Zunar (Islamic Yellow-Badge Practices): Difference between revisions

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Traditional Islamic sources proscribe Islamic rulers to impose the [[Dhimmitude|dhimma]] or pact of "protection" upon non-believers living in their realms. This pact includes inter alia the responsibility of the protected dhimmis (Christians or Jews under the "protection" of the dhimma) to pay a special tax, not propagate their religion, not take Muslim women as wives, and also to wear special articles of clothing to distinguish them from non-Muslims inter alia. These articles of clothing took many forms, such as a special color of cloth or a specially colored belt, and may have influenced later European Christian traditions of enforcing special colors of clothing on non-believers, particularly Jews, and even the Nazi practice of forcing Jews to wear the "Judenstern" or yellow "Jew-star."

The yellow badge (or yellow patch), also referred to as a Jewish badge, was a cloth patch that Jews were ordered to sew on their outer garments in order to mark them as Jews in public. It is intended to be a badge of shame associated with [[antisemitism]].<ref>"''But the wearing of a badge or outward sign — whose effect, intended or otherwise, successful or not, was to shame and to make vulnerable as well as to distinguish the wearer…''" - D'Ancona, Jacob (2003). The City Of Light. New York: Citadel. pp. 23–24. ISBN 0806524634.</ref>  

This badge, that was to be eventually used by the Nazis against the Jews, was actually first introduced by a Muslim [[caliph]] in Baghdad in the 9^th century as a variant of the [[Zunar|zunnār]] belt. This then spread to the western world in medieval times.<ref name="Bernard Lewis">Bernard Lewis, [http://press.princeton.edu/titles/1434.html The Jews of Islam], Princeton University Press, June 1, 1987, ISBN 9780691008073, pp. 25-26.</ref>

==Zunar==

'''Zunār''' (زنار) was a wide yellow belt made of cloth. It was part of the clothing that [[non-Muslims]] under [[Dhimmitude]] were required to wear in order to differentiate themselves from Muslims.  

The requirement to wear it were dictated by Umar Ibn Al-Khattab, the second Rightly-guided [[Caliph]], and formed one of his many "well-known conditions" in the [[Pact of Umar]] (637 AD).<ref>[http://www.tafsir.com/default.asp?sid=9&tid=20986 Tafsir ibn Kathir - Paying Jizyah is a Sign of Kufr and Disgrace]</ref>

The [[Yellow Badge|yellow badge]] that was to be eventually used by the Nazis as a badge of shame against the Jews was actually first introduced by a Muslim caliph in Baghdad in the 9^th century as a variant of the zunār. This then spread to the western world during medieval times.<ref>Bernard Lewis - [http://press.princeton.edu/titles/1434.html The Jews of Islam] - Princeton University Press, June 1, 1987, pp. 25-26.</ref>

 

==Origin and History==

Christians and Jews were forced to wear special emblems on their clothes. The yellow badge was first introduced by a caliph in Baghdad in the 9^th century<ref name="Bernard Lewis"></ref> as a variant of the zunnār belt and spread to the western world in medieval times. Even in public baths, non-Muslims wore medallions suspended from cords around their necks so no one would mistake them for Muslims. Belts, headgear, shoes, armbands and/or cloth patches were also used. Under [[Shiite|Shi'ite]] rules, they were not even allowed to use the same baths.<ref name="Bernard Lewis"></ref> In 1005 the Jews of [[Egypt]] were ordered to wear bells on their garments.<ref name="Ulysse Robert">[{{Reference archive|1=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/2317-badge|2=2012-05-15}} Yellow badge] - Jewish Encyclopedia, accessed May 15, 2012</ref>

Apart from Jews, Hindus living under Islamic rule in [[India]] were often forced to wear yellow badges as well. During the reign of Akbar the Great, his general Husain Khan 'Tukriya' forcibly made Hindus wear discriminatory yellow badges<ref>Harbans, Mukhia (2004). The Mughals of India. Blackwell Publishing. p. 153. ISBN 9780631185550.</ref> on their shoulders or sleeves.<ref>Nijjar, Bakhshish Singh (1968). Panjāb Under the Great Mughals, 1526-1707. Thacker. p. 128.</ref>

The yellow badge first appeared in [[Europe]] via the Fourth Council of the Lateran of 1215 which ruled that Jews and Muslims must be distinguishable by their dress (Latin "habitus")". The Jewish Encyclopedia entry notes: "The idea of such a discrimination seems to have been derived from Islam, in which the dress of the Jews was distinguished by a different color from that of the true believer as early as the Pact of Omar (640), by which Jews were ordered to wear a yellow seam on their upper garments (D'Ohsson, "Histoire des Mogols," 1854, iii. 274)."<ref name="Ulysse Robert"></ref>

It was later revived by the [[Germany|German]] Nazis. After the invasion of Poland in 1939 there were initially different local decrees forcing Jews to wear a distinctive sign, during the General Government. The requirement to wear the Star of David with the word "Jude" (German for "Jew") inscribed was then extended to all Jews over the age of six in the Reich (current day Germany, Austria, parts of Poland, Slovakia and Luxemberg where German speakers predominated) and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (German-occupied Czechoslovakia) (by a decree issued on September 1, 1941, signed by Reinhard Heydrich) and was gradually introduced in other German-occupied areas, where local words were used (e.g. Juif in French, Jood in Dutch).

This practice was again revived most recently in the Islamic world, where in 2001, [[Afghanistan]]'s Hindus were required by the [[Taliban]] to wear yellow badges to segregate "un-Islamic" and "idolatrous" communities from [[Islam|Islamic]] ones.<ref name="Hindus1">[{{Reference archive|1=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/fyi/news/05/22/taleban.hindus/index.html|2=2012-05-14}} Taliban to mark Afghan Hindus] - CNN, May 22, 2001</ref><ref name="Hindus2">Jack Kelley - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2001-05-22-talibanids.htm|2=2012-05-14}} Taliban: Hindus must wear identity labels] - USA TODAY, June 19, 2001</ref><ref name="Hindus3">T.C. Malhotra - [{{Reference archive|1=http://cnsnews.com/news/article/us-lawmakers-condemn-taliban-treatment-hindus|2=2012-05-14}} US Lawmakers Condemn Taliban Treatment Of Hindus] - CNS News, July 7, 2008</ref>

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