavery. Infidels
can be spared by a temporary treaty which should not go beyond ten years.
The treaty must conform to Islamic rule and serve Islamic interests,
hence a ransom should be paid. The infidels who submit to Islamic rulers
are given a pledge of security against the rules of jihad, so long as they
accept a condition of humiliation, and of total inferiority to Muslims.
Jihad is therefore a genocidal war, according to the modern definition
of genocide. It encourages terrorism against civilians and does not
differentiate between innocent civilians and soldiers. All infidels
without a treaty of protection can be killed. Jihad does not recognize
universal human rights, for there is no equality between Muslims and
infidels, and no reciprocity between Muslims and infidels in legal
matters. Jihad warriors do not accept that either the Geneva Conventions
or the conventional rules of war have any validity for them.
Jihadists have associated the notion of a reward in paradise with the
practice of killing infidels. Killing at war was, and still is, practiced
by all societies. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, wars, because they
imply the acts of killing, are hateful and peace is praised. In the
jihadist ideology, it is war that is praised, along with the killing of
the infidels. Tragically, jihad ideology will not disappear soon. It is
shaping the minds of a generation of young Muslims in many countries.
Jihad ideology is a well-constructed system, created after the death
of the prophet Mohammed. It has remained alive and well since then --
except under secularized Muslim governments like that of Turkey, after
the Kemalist revolution. It is delusional and dangerous to maintain that
this ideology is rooted in social deprivation, backwardness, injustice,
or despair. Moreover, paying subsidies to suspend global jihad terrorism
is tantamount to paying a tribute to terrorist states, and buying one's
own peace and security as temporarily ransomed privileges -- instead
of living by the principles of universal human rights, which proclaim
the inviolability of every human being. Societies that pay a tribute to
survive are destined to disappear.
Bat Ye'or (www.dhimmi.org) is the author of three books on jihad and
dhimmitude, The Dhimmi: Jews and Christians Under Islam (1985), The
Decline of Eastern Christianity Under Islam: From Jihad to Dhimmitude
(1996), and Islam and Dhimmitude: Where Civilizations Collide (2002). This
essay was written in collaboration with Andrew G. Bostom, M.D., an
associate professor of medicine at Brown University School of Medicine. >>
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Jihadists have associated the notion of a reward in paradise with the practice of killing infidels. Killing at war was, and still is, practiced by all societies. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, wars, because they imply the acts of killing, are hateful and peace is praised. In the jihadist ideology, it is war that is praised, along with the killing of the infidels. Tragically, jihad ideology will not disappear soon. It is shaping the minds of a generation of young Muslims in many countries.
I couldn't agree more.
Growing up in a small Baptist church in West Texas I always understood the 100 million man army of the apocalypse coming from the East would be Chinese. While that may still be the case, I've come question my conclusions. Islam now boasts 1 billion members in its cult. I fear that your assessment may be painfully correct.
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