Colm Gilllis continues his attempt to eviscerate Boris Johnson for daring to suggest, 12 years ago, that Islam is the cause of Muslim lands falling behind the West:
Johnson is correct that many Muslim-majority nations are beset by social and political problems. Yet the same holds true for numerous Christian-majority nations such as Russia, Honduras, Haiti and South Africa. He also makes a “false equivalence” argument in comparing stable western democracies to war-ravaged countries like Bosnia, seemingly blaming Muslims there for being attacked. Curiously, Muslim extremists promote the same arguments as Johnson, albeit for different aims. Neither depiction is true nor helpful.
Gillis is ignoring the fact that it is not “many” Muslim-majority nations are “beset by social and political problems,” but almost all Muslim-majority nations that have been, and are now, beset with such social and political problems. There are civil wars going on in Syria and Yemen, Islamic terrorists are active in Somalia, Nigeria, and Afghanistan, sectarian warfare is going on between Sunnis and Shi’a in Iraq and Yemen, the Wahhabis suppress Shia in Saudi Arabia, the Sunni ruler of Bahrain suppresses the Shia majority, in Libya a “national government” based in Tripoli is fighting a militia based in Benghazi, there is political intrigue, social unrest, and infighting in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia. In Egypt, the military regime remains engaged in suppressing the Muslim Brotherhood; in Tunisia, the secularists led by Caid Beji Essebsi are in conflict with the Islamists of Rachid Gannouchi and the Ennahda party; in Algeria, Berbers, having been suppressed for years, have been demanding that the ruling Arab junta recognize the Berber language and culture. In Nigeria, both the Muslim Hausa in Boko Haram and Muslim Fulani herdsmen continue to burn down churches, kill Christian villagers, kidnap Christian girls.
In Turkey, the Kemalists have been outmaneuvered and crushed by Erdogan, while the Turkish army continues the war against Kurdish insurgents of the PKK that it has been waging since 1978. In Iran, the majority Shi’a continue to fight the Sunni Baluchi minority in the east.
Yet this author claims, in a bit of tu-quoque, that there are Christian-majority nations “such as Russia, Honduras, Haiti and South Africa” that also are “beset by social and political problems.” But this handful of Christian-majority countries — four in all — can hardly compare with the dozens of Muslim countries where strife — sectarian, religious, ethnic — is the rule. Russia has no internal conflicts of peoples; there are people trying to undo, through electoral politics, the iron rule of Vladimir Putin, but there are no armed groups fighting each other. Honduras has the highest murder rate in the world, but that’s the result of gangs fighting for territory and control of the drug trade and other criminal activities; it has nothing to do with the sectarian, ethnic, and religious strife found in Muslim lands. It’s the criminals versus the rest of society that is caught, literally and figuratively, in the crossfire. Haiti is still suffering from the effects of the 2010 earthquake, but also from a decades-old deforestation problem, overpopulation, a lack of sanitation, natural disasters (of which the 2010 earthquake was only the most dramatic example), and food insecurity. These problems, again, are not akin to what plagues Muslim lands, which are conflicts among its groups. Haitians are plagued by environmental problems, some of them unavoidable (as earthquakes), while others are the result of bad stewardship of the land (as deforestation), and still others the consequence of poverty (as a lack of sanitation) and of overpopulation, for Haiti is unable either to sustain, or to contain, its current population.
Another pathetic observation by the next British PM concerns the Ottoman empire. Johnson takes one oddity of the Turkish dawlah – the resistance to the printing press – and passes over achievements of the sultans such as religious tolerance and the architectural feats of Sinan. He claims this one act of backwardness negates the entire history of Islam, although resistance to technology is apparent even in British history, the luddites a classic case in point.
The failure to introduce the printing press for Muslim use in the Ottoman Empire until 1727 was not an isolated “oddity” at all, but reflected a more general mistrust among Muslims, especially clerics, of innovation, or bid’a. Another example of this reluctance to innovate, in another domain, was the continued use by Ottoman armies of stone cannonballs, long after those made of iron had been in use everywhere else. Muslim clerics reasoned that if new ways of doing things, or thinking about things, were to be permitted, this could conceivably lead some Believers to question aspects of the faith.
Dr. Gillis then complains that Boris Johnson passed over the “achievement of the sultans such as religious tolerance.” The treatment of Christians, mainly Greeks and Armenians, was not what we in the West think of as “religious tolerance.” In the 19th and 20th centuries, a myth arose of “Ottoman tolerance.” This was akin to, and even perhaps prompted by, the myth of a tolerant “convivencia” (coexistence) in Islamic Spain that was promoted by such writers as Washington Irving in The Alhambra, and by Chateaubriand in Les Aventures du dernier Abencérage; that view has been thoroughly demolished by the most recent scholarship, especially that by Dario Fernandez-Morera in his study The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise: Muslims, Christians, and Jews under Islamic Rule in Medieval Spain.
Another possible explanation for claims made for an Ottoman Empire more “tolerant” of non-Muslims than other Muslims is that when the Ottomans began slaughtering their Christian subjects in earnest, beginning in 1821 with the anti-Greek massacres in Constantinople, which then led to attacks on Greeks all over the Ottoman Empire, and then widened into the series of attacks throughout the 19th century on the three groups of Christians — Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians — some in the West may have thought an appeal to the Ottoman authorities, making reference to some “tolerance” in the past, might possibly shame the Ottomans of the late 19th century into behaving better. If that was the hope, it failed.
From the 15th,16th, and 17th centuries, the reports that Christian envoys to the Ottomans sent home painted a grim picture of the treatment of Christians in the Empire. Paul Rycaut was the most important of these historian-diplomats. As the British consul at Smyrna in the 1660s, he wrote several of the most important studies of the Ottomans, including The Present State of the Ottoman Empire and The Present State of the Greek and Armenian Churches, Anno Christi 1678 Written at the Command of His Majesty. In his study of the Greek and Armenian Churches, he describes what the two Christian communities endured. They were allowed to live, and to practice their religion, but they could do so only as dhimmis, subject to a host of onerous conditions, including payment of the Jizyah. And there were sometimes other financial burdens to bear, for when an Ottoman sultan felt he needed to raise more money, he could always squeeze the Christians. In 1568, for example, the Sultan confiscated all of the property owned by the Greek Orthodox Church throughout the empire. That meant not just every Greek Orthodox church, but also every monastery, that were even more important, in educating monks, for the continuation of the Greek Orthodox community. Having taken away all that property, the Sultan then graciously allowed the Greeks to buy back their own property, of course at exorbitant prices.
The Ottomans were hardly being “tolerant” when, beginning with Murad I in the 14th century, they instituted the infamous devshirme system, whereby Christian boys in the Balkans were seized, enslaved, and converted to Islam; they were later employed either in the Janissary military corps or the Ottoman administrative system.
And then there were the massacres in the 19th century, of hundreds of thousands of Assyrians, hundreds of thousands of Armenians, and hundreds of thousands of Greeks, with more killed in the early 20th century; these massacres culminated in the genocide of 1.5 million Armenians in 1915.
As for the Greeks, ever since the Greek War for Independence in 1821, the Ottoman Muslims had been engaged in massacring Greek civilians, while beheading and hanging their senior clerics, in a dozen parts of the Empire.
The Constantinople massacre of 1821 came first. The full horror of it deserves to be described:
The Sultan requested a fatwa allowing a general massacre against all Greeks living in the Empire[ from the Shaykh al-Islām, Haci Halil Efendi. The Shaykh obliged; however, the Patriarch managed to convince him that only a few Greeks were involved in the uprising, and the Shaykh recalled the fatwa. Haci Halil Efendi was later exiled and executed by the Sultan for this.
The Ecumenical Patriarch was forced by the Ottoman authorities to excommunicate the revolutionaries, which he did on Palm Sunday, April, 15 [O.S. April, 3] 1821. Although he was unrelated to the insurgents, the Ottoman authorities still considered him guilty of treason because he was unable, as representative of the Orthodox population of the Ottoman Empire, to prevent the uprising.
Although the Patriarch found himself forced to excommunicate the revolutionaries, he still failed to appease the Ottoman rulers. Later, on the same day as the excommunication, the Sultan ordered the execution of the Grand Dragoman, Konstantinos Mourouzis. He was arrested at the house of the Reis Effendi and beheaded, while his body was displayed in public. Moreover, his brother and various other leading members of the Phanariote families were also executed, although in fact only a few Phanariotes were connected with the revolutionaries.
Despite the efforts of the Orthodox Patriarch to profess his loyalty to the Sultan, the latter remained unconvinced. One week after the excommunication, on Easter Sunday, April, 22 1821, he was grabbed by Ottoman soldiers during the liturgy and hanged at the central gate of the Patriarchate.Thus, although he was completely uninvolved with the Revolution, his death was ordered as an act of revenge. On the day of the hanging of Gregory V, three bishops and a dozens of other Greeks, high officials in the Ottoman administration, were quickly executed in various parts of the Ottoman capital. Among them were the metropolitan bishops, Dionysios of Ephesus, Athanasios of Nicomedia, Gregory of Derkoi, and Eugenios of Antilles.
Moreover, the execution of the Patriarch signaled a reign of terror against the Greeks living in Constantinople the following weeks, while fanatical Muslims were encouraged to attack Greek communities throughout the Ottoman Empire.Thus, groups of fanatical Turks, including janissaries, roamed the streets of the city, as well as the nearby villages. They looted Greek churches and property, initiating a large scale pogrom. Around 14 Christian Churches suffered heavy damage, while some of them were completely destroyed. The Patriarchal complex also became one of the targets. Eugenius II, the newly elected Patriarch, saved himself at the last moment, by escaping to the roof. During this period, the Ottoman authorities sought prominent Greeks from all over Constantinople: in government service, in the Orthodox Church, or members of prominent families and put them to death by hanging or beheading. In addition, several hundred Greek merchants in the city were also massacred.
By May 1821, restrictions on the local Greeks increased, while churches continued to be assaulted.On May 24, Patriarch Eugenius presented a memorandum to the Ottoman authorities, begging them to be merciful towards the Greek people and church, claiming that only a few Greeks revolted and not the entire nation. Eugenius also repeated the excommunication of Gregory toward the revolutionaries. Nevertheless, public executions of Greeks were still a daily occurrence in Constantinople. On June 15, five archbishops and three bishops were executed. Additionally, in early July, seventy shared the same fate. Additionally, 450 shopkeepers and traders were rounded up and sent to work in mines.
The same state of affairs also spread to other major cities of the Ottoman Empire with significant Greek populations. In Adrianople, on May 3, the former Patriarch, Cyril VI, nine priests and twenty merchants were hanged in front of the local Cathedral. Other Greeks of lower social status were executed, sent to exile or imprisoned.
In Smyrna, numerous Ottoman troops were staged, waiting orders to march against the rebels in Greece. TheyC entered the city and together with local Turks embarked on a general massacre against the Christian population of the city which amounted to hundreds of deaths. During another massacre in the predominantly Greek town of Ayvalik, the town was burned to the ground, for fear that the inhabitants might rebel and join the revolution in Greece. As a result of the Ayvalik massacres, hundreds of Greeks were killed and many of the survivors were sold as slaves.
Similar massacres against the Greek population during these months occurred also in the Aegean islands of Kos and Rhodes. Part of the Greek population in Cyprus was also massacred. Among the victims was the archbishop Kyprianos, as well as five other local bishops.
Other Ottoman massacres of Greeks occurred at Chios, on Crete, where tens of thousands of Greeks were killed in 1822.
Ottoman forces destroyed the entire Greek population — approximately 7,000 people — on the island of Psara in 1824.
During the Hamidian massacres (1896-1898), 800 Greeks at Candia, on Crete, were massacred, by irregular Muslim troops.
From 1914 to 1922, Greeks in Ottoman Turkey were subject to massacres, forced deportations involving death marches, summary expulsions, arbitrary execution, and the destruction of Eastern Orthodox cultural, historical, and religious monuments. According to various sources, several hundred thousand Ottoman Greeks died during this period. More about the genocide of Greeks at the hands of the Ottomans can be found here.
It wasn’t just Assyrians, Greeks, and Armenians who suffered from Muslim attacks. Bulgarians were also victims. In 1876, Ottoman irregular troops destroyed the Bulgarian community in Batak, with 7,000 killed. This led to Gladstone’s famous thundering against the savagery of the Turks in his essay “Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East.”
Armenians suffered from pogroms in a dozen Armenian cities during the “Hamidian massacres” of 1894-1896; 400,000 Armenians were killed in those years. In 1909, there was another attack on Armenians in Adana, with 20,000-30,000 killed during a series of pogroms in that province. Smaller attacks continued until, in 1915, the greatest massacres of the Armenians took place, with 1.5 million Armenians murdered. More on the genocide of Armenians can be found here.
Assyrians started to be massacred by irregular Muslim troops in 1843 and 1846 at Hakkari, where 10,000 were killed. A series of small-scale attacks during the last half of the 19th century kept Assyrians in a permanent state of fear, which turned out to be warranted, for far worse was what happened to them in 1894-96, when not only Armenians, but 300,000 Assyrians were killed by Muslim troops. More details about the Assyrian genocide can be found here.
Has Colm Gillis read Paul Rycaut on the treatment of Christians in the Ottoman Empire in the 17tn century? Is he aware that Christians were “tolerated” only because they were dhimmis, who had to fulfill a number of onerous conditions in order to be allowed both to stay alive and to practice their faith? Does he know what the Jizyah is, and how burdensome at was? Has he heard about the seizure of Greek property by a greedy sultan who then sold it back to its original owners? Has he heard of the devshirme system? What does he know about the many massacres and pogroms of Greeks, Assyrians, and Armenians by Ottoman Turks, from 1821 on? Questions for study and reflection.
CRUSADER says
The photo looks to have been about Turk oppression of Greeks.
I think I recognize the image.
The movies “The Promise” and “Cliffs of Freedom” bring alive
the conflict which arose between Turks and Greeks, and Armenians, too
over many eras.
TRAGIC.
CRUSADER says
Document regarding JIHAD in ISLAM….
http://www.muhammadanism.org/Terrorism/jihah_in_islam/jihad_in_islam.pdf
Pal says
William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898), UK’s four times Prime Minister:
!!
“It is not a question of /Islam/ simply, but of Islam compounded with the peculiar character of /the Turkish/ race. /Turks/ are not the mild Mohammedans of India… They were, upon the whole, from the black day when they first entered Europe, the one great anti-human specimen of humanity. Wherever they went a broad line of blood marked the track behind them, and, as far as their dominion reached, civilization disappeared from view. They represented everywhere government by force as opposed to government by law.—Yet a government by force can not be maintained without the aid of an intellectual element.— Hence there grew up, what has been rare in the history of the world, a kind of tolerance in the midst of cruelty, tyranny and rapine. Much of Christian life was contemptuously left alone and a race of Greeks was attracted to Constantinople which has all along made up, in some degree, the deficiencies of Turkish Islam in the element of mind!”
!!
http://www.hri.org/docs/Horton/HortonBook.htm
CRUSADER says
First the Mohammedans were known as Saracens (thieves)
— sariqīn (سارقين), which means “thief, marauders, plunderers” —
and then history records the name for their mad masses invading
other lands with brutal oppression : The Turks !
That distinctive “River of Blood” which Islam brought forth
….then, paired with Turkic mentality from the central Asian steppes….
( — which Egyptian imam Mark Gabriel speaks of, inspiring his converting away
from Islam and into service for Christ.)
The Crusades would’ve stood a better chance had it not been for Turks increasing their numbers and influence within Islam… Turks brought a level of brutality and greed for booty which outstepped even the bloody Arabic bedouin tribal raiding culture…
This attribute of perspective by Gladstone unfortunately didn’t sufficiently sink into minds of British policy makers and doers enough to come to the fuller aid of the Greeks when they were on the brink of liberating themselves from the Turkish yoke — 100 years ago !!!
As often with the arrogant British, other interests diverted them, and tragedy occurred…
Oh! The Turks… such jerks!!!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_central_steppe#Westerm_two-thirds_and_Turkic_migrations
Hugh Fitzgerald says
Corrigenda: My statement that the printing-press was introduced for use by Muslims in the Ottoman Empire in the late 18th century was incorrect; the correct date is 1727.
CRUSADER says
That’s far more encouraging!
Less so is the use by the Turks of massive cannons
which helped expand the dread of the Ottomans,
as one of the famed Gunpowder Empires…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder_Empires
Vlad Tepes says
Mr. Fitzgerald is incorrect where he states:
‘Russia has no internal conflicts of peoples; there are people trying to undo, through electoral politics, the iron rule of Vladimir Putin, but there are no armed groups fighting each other.’
There are. They are called mohamedans, and they do (try to) fight the Russians. I recall attending a course at a certain college. The course relied heavily on a book written by Madam Helene Carrere d’Encause, a female French professor of great standing (member of the Academie Francaise), concerning largely the expected rise in the mohamedan populations of the several even then largely mohamedan states of the (then) USSR, such as Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, etc.. And even though these states have acquired independence, and thus no longer count as ‘Russian’, this does not mean that there are no mohamedans living in present day Russia. There are. And the fact that we do not hear about mohamedan terrorism in Russia much does not mean that they do not engage in it, or cause problems otherwise. It is just that the Russians tend to deal differently with those problems. Shall we say in a rather more robust way than our leaders do?
The fact that we share this same problem, as well as the other methods of dealing with it, to me at least, would seem an important reason for cooperation between the West and Putin.
But for the remainder, Mr. Fitzgerald is totally correct.
Angemon says
I, for one, don’t want to see a Kadirov in any given Western nation. If a muslim cleric states each muslim in my country much each kill 150 of my countrymen I want him under the sights of a shooting squad, not as the appointed leader of a federal republic under the promise he’ll behave.
gravenimage says
Kadyrov has been allowed to set up a Shari’ah state in Russia.
CRUSADER says
Does Kadyrov sound Islamic to y’all?
===========================
— Sauna video —
On 12 March 2006, a Chechen separatist website posted a short video shot on a mobile phone of a party in a sauna involving two alleged prostitutes and several men, including one who looked and sounded like Ramzan Kadyrov, seen dancing with a young, half-naked woman and trying to rip her bra off. Another man then starts masturbating in front of them.[145] Andrew Osborn, Moscow reporter for The Independent, reported that “Mr Kadyrov’s aides have laughed off the grainy video … as a ‘provocation'”.[145][146]
— Call to quarantine proceeds of horse race —
On 3 November 2009, a horse owned by Ramzan Kadyrov, Mourilyan, came third in the Melbourne Cup winning about US$380,000 in prize money. The leader of the Australian Greens, Senator Bob Brown, immediately called for the Government of Australia to quarantine the prize money until assurances are received as to how the money will be used. Concerns had been previously raised that the Melbourne Cup could be used to launder money by overseas individuals.[147]
— Honor killings —
In 2009, Kadyrov stated his approval of honor killings of seven women, based on the belief that they were engaging in adultery.[148] In an interview with David Scott of HBO, he condoned honor killings of homosexuals in July 2017 stating, “If we have [gay] people here, I’m telling you officially their relatives won’t let them be because of our faith, our mentality, customs, traditions. Even if it’s punishable under the law, we would still condone it.”[149]
— Wikileaks —
On 28 November 2010, a classified Wikileaks cable named Kadyrov as a “starring guest” at some of Dagestan’s most elaborate weddings, which indicates the political “Caucasus power structure” in these weddings.[150] In 2006, leaked cables from an American diplomat recounted a lavish wedding attended by Kadyrov in Russia’s Caucasus region in which guests threw $100 bills at child dancers, and which had nighttime “water-scooter jaunts on the Caspian Sea”, and a report that Ramzan Kadyrov gave the newly married couple a “five-kilo lump of gold”.[36]
— Charlie Hebdo cartoons —
In January 2015, Kadyrov said he would organize protests if a Russian newspaper published the Charlie Hebdo cartoons, saying “we will not allow anyone to insult the Prophet [Muhammad], even if it will cost us our lives.” He also stated that Alexei Venediktov “will be brought to account” after his radio station Ekho Moskvy took a survey of readers on whether to publish the cartoons. Venediktov stated he would ask the authorities to intervene against Kadyrov’s threats.[151] During a protest rally against the cartoons attended by hundreds of thousands of people in Chechnya, he accused those backing Charlie Hebdo of using “false slogans about free speech and democracy”.[152]
— Polygamy —
Kadyrov supports polygamy in Muslim-majority republics in Russia, and believes that Muslims who speak out against the practise are not true adherents to their faith. According to Kadyrov, men legally marrying more than one wife would be more honest than having lots of mistresses, and would resolve Russia’s demographic problem.[153] In April 2018, he stated that all Muslim men are permitted by Allah to have four wives but discouraged having the marriages officially registered. He also denied reports that polygamy would be legalised in Chechnya.[154]
— Boston Marathon bombing —
After the Boston Marathon bombing, Kadyrov expressed sadness for the victims but denied the suspects had any ties to his region in a statement on his Instagram. He suggested that the suspects were products of American upbringing.[155] Kadyrov accused the CIA of framing Dzokhar Tsarnaev on 18 March 2015, after he was handed a death sentence for the Boston Marathon Bombing and said that they could not have conducted the bombing without CIA’s knowledge.[156]
….
CRUSADER says
….
— Threats to opposition politicians —
On 31 January 2016, Kadyrov posted a video of Russian opposition politicians Mikhail Kasyanov and Vladimir Vladimirovich Kara-Murza in the crosshairs of a gun on his Instagram blog.[157][158] In a few days, after multiple complaints, Instagram removed the video prompting Kadyrov to criticize the decision: “This is the much-boasted freedom of speech in America! You can write anything but cannot touch those American dogs, those friends of the Congress and the State Department”.[159]
— Report by Ilya Yashin —
Russian opposition leader Ilya Yashin authored a report against Kadyrov released on 23 February 2016 during a press conference which was repeatedly interrupted by police and hecklers. He also claimed that Kadyrov had murdered Boris Nemtsov. The report titled A National Security Threat claimed that Kadyrov poses a threat to Russia. It included allegations of corruption, authoritarian rule, secret prisons, rigging votes in favour of Vladimir Putin, stealing from the country’s national budget to enrich himself, enforcing Sharia law over Russian law, his lavish lifestyle, building and maintaining a personal army of about 30,000 fighters, purported ties to organised crime figures, and his involvement in politically motivated murders of journalists, human rights activists and political opponents. The report also contained 20 questions which Yashin had invited Kadyrov to answer but was refused. Kadyrov dismissed the report calling it “nothing but idle chatter” and posted it on his social network accounts before its release.[160][161][162] His spokesman filed a request with the Russian Prosecutor General and the Investigative Committee for Yashin to be arrested for the report saying it contained slander and insults against Kadyrov.[163]
— Grozny fatwa —
Main article: 2016 international conference on Sunni Islam in Grozny
A conference of Islamic scholars funded by the Tabah foundation in the United Arab Emirates, was convened by Kadyrov in Grozny in late August 2016. The conference was attended by notable Islamic scholars including the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed el-Tayeb; Grand Mufti of Egypt, Shawki Allam; ex-Grand Mufti of Egypt Ali Gomaa, Usama al-Azhari who is the religious adviser to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi; Habib Ali al-Jifri and the mufti of Damascus Abdul Fattah al-Bizm. The conference was convened to discuss the alleged abuse of Islamic ideas to propagate extremism and to establish the criteria for determining who are the true followers of the Sunnah. The assembly of scholars issued a fatwa which declared that those who abide by the Kalam, belong to the four madhhabs and follow the path of moral self-perfection espoused by distinguished Islamic teachers, primarily the Sufi sheikhs, were the only true believers. The fatwa called the sect of Salafism as a “dangerous and erroneous contemporary sect”, along with the extremist groups like Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Hizb ut-Tahrir and Habashis. The conference also issued two further documents. In the first one, it appealed to President Vladimir Putin to ban Salafism and term any condemnation of “traditional Islam” as “extremism”. It also proposed the fatwa be regarded as the considered opinion of “leading Russian experts” when evaluating the activity of Muslim organizations and the preaching of individual clerics. The second one issued a resolution calling for the establishment of a Council for Islamic Education and also a Council of Ulema, which would rule on who is and is not a true follower of Sunni Islam.[164][165][166]
The ruling created a controversy, with both Islamic theologians and secular commentators condemning it, with some seeing it as a bid by Kadyrov to divide Russian Muslims into those who accept the importance he places on teachings of the Sufi brotherhoods as well as probably also what he considers as “traditional Islam” without question, and those who don’t with “erroneous” views. Many of the key participants also disavowed the resolutions. Mukkadas Bibarsov, mufti of Saratov Oblast stated that the question of who was a true follower of Sunni Islam was resolved “centuries ago”. He also added that the fatwa failed to take into account the crucial differences between Russia’s Muslims, specifically that some Muslim communities did not follow Sufism. Liz Fuller writing for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty commented that the fatwa seemed to be giving permission to Kadyrov to take any action he likes to punish those whose religious views don’t match with his own. Yaroslav Trofimov writing for The Wall Street Journal described it as a “new fracture emerging within Islam”. Many Saudi clerics and citizens expressed outrage at the fatwa on social media. The Muslim Brotherhood expressed “deep sorrow” over the fatwa, stating that it “ignited fires of discord among Muslims around the world.”[164][165][166]
— Threats to Russian police officers —
In 2015, Kadyrov ordered Chechen security forces to “shoot to kill” if they encountered police officers from other parts of Russia on the territory of the Chechen Republic.[167][168][169] Kadyrov said: “I would like to officially state: Open fire if someone from Moscow or Stavropol — it doesn’t matter where from — appears on your turf without your knowledge. We have to be reckoned with. … If you are masters of your territory, then you must control it.”[167] According to Ekaterina Sokirianskaia, “Some critics claim that Mr. Putin now fears Mr. Kadyrov because he knows any serious attempt to challenge the Chechen leader’s position might lead to a third war.”[170]
— Mixed martial arts tournament —
A mixed martial arts tournament involving children was held as an “exhibition fight” on 4 October during the Grand Prix Akhmat 2016 in Grozny and broadcast on Match TV. Ramzan’s three sons, all of whom are aged under 12, fought in the tournament with Ramzan sitting in the audience and none of the fighters wore any protective gear. One of the fights ended with a technical knockout. He also posted images of the bouts on his Instagram account. The event caused an outcry especially against Ramzan allowing his children to compete in the tournament. Fedor Emelianenko, the president of Russian MMA Union, criticised the event as “inexcusable”, stating that rules stipulate fighters under the age of 21 have to wear protective gear while children under the age of 12 are not allowed to compete. Vadim Finkelstein, the head of MMA promotion M-1 Global also backed Fedor’s comments. Dmitry Peskov, the spokesperson for President Putin, stated that the fact that one of the fights between the children finished with a technical knockout was “a reason for the appropriate oversight agencies to inquire about this incident.” Deputy Minister of Sports Pavel Kolobkov stated that participation of children under the age of 12 in MMA competitions was illegal while stating that the incident was being investigated. Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko also stated that the event will be investigated. MMA fighter Jeff Monson however backed the organisers stating that there was nothing wrong with it.[171][172][173][174][175][176]
Several Chechen officials responded to Fedor’s criticism with insults and accusations including Timur Dugazayev, general director of Akhmat MMA promotion, Member of Parliament Adam Delimkhanov as well as Kadyrov himself.[176][177] The Ministry of Sports found on 18 October that Kadyrov’s promotion had violated regulations. It also found that the event was actually an unlicensed show with no regulatory oversight. The promotion was directed to coordinate with the Ministry of Sports and other regulatory bodies to “prevent such irregularities in conduct” and handed a letter detailing its failure to comply with the legislation.[178]
Comments about gays, Russia’s nuclear arsenal and tensions with the United States[edit]
In an interview with HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel in July 2018, Kadyrov denied his government detained and tortured gay men, while stating they were not present in Chechnya. He further stated that if they were present, they should be sent to Canada. Kadyrov also commented about Russia’s nuclear arsenal and tensions between USA and Russia. He stated, “America is not really a strong enough state for us to regard it as an enemy of Russia, we have a strong government and are a nuclear state.” He also stated, “Even if our government was completely destroyed, our nuclear missiles would be automatically deployed. We will put the whole world on its knees and screw it from behind.”[128][129]
Since February 2017, over 100 male residents of the Chechen Republic assumed to be gay or bisexual have been rounded up, detained and tortured by Kadyrov’s government on account of their sexual orientation.[179] These crackdowns have been by outside sources as part of an anti-LGBT purge in the region. The men have been allegedly held and tortured in what human rights groups and eyewitnesses have called concentration camps.[180][181] Kadyrov has denied these reports, while also characterizing gay people as “not human”.[129][128]
gravenimage says
All true about Kadyrov, CRUSADER.
william carr says
He shows his ignorance by instancing the ‘luddites. They were only a minority of workers afraid of losing their employment to machines (not printing presses) not the attitude of the whole country, it also occurred in other countries when industrialisation took place. They were more of a nuisance than anything and the destroyed machinery was just rebuilt
william carr says
Consider what could have happened if the Muslims had not been stopped in the South of France or later in Austria and had over run all of western Europe. There would be no culture as we know it. No great classical music, ballet and opera, no great art, in fact no art at all.
The sciences would be as backward as they were before the enlightenment (although the RC church did a good job of holding them back) The Muslims would not have discovered the Americas as they could trade with China so had no need to explore other routes. That would have been good for the Native Americans who might have been left in peace to develop their own civilisations. The industrial revolutions would not have happened, though maybe the inventive Chinese might have had one and the Muslims subsequently stole their ideas, like they have stolen ours
roger standen says
Formidable input there Hugh. Invaluable and much appreciated.
Emilie Green says
“The West Owes ‘an Immense Debt to Islam'”
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Isaiah 5:20
James Lincoln says
A harbinger of things to come…
Angemon says
There’s the ongoing insurgency in Chechnya. To Mr. Gillis’ attention: it’s muslims waging warfare to have an islamic state.
Battle says
Emile Green hits nail on head. Good.
Steve says
I can list at least two benefits that the US can attribute to Islam.
1. Without the African slave trade developed by the Arab Muslims 400 years before the Trans-Atlantic trade slave, the US could not have “benefited” from the Trans-Atlantic trade slave without Islam.
2. The Barbary Coast Muslim pirates captured numerous trading ships in the first two decades of US existence and took about 600 Americans into slavery. As a result, the US had to quickly establich a naval presence in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediteranean Sea to allow its trade relations to continue without interruption. We “benefited” from Islam because we needed to build a reliable navy to protect our national interests.
Shalom,
Steve
CRUSADER says
Anchors Aweigh!
sidney penny says
“We “benefited” from Islam because we needed to build a reliable navy to protect our national interests”
We still do.Look at Iran and the Gulf especially n the Strait of Hormuz.
Wellington says
Interesting points, Steve, but benefiting from Islam because of its nefarious nature is far different from asserting that Islam has any good in it which can’t be found elsewhere—and this has been my challenge for years here at JW, to wit, there is nothing good in Islam that can’t be found in other major religious belief systems and yet there is much rot in Islam (e.g., death for apostasy per Sura 4:89 and as found in the hadiths) that does not exist in other religions. Thus, why keep Islam around at all? It is at best superfluous and at worst simply evil.
john says
Hugh Fitsjerold what can I say other than.
GREAT JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But you forgot about the do called “cabin boys” ( little kidnapped Christian boy slaves hired to do dangerous job onboard the Turkey naval ships).
When the Turks heard about the Greek insurrection. The Turkish navy took all of the boys and hung them on the side of their galleys and left them there to rot, while they sailed around. I guess Turks love the smell of rotting flesh. This item went viral all through Europe and Christianity. It especially hit the Russians really really hard.
but there just so much you can put into your article.
Hugh, we are most appreciative for your time to research this article.
Greeting from JJS
Charles says
“the architectural feats of Sinan”
Sinan was born a Christian, possibly Armenian, who was forced to convert when he was “recruited” by the Janissaries.
SAFI says
Yep.
Mario Alexis Portella says
Unfortunately, not enough in Washington or for that matter, in the Church are willing to admit that there’s a universal jihad against Christians https://thegreatarchitect.blog/2019/05/13/760/
CRUSADER says
Truth!
+ + +
gravenimage says
Colm Gillis: The West Owes “an Immense Debt to Islam” (Part 2)
…………………
The only thing the Muslim world really excels at is slaughtering innocent people.
Terry Gain says
Muslims have mastered propaganda and deceit. Convincing the world that Islam is a religion, indeed a religion of peace, rather than a conquest ideology is the measure of the Islam’s success at propaganda.
gravenimage says
OK–I’ll grant Muslims that as well, Terry–but it only works because so many Infidels *want* to be deceived.
sidney penny says
“This was akin to, and even perhaps prompted by, the myth of a tolerant “convivencia” (coexistence) in Islamic Spain that was promoted by such writers as Washington Irving in The Alhambra, and by Chateaubriand in Les Aventures du dernier Abencérage; that view has been thoroughly demolished by the most recent scholarship, especially that by Dario Fernandez-Morera in his study The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise: Muslims, Christians, and Jews under Islamic Rule in Medieval Spain.”
This was akin to, and even perhaps prompted by, the myth of a tolerant “convivencia” (coexistence) in Islamic India.There was no coexistence in Islamic India .
SAFI says
There was never real peaceful coexistence between Muslims and dhimmis or Muslims and Free Infidels anywhere ever until now. This is only a myth propagated by some Muslims and Islam apologists either out of ignorance or for the purposes of furthering jihad through lying (taqiyya) and by diferent types of “liberals” in the West for their own ideological reasons or again out of sheer ignorance and wishful thinking.
Relic says
an immense debt to islam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgHkogJvDbI
Anjuli Pandavar says
The “Muslim-majority country” formulation is another propaganda ruse. The implication here is that such countries are pluralistic democracies, when they are neither pluralistic not democracies. In fact, it is extremely rare for a “Muslim-majority country” not to be doing everything to turn itself into a *Muslim-only* country. Language has long been a battleground for jihad, political correctness being jihad’s greatest victory on that front so far, even bigger, I would argue, than the “Islamophobia” ruse, the stupidity of which is obvious. Another near-victory, which seems now to have been reversed, is the idea that unless you expressly stipulate that “not all Muslims…” are involved in whatever Muslim outrage you’re talking about, you are accusing *all* Muslims of that outrage. Language has never worked that way and in facilitation of jihad, mainstream media fell right into line to “fix” the language accordingly. I hope that my delight in the apparent demise of that particular attempt at mind and speech control is not premature.
SAFI says
“Muslim majority”? They don’t even have to be a majority, just being a minority with acess to weapons is enough for Muslims to impose their islamic tyrrany. In fact the Ottoman Empire was a MUSLIM MINORITY country for most of its history. It only became a Muslim majority after losing the Balkans.
SAFI says
Excellent article even though imo it barely scratched the surface since the same horrors were more or less routine even before the 1821 rebellion. Glad also that you mentioned the turkish Sultans recorded earlier plans to genocide all Greek infidels 100 years before they actually went ahead and did it in the early 20th century(together with Armenians and other Christians). And the idea had been in their heads even earlier I’d argue. The main reason that had always stopped the Ottomans from murdering all dhimmis in the empire is that they didn’t wanna lose the source of all that jizya extortion money they collected(“pay us and we won’t kill you… for now”) and all the slave harem girls that rich muslims had, plus the always present fear that doing such a thing would provide the Russians, the Habsburgs and other Christian Powers with the perfect justification to go on “Crusade” against their Empire and destroy them.
jewdog says
We’ve all heard of the Terrible Turks, but let’s not forget that the Haitians behead chickens in their religious ceremonies. At least you can have some nuggets afterwards once you’ve put a hex on your mother-in-law.
black adder says
The Ottomans dragged all the nations that were under their rule, back to the Stone Age. That was their sole “contribution” to the “advancement” of civilization.