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To: little jeremiah; BroJoeK
Yes; oh, SO tolerant! Even in Europe, their "tolerance" was only relative to what you, L.J., point that they were doing elsewhere.

In Al Andalus, even, it was onerous:

Eyes down, so as not to offend a Muslim by looking at him directly.

Absolutely NO weapons allowed to be possessed by a non-Muslim.

No non-Muslim place of worship could be built or repaired without (never given) permission of the Islamic authorities.

If a Muslim “needed” a particular piece of property, the non-Muslim must sell it to him at the Muslim's price; refusal meant both confiscation and punishment.

The jizya tax (annual fee for “protection” of non-Muslim “citizens”) double-quadruple the Muslim zakat rates. Non payment resulted in sale into slavery, and/or confiscation of property...unless one converted. Oh, and that was an added tax, in addition to any regular taxes all had to pay.

Converts were very carefully watched, to make sure they adhered strictly to Muslim tenets; backsliding was dealt with very harshly, including death.

In those other Muslim lands, it was much worse for the Dhimmi. In some Middle Eastern areas, there were times the jizya was used as a weapon to force conversions; various places & times it was raised exorbitant levels, rather than the 'usual' rate. There were even times that conversion TO Islam was prohibitted, because the loss of jizya would have imperiled the royal treasuries!

These are the highlights of Muslim “tolerance” of non-Muslims in Muslim lands; but only if one were a Christian or Jew—People of the Book. All others were fair game for rape, murder, and slavery with impunity, unless they converted.

22 posted on 05/14/2011 12:08:29 AM PDT by ApplegateRanch (Islam: A Satanically Transmitted Disease spread by unprotected intimate contact with the Koranus)
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To: ApplegateRanch

Thank you very much for the details of the Islamic enlightened tolerance...


24 posted on 05/14/2011 7:01:11 AM PDT by little jeremiah (Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point. CSLewis)
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To: ApplegateRanch
ApplegateRanch: "These are the highlights of Muslim “tolerance” of non-Muslims in Muslim lands; but only if one were a Christian or Jew—People of the Book. All others were fair game for rape, murder, and slavery with impunity, unless they converted."

The obvious point is that "tolerance" can be a relative thing -- one religion might be more or less tolerant than another, depending on circumstances.

No one would claim that by today's standards Muslims were ever very tolerant of other religions.
Instead, the comparison is relative, to the intolerance practiced by many Christians towards their own "heretics" and non-Christians.

In that comparison, the old Muslims don't look quite so intolerant.

By contrast, some Muslim countries today are more intolerant than ever.

28 posted on 05/15/2011 3:55:13 PM PDT by BroJoeK (a little historical perspective....)
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