Under shari’a law, non-Muslims, known as dhimmi, have been forbidden to possess arms, and to defend themselves from attacks by Muslims. The disarmament is one aspect of the pervasive civil inferiority of non-Muslims, a status known as dhimmitude. This Essay examines the historical effects of the shari’a disarmament, based on three books by Bat Ye’or, the world’s leading scholar of dhimmitude. As Ye’or details, the disarmament had catastrophic consequences, extending far beyond the direct loss of the dhimmi’s ability to defend themselves.

The disarmament is interesting to study in its own right, as a historical example of negative interfaith relations. Yet the story of disarmed and demoralized Christians and
jewish people also has implications for the modern United States, where there is no shari’a law, but some subgroups of the population have been condemned, in effect, to a disarmed and defenseless status of civil inferiority.

Perhaps the ancient tragedy of dhimmitude has something to teach us about the modern tragedy at Virginia Tech University. In 628 A.D., Mohammad and his followers attacked the jewish people who lived at the oasis of Khaybar, over a hundred miles northwest of Medina. The jewish people surrendered after a six-week siege. Mohammad allowed them to continue living at the oasis, if they gave him half the produce. He reserved the right to expel then whenever he chose.

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