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Bat Ye'or (C.V.) is an Egyptian-born British scholar whose name is a pseudonym meaning "daughter of the Nile". Some consider her to be the leading scholar of what she has termed dhimmitude, the collective experience of the dhimmi — "protected peoples" — those religious minorities living among an Islamic majority. She credits Bechir Gemayel for the term. Dhimmitude, the experience of being a dhimmi, means, among other things, special taxes; a prohibition against churches, proslytizing, and publicly-displayed crosses; and controls on marriage. Ye'or has spoken at the United Nations and testified before the United States Congress.

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Dhimmitude and jihad

Ye'or describes dhimmitude as the "specific social condition that resulted from jihad," and as the "state of fear and insecurity" of "infidels" who are required to "accept a condition of humiliation." She studies the relationship between the theological tenets of Islam and the sufferings of the Christians and Jews who, in different geographical areas and periods of history, have lived in Islamic majority areas, and describes a primary theme of her work thus: "Dhimmitude is the direct consequence of jihad. It embodie all the Islamic laws and customs applied over a millennium on the vanquished population, Jews and Christians, living in the countries conquered by jihad and therefore Islamized. return of the jihad ideology since the 1960s, and of some dhimmitude practices in Muslim countries applying the sharia law, or inspired by it. I stress the incompatibility between the concept of tolerance as expressed by the jihad-dhimmitude ideology, and the concept of human rights based on the equality of all human beings and the inalienability of their rights."

Jacques Ellul explains in the forward to The Decline (see below) that Ye'or focuses on "jihad and dhimmitude ... as ... two complementary institutions.... here are many interpretations . At times, the main emphasis is placed on the spiritual nature of this 'struggle'. Indeed, it would merely the struggle that the believer has to wage against his own evil inclinations.... his interpretation ... in no way covers the whole scope of jihad. At other times, one prefers to veil the facts and put them in parentheses. xpansion ... happened through war!" Ye'or acknowledges that it is not the case that all Muslims subscribe to militant jihad theories of society, yet that nonetheless the role of the sharia in the "1990 Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam" demonstrates that "a perpetual war against those infidels who refuse to submit" is still an operative paradigm in Islamic countries.

Historical consequences of dhimmitude according to Ye'or and others

One scholar refers to "the disenfranchising effects of the laws governing the dhimmi populations." Ye'or has focused on the rapid conversion of Eastern Christian lands to Islam, concluding that corruption and division among Christians contributed and may even have afforded Islam certain models of legal control of subjugated populations. Ye'or believes that Yugoslavia is an example of the long-term scars of dhimmitude, where Christians were under that status for centuries. Some argue that the Islamic subjugation of dhimmi peoples, who in the early stages of Islamic conquest had been key as sources of ingenuity and expertise, has been responsible for the gradual impoverishment of Islamic culture as those peoples have become disempowered and less populous over the centuries, and that the state of modern Islam with its continuing focus on jihad is a stimulus for terrorism. Ye'or believes that the West is being Islamized and is "drifting toward dhimmitude".

Increasing acceptance of the term 'dhimmitude' and this area of study

The term "dhimmitude" is gradually coming into popular use and is referred to by scholars by itself and in association with Bat Ye'or's work, which is used, e.g., in graduate courses relating to the relationship Muslims have had historically with other peoples, or to study regions such as Syria , . Ye'or's works are otherwise commended to students , are being acquired by libraries , and are quoted by scholars whose work references the field of religious history. Some believe that dhimmitude is an area of historical experience that requires more investigation.

Related questions Ye'or studies

• Pluralism in Islamic culture, with a focus on Eastern Europe
• The extent to which human rights are implicitly and explicitly violated in Islamic culture
• The theological rules that govern jihad
• How Muslims interpret the history of the dhimmi peoples
• How the Muslim interpretation of religious scripture influences Islamic interpretation of history and modern-day events
• The "dialog of civilizations" and the "negation of the other"

Criticism of Ye'or

Her work is met with hostility by some Muslims and by others, who argue that she and related scholars do not sufficiently distinguish between peaceable Islam and the militant varieties.

Publications by Bat Ye'or

• Bat Ye'or, Islam and Dhimmitude: Where Civilizations Collide, 2001, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, ISBN 0838639437.
• Bat Ye'or, The Decline of Eastern Christianity Under Islam: From Jihad to Dhimmitude, 1996, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, ISBN 0838636888.
• Bat Ye'or, The Dhimmi: Jews & Christians Under Islam, 1985, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, ISBN 0838632629.