Key Aspects of Formation of a Persecuting Society and No God but God - Book Report/Review Example

Key aspects of Formation of a Persecuting Society and No god but God Introduction: Persecution was one of the major attributes of medieval society. The violence and persecution were simply widespread in the medieval world. Most of the persecutions in the history had been occurred due to the religion. Religious persecution had been familiar in Roman Empire. Eleventh and twelfth centuries, the permanent change occurred in European society and persecution became habitual. It was the same case in Arabian region or the entire Middle East after the spread of Islam. The violence started after the death of Prophet Muhammad on various issues. The violence was not just on individual level, but it was the institutional, governmental and judicial too. It was between the groups of people of different race, religion and lifestyle. Same situation was there in Europe after the fall of Roman Empire. Around 1100 Europe had become a persecuting society. Persecution was the common phenomenon in the history of Islam and Christianity. It is one of the characteristics of barbarian society which has left all the signs of civilization behind. The stories of persecutions are famous in European as well as the history of Islam. The books such as “No God But God,” written by Reza Aslan or the book “The Formation of a Persecuting Society,” written by R.I. Moore, are among the finest elaborations of the persecution society in medieval Europe and Middle East countries. Key words: Persecution, Islam, Christianity State system connected to Islam and Christianity: Muslim community was growing rapidly at the time of the death of Muhammad. But the community had become orphan and leaderless. Due to the extension of an unmanageable condition the community was likely to face anarchy. Thus Muslim community was undergoing a turbulent phase after Muhammad’s sad demise. Muhammad’s vision of divinely inspired state was becoming so popular that the other regions from Arabian Peninsula had started following the same vision. In Yemen, a man called Al-Aswad claimed that he had received message from God to set up his own state independent of Mecca and Medina. In Eastern Arabia Maslama had also followed the same formula of Muhammad and got immense popularity. The divine vision of Muhammad became like a fashion or trend which resulted into hypocrisy. It was a great threat to the political stability of Ummah. Hence the first and major task in such circumstances was to find someone who could replace Muhammad and maintain the stability and integrity of the community. Lots of discussions started arising. It was also suggested that the leadership should be dual, i.e. one is from Mecca and another is from Medina. But it was also unacceptable. After the discussion the person was selected to be the leader of the community and it was Abu Bakr. He was given the title of Caliph. A Caliph was regarded as the “Trusty” or “Agent” of God. Out of the religious need, the political system was established in Arabian Peninsula and the community chaos thus ended. The political system thus placed on the foundation of religion. Christianity was prevalent in Middle East before the rise of Islam. But in Muslim Spain some period was there in which intolerance towards Christianity became so strong that it resulted religious persecutions. Islamic laws there, were not allowing Jews as well as Christians to promote their religious faith in public. But these prohibitions affected Christian as compared to Jews. That might be the reason according to Reza Aslan that Christianity disappeared from the Islamic region. On the other hand the least affected Jews became prosperous and their community increased. Islam and Christianity are the two religions connected with each other historically and traditionally. The two religions have their origin in the Middle East itself. Islam started spreading and expanding hastily in all over Middle East after the death of Prophet Muhammad. Christianity also spread in Europe after the fall of Roman Empire. Some have opined that the fall of Roman Empire occurred due to the spread of Christianity. The establishment of Christianity brought social anarchy and disorder. Though it could be a coincidence, but Christianity had definitely played a crucial role in throwing out the roots of Mighty Roman Empire after its growth. At the same time Europe underwent a political change with the fall of Roman Empire in Western and Central of Europe. A new state system was developed which was totally different from the classical Roman Empire. Though two different religions we find some similar incidents between Christianity and Islam. The common sect in the conflict of both Islam and Christianity was Jew. The Sect or other group Conflict: The conflict between two sects happened in the medieval age in both Europe and Middle East. In Europe the Catholic Church was striving for its identity of Christianity whereas in Middle East the Kharijites were striving for the identity of Islam. After the spread of Islam a new sect emerged which was known as Kharijites. Kharijites were the supporters of the forth Caliph Ali b. Abi Talib. This community was intensely conscious about the identity of Islam. This group was obsessed in distinguishing between Muslims and non-Muslim. According to this sect one who violated the made rules of Quran and Prophet Muhammad would be considered as Kafir or unbeliever and he would be immediately banished from Ummah i.e. a community of believers. Thus they segregated the people into two groups; one is People of Heaven and People of Hell. People of Heaven meant the Kharijites and the People of Hell meant everyone not belong to Kharijites community. They became fanatical and condemn Uthman, the third Caliph and Ali for being Kafir. They caused terror that Ali had to take action against them in 657. But they were so powerful that Ali had to lose his life. Like the term “People of Heaven,” and “People of Hell,” different sects were living in Europe .The holistic approach of Christian society was also not so much different from Islam. They viewed the person holy if he had embraced Christianity. In Europe the conflict was between Christian and non-Christian especially Jews, Heretic, and Lepers. During the period of Emperor Constantine Christianity became the dominant religion in Roman Empire. The emperor became the great patron of the church. After his conversion into Christianity, he gave special privileges to those who had embraced Christianity. He made it clear that Christians would be benefited in local services. Only those people were considered for all public benefits who were the strong believers and supporters of Roman Catholicism and the Bishops of Rome. For those who were not Roman Catholics were called heretics and they were thus exempted from the privileges the Catholics are enjoying. They were regarded as the aliens. Even Constantine’s successors also prohibited meetings and confiscated the churches and properties of the other sects. In the eastern empire the death penalty was prescribed for some sects Catholic and Catherism The Christian persecution was against the sect called Catharism. Catherism was associated with unorthodox Christian doctrines. The sect established rapidly in the Languedoc province in France. It was a conflict between Catharism v/s Catholic. The people who adopted Catharism were called heretic. They were being excommunicated and their properties would be confiscated. The Lateran canon was exactly based on the bull ad abolendam. The ad abolendam was a decretal of Pope Lucius which was issued in 1184.Emperor Barbarossa also joined him in issuing it. This was the first measure taken against heresy. Similar conflict took place after the assassination of Caliph Uthman. His assassination was followed by the Battle of Camel which was regarded as the first civil war experienced by Islam. The state system in Europe also was based on the doctrine of Christianity. The influence of Christianity was so crucial that the Jewish community was suppressed under it. Jews always remained minor and so the persecution took place both under the rule of Islam and Christianity though the treatment given to Jews by these two religions were somewhat different. The Treatment given to the other religious groups by Islam and Christianity: The emergence of Christianity took place in fourth and fifth century which brought a problem. There was an acute enmity started between Jews and Christians. Jews claims that they were right and Christianity was wrong while Christian claimed them superior and right. Both of them claim that no one would go to heaven but Jews and Christians. On political and social level the Jew community was harassed. Though it was not individualized persecution, it affected individual life badly. The Jews were not allowed to keep matrimonial relationship with Christians, so no marriages took place between them. Though slavery was an expected norm in the contemporary society, the Jews were not allowed to keep Christian slaves. In fifth century the Emperor Honorius I ordered not to build synagogues. Jews were not allowed to exercise political and domestic power over Christians. The practice of legally separating Jewish children from their parents was also prevalent. The Jews were separated from Christians and they were not allowed to hold public offices. At Rouen, in France, the crusaders grouped the Jews into a certain place of worship. Then they rounded them up forcefully and they just put them to the sword and slaughtered them. At that time they even did not bother about their age or sex. Only those could survive who accepted Christianity. Rest of the others had to lose their lives in a very brutal way. Islam comparatively was less biased with Jews. As long as the relationship between Islam and Jews are concerned scholars unanimously agree that Jews throve under Muslim rule. The scholars further say that Orthodox Islamic rulers persecuted both Jews and non-Christians for their religious beliefs. They used to compel them to convert into imperial Christianity under the penalty of death. But according to Muslim Law both Jews and Christians were considered as “Protected People,” or “Dhimmi.” Rather it was the order of Muhammad to his followers not to give any type of trouble to Jews in their religious practice. He always preserved the Christian institutions. Hence Umar ordered the demolition of a mosque in Damascus. It was because the mosque was illegal and for building it the house of Jew was confiscated forcefully. Prophet was against this illegal work and unjust to other religions. Umar had been following the Prophet’s doctrine by demolishing the mosque. Thus Prophet Muhammad was always sympathetic about the non Islamic people. Even in the most oppressive Islamic history the treatment given to Jews by Muslims were much better than the treatment they received under the rule of Christian people. While describing the good status of Jews in under Islamic rule Aslan informs, Yathrib was a city in seventh century. It was blooming as an agricultural oasis thick with palm orchards and vast arable fields. This region was mainly dominated by some twenty Jewish tribes of different size and population. The Jews from Yathrib city were basically Arabs and they had embraced Judaism. Being the original settlers of Yathrib, the Jews had occupied the major fertile lands of this region, called “the Heights.” They were recognized as the masters of Arabia’s most profitable crop, i.e. dates. Apart from their agricultural monopoly they were the masters in jewellery, clothes, arm making, and vintners (A Jewish Wine) making. In 12th century Jews had been the object of increasing brutality. They had been banished from the kingdom of France by Phillip II in 1182. The massacre of entire Jewish community took place in 1190 in England. Jews had no rights to hold land or own property by inheritance. The authorities of the church used to be the agents. Though having very constrained power of initiative, they were responsible for some terrified activities of violence and brutality. Albigensian was among the most horrified crusader. Albigensian crusade was a campaign initiated by the Catholic Church to eliminate catharism, i.e a sect in Christianity with dualist and Gnostic elements which was active in Languedoc region of France and other parts of Europe in 11th century. Leper Persecution: Along with the persecution of Heretics and Jews, another major persecution is the European history was the Leper persecution. Emperor Constantine who embraced Christianity, ordered to expel the lepers from the city of Constantinople. An officer, who gave them shelter, was declared to be guilty and he was executed. A decree was passed by king of Lombards, in 635 which clearly indicated the eternal darkness in the life of lepers. According to the decree the person having been affected with leprosy was subject to expel from the cities even from his/her house. The person was forced to spend his life isolated. Even the rules regarding his property were very unjust. The person had no privilege to take decisions of his property because from the very moment of his banishment he was regarded as dead. His life was just like a hell. The leprosy affected person had to live his life on the income remained with him and after that he had no other source of living. Islam and Sufism Sufi was the religious movement, which was completely detached by Ummah. They were independent for self-purification and enlightenment. The cult Sufi was also remained aloof from the political power unlike Shia. Sufi was Muslim people. They worshiped like Muslims, follow Muslim rituals, symbols. It was just like the cult Catharism in Christianity; Sufism was a cult within Islam. But still these people rejected the traditional dualities because they had accepted the “Existence of Oneness.” They had rejected the traditional ideals and moralities. Consequently they had to face the violent persecution by the religious authorities. They were not invited in mosques and they were excommunicated by forcing to develop their own rituals. As a result they developed their own ritual, which they called dhikr. In traditional Islamic worship, music and dance were strictly prohibited which the Sufis used to do always. So the sect was spread in Indian subcontinent as music and dance were the mediums in India through which the person could worship God. On the above discussion we come to know that both Christianity and Islam were conflicting within their own cults. It was an internal as well as external persecution. Islam’s fight with Jewism, Christianity, Sufism, or any other religion was an external fight and the conflict within Sunni Shia or sufism was an internal conflict. In Christianity also the external conflict was with Jews and Islam whereas the internal conflict was with Catharism, and heretics. Reference: 1. Aslan Reza, “No God But God.” 2. Moore R.I. “Formation of a Persecuting Society” Read More