Gourt Home::Gourt :: Islamization
Islamization (also spelt Islamisation, see spelling differences) or Islamification is a neologism coined to describe the process of a society's conversion to the religion of Islam, or the increase in observance by an already Muslim society. The English synonyms, mohammedanisation and muslimization, have been in use since before 1940, though, in e.g. Waverly Illustrated Dictionary. However all these terms are considered to be derogatory terms coined by European orientalists to explain Islam's popularity as the result of 'forced conversions through the sword', similar to the Catholic Inquisition.
Islamic law does not mandate conversion to Islam, but non-muslims in an islamic state are expected to pay a special tax, 'Jizya' in return for protection by the state and right to refuse military duty during emergencies . In contrast, Muslims did not have to pay Jizya, but rather Zakat (a religious tax directed to charity rather than the state) and were required to defend the country during foreign invasions.. Often, Orientalists would attribute the casue of 'Islamization' to this 'ill treatment of non-muslims.' However the real causes are rather due to culural assimilation and mass education in the new lands conquered or migrated to by Muslims. Marriages among immigrants and the local people also brought about a rapid growth of Islam.
Originally Islamization closely followed the rapid political expansion of the Muslims in the first centuries after Muhammad(PBUH). While Islamic governments were soon established in North Africa, the Middle East and Iran, the conversion of the population was a much longer process. Contrary to popular belief that non-muslims were excluded from the political and economic elite, during the Caliphate, often high ranking officials in the administration were Jews and Christians. In later states, when the proportion of non-muslims in the population had become much less, non-muslim officials became greatly reduced. Although the expansion of the Islamic empire eventually slowed, Islamization continued in other ways. Muslim countries dominated trade in the Indian Ocean and the Sahara and it was through trade, and interaction with locals, that Islam grew in areas such as the Sahel and the East Indies.
During the Ottoman rule of Balkans, many Christians converted to Islam for various reasons, even though the Ottomans had a policy of protecting non-Muslims,. Modern history books commonly refer to this process as Islamicization (For instance, Noel Malcolm in "Bosnia: A Short History").
The term 'Islamization' was coined by orientalists in the 1900s who tried to attribute the growth of Islam as 'spread by the sword of violent barbarians.' This was primarily to stop the threat to Christianity in Europe and its colonies. A strand of extreme right wing European thought suggests that an Islamization of European culture is to be resisted (see, e.g., Jean-Marie le Pen). It is thought that French resistance to the possibility of Turkish entry into the European Union in part led to the rejection in the spring of 2005 of the proposed European Union Constitution. This line of thought is often associated with concern over the relative growth of Muslim communities within Europe, in contrast to the declining birthrates of non-Muslims.
See also
"Islamization"