The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the Crusades

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Islam:Religion of Intolerance

All this is still part of the Sharia today. "The subject peoples," accord-

ing to a contemp orary manual of Islamic law, must "pay the non-Muslim

poll tax (jizya ]„and "are disti nguis hed from Musli ms in dress , weari ng

a wide cloth belt (zunnar]; are not greeted with 'as-Salamu 'alaykum' [the

traditional Muslim greeting "Peace he with you"]; must keep tothe side

the street ; may not build highe r than orashigh as the Musli ms'build ingg

though if they acquire a tall house, itisnot razed; are forbidden to

open ly dis pla y wine or por k ... rec ite the Tor ah or Evan gel alo ud, or

make public display of their funerals or feast days; and are forbidden tobuild

new chur ches ."' If they viola te thes e term s, the law furth er stip ulate s that

they can be kille d or sold into slav ery at the discr etio n of the Muslim

leader,

Dhimmis were also strictly Forbidden, on pain of death, to proselytize

among Muslims—a prohibition accompanied by a similar death sentencefor

Muslims who left Islam. Both of these, along with the other provisions of

Dhimmitude, remain part of Islamic law today.

These laws largely governed the relations between Muslims and non-

Muslims in Islamic states for centuri es, until Western pressur e brought

tobear on the weakened Ottoman Empire in the mid-nineteen th century

ledto the emancipation of the dhimmis. Here and there they were relaxed or

ignor ed for vario us period s. but they alwa ysremai ned on the books,

Readyto be enforced again by any ruler with the will to do so.

And fro m the cha rte r of the Isl ami c Res ist anc e Mov eme nt, bet ter

know n as Hamas , comes akeen awar enes s of how to manip ulate the

myth of Islamic toleranc e: "Under the shadow of Islam, it is possible for

themember s of the three religi ons: Islam, Chris tiani ty and Judai sm to

coexist in safety and securit y. Safety and security can only prevail under

the shad ow of Isla m, and rece nt and anci ent histo ry is the best witne ss

tothat effect.... Islam accords his rights to everyone who has rights and

averts aggression against the rights of others."' Hamas doesn't exactly