Richard A. Fletcher Quotes
We can hardly doubt that the Jews of Spain looked upon the Arabs as liberators.
The cooperation between the Jews and Muslim Arabs invading Southern Spain represented a “Golden Age” for both groups. However, the Spanish Christians not only despised the Jews because they would not convert, but that they worked with and thrived with the Arab Muslims who the Christians viewed as invaders and occupiers of their land.
Richard A. Fletcher, 1944--2005, English Medieval Historian, Quoted in David Levering Lewis, God’s Crucible, 2008
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This event and quotation is an interesting reversal of the 2004 Iraq war where the “Judeo-Christian” United States defeated a Muslim tyrant, freeing the Muslims of the country. In 636 the Muslim Armies attacked Syria which was under the oppressive yoke of the Byzantine Christian Emperor Heraclius. The Muslims won and freed the Christians and Jews. One difference was however that in 636, the Christians and Jews celebrated the Muslim victory as is described herein.
The Poet was Jewish residing in Muslim controlled Spain.
Islam was not very strong at this point and the followers of Muhammad were relatively few and the Medina area contained Arab Non-Believers, Jews as well as the new Muslims. Muhammad drew up this document and got the non Muslims to agree to it. Not only were Jews able to practice their religion freely (as were the non-Muslim Arabs) but there was not tax on the non Muslims that was imposed later when the Muslims were much stronger relative to others. Also, which surprises many Jews and Muslims alike, the Community – the Ulma – the People included the Jews and Arab Non Believers. Today it is only the Muslims.
The re-conquest had just taken place where the Christians defeated the Islamic troops and the King found himself ruling extensive Muslim dominated areas like Toledo as well as large Christian areas. While atypical for a Christian Catholic King, Alfonso VI went out of his way to avoid a crisis with either religious group. He told the Muslims that they could follow Islamic practices and let it be known by statements like this that he had two religions in his kingdom.
He is a Greek Orthodox Christian, and he correctly observes that the Islamic world was considerably more tolerant than the Christian until the 18th century when Islam had become less tolerant in the Middle East while the Christians were modernizing and going through a cultural and intellectual enlightenment and societal modernization while the Muslims, became less tolerant than they were in earlier years leading to the modern situation.
This quotation illustrates that a narrow orthodox view of Islam is not the only one in Arab nations. Khaled is not an obscure cleric, but a popular television personality. While his views are considered heresy by many orthodox Muslims, the narrow view is by no means universal. Orthodox Islamists believe that God has commanded that all mankind be Muslims and the ones who are not are either ignorant so need to be “educated”, or evil and therefore should be killed. However, Muhammad ordained that an exception should be made for “Children of the Book”—Jews and Christians who revere the Old Testament. This was at a time when Christians would not allow any other form of worship but Christianity. Christianity, Judaism and most other religions have become tolerant of other religions and allow open alternative worship. Islam which early on led the way to tolerance, has in many countries gone back to the intolerance that existed amongst many Christians at the time of Muhammad.
This Proclamation was issued upon arrival of the British occupying imperial army in present day Iraq. The English policy makers like the Bush administration almost a century later were expecting a more welcoming reaction. See {585250}.
While stating this and perhaps believing it, he still was the President of an autocracy where diversity was not tolerated at all. Religious police roamed the nation beating men whose beards were not long enough or women they believed improperly dressed, politicians who held diverse views were not allowed to run for the Parliament or even the Presidency, religious dissenters were executed for heresy.
Richard Alexander Fletcher was a historian who specialised in the medieval period.
