Pact of Umar, 7th Century - Essay Example

Large numbers of people living in regions conquered by Islam ultimately converted to that faith. Do these pacts suggest to you any possible reasons for some of those conversions? Islam, the religious ideology is deeply connected to its political and military agendas. Theoretically, Islam is an innovative religion which envisions universal brotherhood and global peace. But difference in practice and interpretation of the Holy Koran makes Islam the source of most notorious group of religious fundamentalists and terrorists. Historically, Islamic conquest is followed by political supremacy and forced conversion. Besides, the religious and political power of Islam, vested on leadership helps it to spread its influence to every nook and corner of the world. Thesis statement: An analysis of two pacts, i.e., The Pact of Umar, 7th Century and The Pact of Umar, 9th Century, to unearth the reasons behind Islamic conquest and conversion to faith. Analysis Islam is a religion that cannot be separated from its military and political agenda, i.e., formation of Islamic world under Islamic rules. But in Europe, Islamic conquest was not easy because it resulted in a number of wars and bloodshed (Cappi 19). But in Syria and Palestine, Islamic conquest was an easy task. This proves that the spread of Islam in its initial stages was based upon its military power. Besides, militant nationalism and unending desire to spread Islam helped the Islamic rulers in the Middle East Asia to spread invade its neighboring nation states. So, it is utmost important to analyze the Pact of Umar, 7th Century and the Pact of Umar, 9th Century to unearth the scope of Islamic conquest, conversion to faith and the possible reasons for some of those conversions. Pact of Umar, 7th Century The Pact of Umar was an agreement of peace between Muslims and Christians during the reign of Caliph Umar in 7th Century. Besides, this pact was applicable to the Syrian Christians aiming to mold later interaction between Muslims and Christians. Generally saying, this pact exposes the condition of Non Muslim believers under a Muslim ruler. The rapid expansion of Muslim rule from the Middle East to its neighboring regions helped the Muslim rulers to exert influence on Non-Muslim population. But they exploited this condition to impose more restrictions on Non-Muslim population. For instance, the Pact of Umar makes clear that the Syrians who believed in Christianity were forced to follow the rules and regulations put forth by Caliph Umar I. The Pact proves that the Christian community in Syria was under the control of Caliph Umar I. The main points in the pact prove that the Christians were not allowed to build or repair churches or monasteries in Syria. Besides, they were responsible to provide essential facilities to Muslim travelers. For instance, the Internet Medieval Sourcebook makes clear that: “We shall give board and lodging to all Muslims who pass our way for three days” (Internet Medieval Sourcebook).In addition, conversion to Christianity was strictly prohibited and the Syrians did not have any right to forbid their own people from joining Islam. Sol Scharfstein states that: “We shall not prevent any of our kin from entering if they wish it” (Scharfstein 137). Instead, they were forced to pay religious tax to exhibit their submission towards Islam. The view of Holy Koran is that eternal peace and heaven is limited to its followers only. The Syrians were not allowed to carry weapons with them. Besides, they were forbidden from displaying religions symbols in public. But, violation of foretold undertakings would attract strict punishment. So, the Pact of Umar imposed much stress and restrictions upon Christians in Syria and was helpful to the Islamic rulers or leaders to covert non-Muslims to Islamic faith. The Pact of Umar, 9th Century The pact or Umar or the Treaty of Umar I in the 9th Century reveals the limitations to non-Muslims and a number of privileges enjoyed by Muslims. The Pact generally aimed to control the Christians and Jews in Syria and Palestine. Besides, it reveals the relationship between Muslim rulers/leaders and non-Muslims in Syria and Palestine. The Jews and Christians were forced to pay tax to live under the control of Muslim rulers. Instead of this heavy tax, the Muslim rulers guaranteed protection from external and internal aggression. Generally, the pact or Umar or the Treaty of Umar I in the 9th Century was similar to Pact of Umar, 7th Century. The main difference is that some rules were added to control the Jew population. The general rules regarding to religious belief include the agreement on honor given to Muslims in Syria and Palestine. For instance, the Jewish History Sourcebook makes clear that: “That we will honor the Muslims and rise up in our assemblies when they wish to take their seats” (Jewish History Sourcebook).The Christians were not allowed to imitate Muslims on their dressing, religious belief and language. William Ambrose Shedd makes clear that: “that we will not refuse the Muslims entry into our churches either by night or by day” (Shedd 236). The same peace pact forced the Christians and Jews in Syria and Palestine to allow Muslims to enter their churches and Synagogues without any restriction. The Christians and Jews were not allowed to take slaves from their Muslim masters. Spying on Muslims was strictly prohibited and attracted severe punishment. If the Christians and Jews happen to violate these rules and regulations, they were treated like enemies. The Pact was in the form of self-agreement from Christians and Jews in Syria and Palestine. So, the Muslim rulers enjoyed unquestionable rights on converting Christians and Jews to Islam in Syria and Palestine. Why people converted to Islam? The foretold examples of Syria and Palestine reveal the fact that Islamic conquest and conversion are interconnected. But David Cook opines that Sufi saints played an important role in large scale conversion of non-believers to Islamic faith (Cook 74). The analysis of Pact of Umar, 7th Century and The Pact of Umar, 9th Century is helpful to suggest possible reasons for conversion to Islam. They are: 1. Conversion to Islam is supported by its military and political agendas. 2. Theoretically, Islam is a religion with toleration. But practically, toleration towards non-believers is neglected. Theoretically, Islam is a religion based on peace and mercy and it does not allow its followers to be terrorists (Ibrahim 59). But taxation on non-believers and unmerciful judicial decisions became important and it paved the way to forced conversion. 3. The Pacts prove that Islamic invasion in Syria and Palestine resulted in large scale conversion to Islam. 4. The self-agreement on taxation and religious belief divided the Christians and Jews in Syrian and Palestinian societies. 5. The Arabic language acted the role of a co-coordinating factor for the Muslims, but segregated non-Muslims like Christians and Jews. 6. The military and political supremacy of Islamic invaders helped to exert much pressure upon non-believers of Islam and eventually led to conversion. For instance, in Africa, the leaders were forced to accept Islam and the local population did not show much hesitation towards conversion (Rosander and Westerlund 55). 7. The political and social structure in Syria and Palestine were helpless to resist the threat from Islam. 8. The military supremacy of Umar I helped the Islamic invaders to exert political supremacy in Syria and Palestine. Summing, the suggestions based on analysis of the Pacts prove that Islamic conquest ultimately leads to forced conversion. Besides, the military/political/religious agenda of Islam was helpful to convert non-believers to Islam. The Pacts reveal the poor kit social condition of Syria and Palestine. This helped the Muslim invaders to exert much influence on Syrian and Palestinian societies. When invaders undertakes the Military and political control, there exists high scope for conversion to faith. Analysis of both the Pacts proves this fact. Bibliography Cappi, Michael. A Never Ending War. Canada: Trafford Publishing, 2007. Cook, David. Martyrdom in Islam. Cambridge University Press, 2007. “Jewish History Sourcebook: Islam and the Jews: The Pact of Umar, 9th Century CE.” Jewish History Sourcebook. 31 May 2007. 28 May 2010. . Ibrahim, I. A. A brief illustrated guide to understanding Islam. The United States of America: Darussalam, 1997. “Medieval Sourcebook: Pact of Umar, 7th Century.” Internet Medieval Sourcebook. 10 Dec 2006. 28 May 2010. . Rosander, Eva Evers, and David Westerlund. African Islam and Islam in Africa: encounters between Sufis and Islamists. Great Britain: C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 1997. Scharfstein, Sol. Jewish history and you: from the patriarchs to the expulsion from Spain with documents and texts. Hong Kong: KTAV Publishing House, Inc., 2000. Shedd, William Ambrose. Islam and the Oriental churches: their historical relations. Gorgias Press LLC, 2004. Read More