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17:29 27/02/2014 » IN THE WORLD
Islamists demand levy from Christians in Syrian city
An al Qaeda splinter group has demanded that Christians in a Syrian
city it controls pay a levy in gold and curb displays of their faith
in return for protection, according to a statement posted online on
Wednesday, Reuters reported.
The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), mainly composed of foreign
fighters, is widely considered the most radical of the groups fighting
President Bashar al-Assad, and is also engaged in a violent struggle with
rival Islamist rebels.
Its directive to Christians in the eastern city of Raqqa is the latest
evidence of the group's ambition to establish a state in Syria founded on
radical Islamist principles, a prospect that concerns Western and Arab
backers of other rebel groups fighting Assad.
ISIL said it would ensure Christians' safety in exchange for the levy and
their adherence to restrictions on their faith, citing the Islamic legal
precept of 'dhimma.'
It said Christians must not make renovations to churches or other religious
buildings, display religious insignia outside of churches, ring church
bells or pray in public.
It demanded every Christian man pay a tax of up to 17 grams of gold, a levy
that was common in Muslim states centuries ago.
The directive also bans Christians from owning weapons and from selling
pork or wine to Muslims or drinking wine in public.
http://www.panorama.am/en/politics/2014/02/27/islam-reuters/
Islamists demand levy from Christians in Syrian city
An al Qaeda splinter group has demanded that Christians in a Syrian
city it controls pay a levy in gold and curb displays of their faith
in return for protection, according to a statement posted online on
Wednesday, Reuters reported.
The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), mainly composed of foreign
fighters, is widely considered the most radical of the groups fighting
President Bashar al-Assad, and is also engaged in a violent struggle with
rival Islamist rebels.
Its directive to Christians in the eastern city of Raqqa is the latest
evidence of the group's ambition to establish a state in Syria founded on
radical Islamist principles, a prospect that concerns Western and Arab
backers of other rebel groups fighting Assad.
ISIL said it would ensure Christians' safety in exchange for the levy and
their adherence to restrictions on their faith, citing the Islamic legal
precept of 'dhimma.'
It said Christians must not make renovations to churches or other religious
buildings, display religious insignia outside of churches, ring church
bells or pray in public.
It demanded every Christian man pay a tax of up to 17 grams of gold, a levy
that was common in Muslim states centuries ago.
The directive also bans Christians from owning weapons and from selling
pork or wine to Muslims or drinking wine in public.
http://www.panorama.am/en/politics/2014/02/27/islam-reuters/