Our Ramadan Day 25 thought for the day from my new book The History of Jihad comes from Muhammad’s first successor (khilafa) as the leader of the Muslims, Abu Bakr, the first of the four “Rightly-Guided Caliphs”: “If I am upright, then follow me, but if I deviate, straighten me out…. I have a Satan […]
Muslim leader answers Christian’s request for peace by threatening to “seek Allah’s favor by spilling your blood”
Ramadan Day 24 thought for the day from my new book The History of Jihad: in the 830s, the Byzantine emperor Theophilus asked the Abbasid caliph al-Ma’mun for a peace accord. Al-Ma’mun responded: I should make the answer to your letter cavalry horses bearing steadfast, courageous and keen-sighted riders, who would contend with you over […]
“Young men were bound hand and foot, laid out in a row, had brushwood piled on them, and were burned alive”
Ramadan Day 23 thought for the day from my new book The History of Jihad: on August 18, 1894, the Ottoman authorities began a massacre of Armenians in the Sassoun region of eastern Asia Minor that lasted a full twenty-four days, until September 10. British vice consul Cecil M. Hallward investigated the massacre and reported […]
Muslim ruler has 100 Christians publicly beheaded, spectators’ “feelings against the infidels Allah alleviated”
Ramadan Day 22 thought for the day from my new book The History of Jihad: Abd al-Rahman III was the Umayyad caliph of Córdoba from 912 to 961. The eleventh-century Muslim historian Ibn Hayyan of Córdoba recounted one telling incident from his reign: Muhammad [one of the officers of Abd al-Rahman III] chose the 100 […]
Muslim leader: Collect jizya from the non-Muslim “to vilify and humiliate him, so that Islam may be exalted”
Ramadan Day 21 thought for the day from my new book The History of Jihad: in the early twelfth century, the Fatimid caliph Al-Amir bi-Ahkamillah issued this edict: Now, the prior degradation of the infidels in this world before the life to come—where it is their lot—is considered an act of piety; and the imposition […]
Muslim leader ordered churches demolished, wooden images of devils nailed to doors of Christians’ houses
Ramadan Day 20 thought for the day from my new book The History of Jihad: in 850, the caliph al-Mutawakkil issued a decree designed to make sure that the dhimmis knew their place. According to the Muslim historian al-Tabari, the caliph: gave orders to destroy any churches which were newly built, and to take the […]
“It was decided that none of these infidels would escape measures taken to maintain them in a state of humiliation”
Ramadan Day 19 thought for the day from my new book The History of Jihad: In 1419, the Egyptian Mamluk sultan Malik Safyaddin summoned the Coptic pope Gabriel V to his presence. The fifteenth-century Muslim historian Ibn Taghribirdi recounted that Gabriel “received reproaches and blows and was berated by the sultan…” Gabriel was “even threatened […]
“You have heard that in this country there are a large number of ravishingly beautiful Greek maidens”
Ramadan Day 18 thought for the day from my new book The History of Jihad: when the renowned Muslim warrior Tariq ibn Ziyad landed with his troops in Spain in the year 711, he motivated his men for jihad conquest by telling them this: You have heard that in this country there are a large […]
Muslim ruler celebrates Ramadan: “He butchered many people and demolished all Hindu temples in his kingdom”
Ramadan Day 17 thought for the day from my new book The History of Jihad: during Ramadan in 1504, the Delhi sultan Sikandar Lodi, in the words of the contemporary Muslim historian Niamatullah, “ordered the temples and idols to be demolished, and mosques to be constructed.” Then he “moved out on a plundering expedition into […]
“O you who believe! The non-Muslims are nothing but dirt.”
Ramadan Day 16 thought for the day from my new book The History of Jihad: In his famous outreach speech to the Islamic world from Cairo on June 4, 2009, Barack Obama said: Islam has a proud tradition of tolerance. We see it in the history of Andalusia and Cordoba during the Inquisition…. Tolerant al-Andalus: […]