Gabriel Sawma on "dhimmitude" and "abrogation"

Gabriel Sawma's latest account on how to properly interpret the Koran, is yet another one of his brilliant attempts at tackling some of the most fundamental issues that made Islam as we know it today.  First he reports on the general status of Christians under Islam and explains the reasons behind their dwindling numbers in the Middle East.  Then Mr Sawma takes us through a step-by step process explaining how the ummah is living in a state of denial and deliberately hides the fact that the Koran does indeed allow for revision and that the holy book in fact does contain numerous chapters/verses that have been revised and/or canceled out centuries ago.

In order to get to the core of the problem with modern day Islam, Mr Sawma carefully lifts the veil on the terms "dhimmi" and "abrogation", perhaps two of the most obscure terms in Muslim history, by explaining their origins and their true meanings to help everyone see the light.   If anything, his masterful thesis makes prominent Muslim critics like Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Salman Rushdi look like mere fools for not doing their homework properly, but at the same time it will probably make Dutch politician Geert Wilders actually sound sane, if he decides to revert to his previous statement where he said that "Muslims should discard half the content of the Koran....."

At least that's is what I personally got out of it, but feel free to jump to your own conclusions after you read his article and perhaps be kind enough to share some of it here with us.

The Plight of the Cristians in the Middle East

Today, there are 30 million Christians who live in countries whose majority are Muslims. Some 15 million Christians live in Indonesia; somewhere between 6 and 12 million live in Egypt; 3 million in Pakistan; Christians make up 3 percent of Iraq’s population of 30 million and 2 percent of Jerusalem’s population.

In Turkey, the Christian population numbered 2 million in 1920, but now numbers a few thousand. In Syria Christians represented about one third of the population at the beginning of the twentieth century, today they count for less than 10 percent. In Lebanon the number went from about 55 percent 70 years ago to under 30 percent today. At present rates in the Middle East, the 12 to 15 million Christians will in a decade have been substantially reduced to the point that they will have lost their cultural vitality and political significance. This exodus is a result of the unprecedented mistreatment of Jews and Christians throughout the Middle East.

Egyptian Christians are embattled minority with dwindling right; trapped in poverty and uncertainty, despised and distrusted as second class citizens; facing discrimination in education, jobs and from police and the courts. Often they are victim of brutality. This applies to many countries with a Muslim majority. Yet no Muslim leader voices his objection to such a treatment.

Gabriel Sawma is considered an authority in Islam, a lawyer in international law , professor of Semitic Studies, and author of the book: The Qur’an: Misinterpreted, Mistranslated, and Misread. The Aramaic Language of the Qur’an. http://www.syriacaramaicquran.com
http://www.gabrielsawma.blogspot.com

Link: http://www.syriacaramaicquran.com