Comment on Jihad Watch
by Ahmet the Turk
Original Post: Robert Spencer, Jihad Watch, July 25, 2014
Response:
I wasn’t aware that Geller had written an equally length refutal. Sometimes there is a section header titled message history, which hides the message instead of the history. I didn’t click to expand it, that’s why I didn’t see what Geller wrote, which is also lengthy. If you want me to discuss any part of it in detail please point it out, otherwise I am responding to the general drift of these accusations.
Turkish uses plenty of Arabic and Farsi vocabulary in exactly the same way English uses Latin and Greek words. I looked it up in the 1890 edition of the Redhouse dictionary. This dictionary was published when Turkey’s emperor officially had zimmi subjects and it was published by an American lexicographer, Sir James Redhouse, who was working for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. A zimmi (feminine zimmiye) is simply defined as “A non-Muslim subject of the Ottoman Empire or of a Muslim state.” Full stop.
There is a very commonly used word that comes from the same root, zimmet. Zimmet (pl. zimem) is defined here as follows: 1. A responsibility or obligation resulting from a trust, contract or promise; a duty. 2. The duty of tribute and obedience owed to the State of Islam by a non-Muslim subject. 3. Indebtedness. 4. A debt. 5. The debtor side of an account. “Zimmette kalmak” For a sum of money to remain owing or due. “Zimmete geçirmek” To pass to the debit of a man (in present day Turkish, embezzlement) etc. I am only going to save space by listing just the idioms connected with our subject “Ehl-i zimmet” A non-Muslim subject of the State of Islam or the Ottoman Empire. “Kabul-ü zimmet” An accepting the status of a non-Muslim subject of the Ottoman Empire. I can supply a scanned image of that page if requested.
As you can see, there is absolutely nothing insulting about the term zimmi. Let’s get that out of the way. I don’t know where Geller is getting her information from. Sometimes words change meaning when transferred from one language to another. The Turkish language title of the Australian movie “the Passion of the Christ” was initially translated incorrectly for this reason and was fixed only after loud protests. In Russia “Kuma” is your child’s godmother. In Turkey, it is your mistress living in the same house as your wife. In Germany “was ist das?” is a question, in Turkey it is a window pane that is hinged to the frame at the bottom edge. Arabic is a very complicated language, maybe Geller is confused or she has discovered something about the language that we don’t know in Turkey. After all we are not native speakers ourselves.
The zimmis are not drafted into the army but they pay poll tax. This practice was changed in the 19th century so that they were given the same status as Muslim subjects and paid the same tax and were drafted into the army, too. There were always complaints about them being treated as second class subjects. I was surprised to learn that churches were not allowed to ring bells until mid 19th century but then Switzerland is still struggling with the Muslim call to prayer so it isn’t fair to say that Muslims are very intolerant. The Zimmi communities and their churches were not under attack until Isis took charge of Syria and Iraq. Those monasteries and churches were still standing until Isis blew them up, Weren’t they?
On the subject churches, I have an interesting anecdote to say. During the Great War or the Great Jihad as it is sometimes known in Turkey, the Turkish army passed through Jerusalem. A derelict church caught the attention of Enver Pasha, the Deputy Commander in Chief. The Church of Nativity had fallen into disrepair because the clergymen responsible for its maintenance, each loyal to a different church, couldn’t agree on whose privilege it should be to carry out the repairs. Enver Pasha ordered them out, sent the engineers and had the church repaired. Even so, the war went badly for him, so perhaps that is something for you to think about, as a Christian I mean. On the other hand, several Christian churches in the Ottoman Empire, particularly the Haghia Sophia was converted to a mosque by decree. many Greeks still think it was a bad decision. Greece itself has demolished Turkish cemeteries, inculding the Turkish cemetery in Salonica after the last Balkan War. We still have “zimmi” cemeteries all over Turkey, including several in densely populated areas and the one that Australians love to visit. Some of them are not all being taken good care of
Filed under: history, Liberty
