Forced conversion

A forced conversion is the conversion to a religion or philosophy against the will of the subject, often with the threatened consequence of earthly penalties or harm. These consequences range from job loss and social isolation to incarceration, torture or death. Typically, such a conversion entails the repudiation of former religious or philosophical convictions.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 Christianity 2 Islam 2.1 Teachings 2.2 Practice 3 Twenty-first century allegations 3.1 Buddhism 3.2 Christianity 3.3 Hinduism 3.4 Islam 4 See also 5 References

[edit] Christianity

There is no support in the Bible for forced conversion^{[citation needed]}, but there have been historical attempts by Christians to force the religious conversion of individuals, groups, and entire populations.

Pope Innocent III, who denounced forced conversions^{[citation needed]}, pronounced in 1201 that even if torture and intimidation had been employed in receiving the sacrament, one nevertheless:

...does receive the impress of Christianity and may be forced to observe the Christian Faith as one who expressed a conditional willingness though, absolutely speaking, he was unwilling. ... [For] the grace of Baptism had been received, and they had been anointed with the sacred oil, and had participated in the body of the Lord, they might properly be forced to hold to the faith which they had accepted perforce, lest the name of the Lord be blasphemed, and lest they hold in contempt and consider vile the faith they had joined.^[1]

The "New Christians" were inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula (Sephardic Jews or Mudéjar Muslims) during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Era who were baptized under coercion, becoming Conversos or Moriscos. In spite of their new faith, they were suspected by the "Old Christians" of being Crypto-Jews or Crypto-Muslims. Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492 and from Portugal in 1497.^[2]

Religious persecution took place by the Portuguese in Goa, India from 16th to the 17th century. The natives of Goa, most of them Hindus were subjected to severe torture and oppression by the zealous Portuguese rulers and missionaries and forcibly converted to Christianity.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8]}

Charlemagne regarded the repelling of pagan invaders and their absorption and conversion as part of his obligation as defender of the faith and he forced the Saxons and Frisians to convert to Christianity.^[9]

The economic conquest of the Americas by various European forces coincided with and depended on conversion of the natives. Some of these conversions were forced.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Islam

[edit] Teachings

Early Islamic scripture and law forbids forced conversion.^[10] A verse of the Qur'an (2:256) is frequently cited: "Let there be no compulsion in religion".^{[11][12][13][14][15]} Karen Armstrong asserts that after Muhammad's death, nobody in the Islamic empire was forced to accept the Islamic faith.^[16]

[edit] Practice

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In practice, forced conversions have been relatively rare in Islamic history, usually as a result of deteriorating economic conditions, and in violation of Sharia.^[10][17] Noted cases include the conversion of Samaritans to Islam at the hands of the rebel Ibn Firāsa,^[18][19] conversions in the 12th century under the Almohad dynasty of North Africa and Andalusia, as well as in Persia under the Safavid dynasty where Sunnis were converted to Shi'ism^[17] and Jews were converted to Islam.^[20] A form of forced conversion became institutionalized during the Ottoman Empire in the practice of devşirme, a human levy in which Christian boys were seized and collected from their families (usually in the Balkans), enslaved, converted to Islam, and then trained for high ranking service to the sultan.

There is dispute amongst scholars as to whether the famous Jewish philosopher Maimonides converted to Islam in order to freely escape from Almohad territory, and then reconverted back to Judaism in either Israel or in Egypt.^[21] Maimonides wrote a book on apostasy wherein he advocated accepting forced conversion rather than suffer martydom, and to then seek refuge afterward at a place where it was safe. Sabbatai Zevi, an Ottoman Jew from Smyrna, was forced to convert to Islam, and had no opportunity to return to Judaism. Sabbatai, a charismatic figure, had many followers,and ultimately claimed to be the messiah. He went to Constantinople where the Sultan placed him in a prison in Abydos. He gained his freedom by accepting Islam, along with his wife, and was then further forced to take a second wife to verify his true conversion.

K. S. Lal, suggests in his book Growth of Muslim Population in Medieval India that between the years 1000 and 1500 the population of Hindus decreased by 80 million in the Indian Subcontinent due to forced conversion to Islam and widespread slaughter of Hindus who resisted conversion. Given that the population of Entire Asia was only around 500 million^[22] during that period, this forced conversion would later form the basis of the partition of India on religious lines. During Tipu Sulthan's invasion of Malabar in the late 18th century, he forcefully converted over 400,000 Hindus to Islam.^[23][24][25] During the Moplah Riots of 1921 in Kerala, Muslim Mappilas forcibly converted thousands of Hindus to Islam^[26] and killed all those who refused to apostatise.^[27]

[edit] Twenty-first century allegations

[edit] Buddhism

In Burma, forcefully conversion of minorities to Buddhism is prevalent; at times with state and military support.^[28][29]

[edit] Christianity

The Baptist Church of Tripura is alleged to have supplied the NLFT with arms and financial support and to have encouraged the murder of Hindus, particularly infants, as a means to depopulate the region of all Hindus.^[30] In 2009, the Assam Times reported that about fifteen armed Hmar militants, members of Manmasi National Christian Army, tried to force Hindu residents of Bhuvan Pahar, Assam to convert to Christianity.^[31] Few Christian evangelists in India have been accused forced conversion of Hindus.^[32][33] Archbishop Moras, refuting these allegation of forced conversions and the charges of conversions against the Christian missionaries, said "We do not believe in forced conversions" "It is easy to charge people with wrong allegations but difficult to stop evil powers that are working against Christians".^[34]

[edit] Hinduism

Christians have alleged that "radical Hindu groups" in Orissa, India have forced Christian converts from Hinduism to "revert"^[35] to Hinduism. These "religious riots" were largely between two tribal groups in Orissa, one of which was predominantly Hindu and another predominantly Christian, over the assassination of a Hindu leader named Swami Laxmananda by Christian Maoists operating as terrorist groups in India (see Naxalite).^[36] In the aftermath of the violence, Christian evangelical groups have claimed that Hindus are "forcibly reverting" Christians to Hinduism.^[35]

However, Christian groups itself have dismissed these allegations, saying Hindus have been extremely cordial to them.^[37]

[edit] Islam

In 2001 the Indonesian army evacuated hundreds of Christian refugees from the remote Kesui and Teor islands in Maluku (province) after the refugees stated that they had been forced to convert to Islam. According to reports, some of the men had been circumcised against their will, and a paramilitary group involved in the incident confirmed that circumcisions had taken place while denying any element of coercion. ^[38]

In 2004 Coptic Christians in Egypt occupied the main Coptic cathedral in Cairo for several days, angry at the disappearance of a priest's wife in a village in the Nile delta, who, they alleged, had been forced to convert to Islam. The BBC reported that allegations of forced conversions of Copts to Islam surface every year in Egypt.^[39]

Other notables among these have been the cases of Iraq's Mandaeans^[40], Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Christians, Christians of Pakistan ^[41] and Assyrian Christians of Iraq^[42][43][44] who have faced coercion to convert to Islam.^[45][46]

In 2006 two journalists of the Fox News Network had been kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam at gunpoint. After conversion they were made to read statements on videotape proclaiming that they had converted, after which they were released by their captors.^[47] In 2007, Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, a right-wing Hindu leader in India, received a letter from Jaish-e-Mohammed, threatening him with death if he did not convert to Islam.^[48]

It was reported in February 2007 that Hindu and Sikh organisations in the UK believe that young women of these faiths are being coerced by young men they meet at university into converting to Islam. The chief of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Ian Blair attended a conference where the allegations were made. A spokeswoman for the police said: "We are aware of it as an issue that concerns the Hindu community but are not aware, without further research, of any specific incidents reported to police. We would encourage anyone who has been targeted in this way to seek help."^[49]

In May 2007, members of the Christian community of Charsadda in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan, close to the border of Afghanistan, reported that they had received letters threatening bombings if they did not convert to Islam, and that the police were not taking their fears seriously.^[50]

There have been numerous reports of Islamic attempts to forcibly convert religious minorities in Iraq. In Baghdad, Christians have been told to convert to Islam, pay the jizya or die.^[51][52][53] In March 2007 the BBC reported that people in the Mandaean religious minority in Iraq alleged that they were being targeted by Islamist insurgents, who offered them the choice of conversion or death.^[54]

In October 2009 it was reported that Muslim groups in the Indian state of Kerala have been engaging in a "Love Jihad", whereby Muslim men were trained to seduce college-going Hindu and Christian girls to marry them and forcibly convert to Islam.^[55] Both Hindu and Catholic Christian groups in the state expressed alarm at this trend and have been working together to protest this trend. The High Court in the state has resolved to probe the matter. The primary Islamic group currently being held responsible for this is the Islamic extremist front Popular Front of India, a conglomeration of radical Islamist groups disguised as civil rights groups that are dedicated to implementing Islamic Sharia law in Hindu majority India.^[56] The Catholic Church in Kerala has joined up with Hindu groups in order to combat this trend.^[57] Such cases of "Love Jihad" have reportedly started to occur in the neighboring state of Karnataka as well.^[57]

In Pakistan, Hindus have been forcefully converted to Islam ever since its foundation. Around 20 to 25 Hindu girls are abducted every month and converted to Islam forcibly.^[58] Sikhs in Pakistan, concentrated in the Lahore area, also have been constantly under a threat to convert to Islam.^[59] As jizya was legalized by the Government of Pakistan in 2009, the Taliban have been kidnapping minority communities to claim this tax,^[60] while officials use a significantly pro-Islam constitution to encourage conversions^[61]

[edit] See also

• Apostasy
• Religious conversion
• Religious intolerance
• Forced circumcision
• Covenant of Umar I
• Freedom of religion in Saudi Arabia

[edit] References