From the Dhimma to the Capitulations: Memory and Experience of Protection in Lebanon

Abstract

Regarding memory of protection, there are perceptible differences between the two largest Christian communities in Lebanon, the Maronites and the Greek Orthodox. This chapter argues that the discrepancy between the Maronites' experience of Muslim protection and their memory of it is particularly striking, much more so than in the case of the Greek Orthodox. Through the dhimma , Muslim rulers grant hospitality and protection to members of other revealed religions, on condition that the latter acknowledged the domination of Islam. The Arabic term al-imtiyazat al-ajnabiyya , lit. foreign privileges, gives a more accurate description of what it is we are dealing with: originally, the capitulations gave non-Muslim foreign merchants living and trading in Ottoman territories generous fiscal privileges. A comparison between the Maronite and the Greek Orthodox communities must take into account the vastly different histories of their Churches. Keywords:capitulatory privileges; dhimma ; Greek Orthodox communities; Lebanon; Maronites