The Clash between Islam and Christianity: A Marxist ...

ELF Annual Research Journal 15 (2013) 119-131

The Clash between Islam and Christianity: A Marxist Analysis of Tariq Ali’s Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree Waseem Hassan Malik  Sadia Baby ** ABSTRACT: The main objective of this paper is to examine Tariq Ali’s historical novel “The Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree (2000)” from Marxist perspective. The text was analysed and interpreted on the following grounds. Firstly, all the human beings are motivated by their materialistic needs as food, survival and power than by the grand ideas of religion or other ideologies. Secondly, all the social conflicts are class conflicts: conflicts between “haves” and “have-nots”. Thirdly, religion like other ideologies is a powerful tool of social control. It legitimizes capitalist exploitation and supports status quo. The paper attempts to prove that the conflict between the Muslims and Christians is not about the religious values as both are not sincere to their own religious doctrines. The conflict is distinctly about the survival on the one hand and the political dominance on the other. It is simply a class struggle between “have” and “have-nots”, between the ones who have power and the ones who have not. The Catholic Christians after the re-conquest of Moorish Spain in 1492 try to consolidate their power by confiscating lands and properties of the Muslims and the Muslims after losing their political power try to survive in these lands. In this whole phenomenon, religious ideology plays an important role. Both the parties exploit religion for their political and / or economic interests. Thus, the clash between the Muslims and the Christians is dominantly a political phenomenon little concerned with religion than the power and economic gains. Keywords: Clash, Christianity, Islam, Marxist Analysis, Tariq Ali

Introduction The relationship of the Christian and Muslim civilizations has been unstable from the early days of Islam, and theirs is a long history of rivalry, armed conflict, cultural exchange, economic traffic and occasional peaceful co-existence. Huntington (1996) presented his thesis of the clash of civilizations based on cultural and religious differences which are inherent in the two civilizations. Tariq Ali deconstructs Huntington’s thesis in his non-fiction and fiction, Islam Quintet. Ali presents a Marxist 

Lecturer, Institute of English Language & Literature University of Sindh, Jamshoro ** Research Scholar, Institute of English Language & Literature University of Sindh, Jamshoro..

120

M.Talat / ELF Annual Research Journal 15 (2013) 101-118

interpretation of the clash of the two civilizations. Generally, a conflict between two different religious communities is seen as purely a religious conflict. But a Marxist believes that there are some other hidden agendas behind these religious conflicts. Marxism is an economic and political theory and practice originated by Karl Marx (1818-83) and Friedrich Engels (1829-95). The theory suggests that all the human activities and institutions are economically determined. The main objective behind all social and political activities is to achieve and maintain economic power. Marx presented a materialistic view of the whole human history in his Communist Manifesto (2009) written in collaboration with Friedrich Engels. He claims that from the time immemorial human beings are motivated more by their material concerns like food and survival than by grand ideas: “Life involves before everything else eating, drinking, habitation, clothing and many other things” (Mark & Engels, 2009, p. 48). He asserts that all the conflicts in the society are class based: “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle”. He maintains that in the beginning when people worked together things were going right; the problem began when human beings developed the sense surplus -- a period when agriculture and private properties developed. These two factors ultimately divided human beings into two classes which according to Marxist philosophy are termed as Bourgeoisies, based upon power and wealth and Proletariat based on poverty and ignorance. Thus, there started the never-ending conflict between ruling class and the labor class. In his Preface to A contribution To the Critique of Political Economy (1940) Marx gives his views about the economic base and its superstructure. He argues that, with growing class struggle, economy became the only driving force of the society and all the social institutions like family, education, politics, law, and media are structured on the economy. Thus, the economy became the base on which superstructure of all the social, political and ideological realities stands. With the change in economic foundation the entire superstructure is transformed (Marx, 1940, p. 11-12). The most powerful part of superstructure, he says, is ideologies. Marx in “The German Ideology” (2001) discusses his views about ideology. According to Marx, ideology is a set of ideas and conceptions through which people perceive their surroundings and no one else but “Men are producers of these conceptions and ideas” (p.47). He claims that ideas and ideologies are not independent as idealism would have; rather they are always the result of specific material conditions. To quote his words: “production of ideas, of conceptions of consciousness is, at first, directly interwoven with material activity and material intercourse of men” (Ibid.). He further says of all the ideas only the “ideas of ruling class are in every epoch ruling ideas…the ruling ideas are nothing more than the ideal expression of dominant material relationship…that make the one class ruling one…it has to give its ideas a form of

A Style for Reflection

121

universality and present them as the only rational universal and valid one” (Marx 2001, 66). Through their ideas ruling class creates a false consciousness in the working class and prevents them from realizing their pathetic conditions and the causes of their conditions. Ruling class actually generates ideas for their own benefits but presents them in a way that they are right and valid and with such justifications they exploit working class to a full extent. Like other institutions, religion also has economic basis; in fact religion can only exist on the basis of nothing else except the economic realities: “The religious world is but the reflex of the real world” (Marx, 2002, 164). “Men make religion” for their own materialistic purposes. For the ruling class it is not only a powerful weapon by which they oppress and exploit the labor class but also a perfect mean to acquire as much power and property as possible. It provides them excuses to justify their ways to the poor class. It does not only serve the causes of ruling class within a society but also proves to be equally beneficial for them when they attack on other societies and impose their rule over them. For masses, it is the opium which keeps them silent on their plight for the eternal favours in the afterlife. It shows them a virtuous picture of their sufferings and keeps them from focusing on the inequalities in their lives. Marx (1977) says that religion is the “heart of heartless world and soul of soulless conditions” (p.131). As it exists only in class-oriented societies where one class wants to suppress the other class and acquire as much power and wealth as possible. In classless societies there is no need of religion. Conflict between Islam and Christianity Since the dawn of Islam, non-believers and the followers of other religions showed reluctance to accepting Islam. This reluctance slowly and gradually turned into hatred and animosity. In spite of that hatred and animosity, Muslims’ success particularity against Christians remained unstoppable for about 100 years 632-732 until they were defeated in the battle of Torus and were driven back by Frankish powers. Muslims governed Byzantine, Syria, Jerusalem, North Africa and southern Spain in the west, and Persia and India in the east for many long years. The Muslims’ successes against Byzantine, Syria and Jerusalem opened the gates of wrath and revenge of the Christians against Muslim forces. After being defeated at the hands of Muslims, Christians started Holy War called crusades against the Muslims. The crusading continued for a long period of time from 1095 till 17th century. These Crusades not only stopped Muslim conquests and recaptured their Holy lands but also casted a heavy blow to Muslims’ culture and civilization.

122


Conflict not based on Religious Grounds Tariq Ali, a British-Pakistani writer, a political journalist and a filmmaker, has written a series of historical novels called ‘The Islam Quintet’ consisting of five volumes namely ‘Shadows of Pomegranate tree (2000)’, ‘The Book of Saladin (1999)’, ‘The Stone Woman (2001)’, ‘A Sultan in Palermo (2005)’, ‘Night of the Golden Butterfly (2010)’, in which he has depicted conflict between Islam and Christianity in different periods of the history. Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree is the first volume of the series. The narrative time of the novel is 1499, nine years after the fall of Granada at the hands of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. The story revolves around a noble Moorish family of Banu Hudayl living near Granada in the most difficult times of their history. The Marxist analysis of the novel suggests that the conflict between Islam and Christianity is not based on the religious grounds. Neither Christians nor Muslims are fighting for the sake of religion. Both the Christians and Muslims are not faithful followers of their religions. Both communities care little about the basic injunctions of their religion. They, as Marx suggests are driven by materialistic concerns than by the abstract ideas of religion. Their attitudes show that the religious doctrines which do not give any economic or social benefit are not practiced in lives as they seem to be useless whereas they feel no harm in practicing those acts which are forbidden by religion but do not result in any economic loss. In both religions sodomy, infidelity, premarital sexual relationship and vine consumption are prohibited but both communities practice them frequently as these practices do not bring any economic and social loss. “The most excellent and the most Christian” Queen Isabella once confesses to Ximenes that she is worried about Ferdinand’s infidelities and confesses that she would have betrayed Ferdinand for an uncontrollable urge of copulation with a Muslim subject (Ali, 2000, p. 134). Not only Christian palace is indulged in amorous acts but the Church members are also indulged in heinous sins without considering them wrong. One night, in his university days in Salamanca Ximenes witnesses students indulged in amorous acts. He himself ejaculates that night and “the liquid imprint bore an uncanny resemblance to the map of Castile and Aragon” (Ibid.). When he confesses it the priest remarks “If the church were to treat sodomy as unforgiveable sin every priest in the Spain will go to Hell” (Ibid. p.139). Similarly, the history of Banu Hudyal family is full of illicit relations between brother and sister, mother and son, father and daughter and master and the maid. Both religions, Islam and Christianity, preach that there is no difference of cast and creed or status, everyone is equal in the eyes of God; but it is not practiced in both communities because it does not bring any social and economic benefits. In order to maintain a social hierarchy and social status of aristocrats they practice just the opposite to the religious doctrine. In Church, special pews are reserved for Christian nobles and in


123

mosque front row is reserved for Muslim nobles like Banu Hudyals. Christians influenced by Pagans started worshiping images instead of abstract God and Muslim influenced by Christians fixed one day in a week, Friday, for going into mosque for prayer. Their prayer is also just a ritual lacking its true spirit. How could Muslims have fought for Islam when they themselves cared little about the basic injunctions of Islam? How could Christians have tried to bring Muslims on right path when they themselves went astray? “Falsehood hath so corrupted the world That wangling sects each other’s gospel chide; But were not hate Man’s natural element, Churches and Mosques had risen side by side” (p. 27) Conflict of Power and Survival The conflict between Islam and Christianity is the conflict between “have” and “have-nots”, a conflict between the power and survival. The Christians, after reconquesting their Holy Lands, are trying to maintain their power by expelling Muslims from these lands or converting them into Christianity; whereas, the Muslims, after being defeated by Christian forces, are trying to survive in these lands. Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand want to become absolute rulers of the captured lands. To them, the Muslims are enemies who once snatched their lands and can again raise arms against them. They believe that the Muslims belong to a different flock so they can never mix with Christians nor they can accept King and the Queen as their Shepherds. Whereas, consolidation of the Empire demanded “one flock and one shepherd” (p. 69). So they decide to wipe out everything related to the Muslims or Islam once and for all. When a community becomes dominate over the other, it tries to impose its culture, its values and everything related to it becomes superior to that of the oppressed. It makes the oppressed feel that their culture and values are inferior and in this way it replaces the culture and values of the oppressed with its own. Culture is the true identity of people. When their culture is destroyed, their identity is destroyed and when their identity is destroyed, they cease to exist in their genuine form and nothing is left to them. When a culture is imposed on a people, they rise in revolt because it is easier to adopt a dominant culture unconsciously. But, when they are forced to put their conscious efforts to adopt an imposed culture, they feel reluctant to do so because to them adopting an alien culture is equal to slavery. The Christian monarchs, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand do the same with Muslims in order to impose their hegemony. In order to destroy the Muslims, they first destroy their culture systematically. They destroy every public bath in these lands which had been a place of public and social gossip before

124


conquest. They prohibit Muslims’ public festivals, wedding feasts, songs and music. They disallow Muslims to wear their cultural robes. Ximenes very well “understands the power of ideas…more than anybody else in Peninsula” and knows that until Muslims’ books are not burnt, their culture will stay alive since books are the carriers of knowledge, ideas and culture (Ali 2000, prologue) as Tuchman (1980) says “Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. Without books, the development of civilization would have been impossible. They are engines of change (as the poet said), windows on the world and lighthouses erected in the sea of time.” (p. 16). Ximenes, after being defeated from a Muslim scholar in a debate, orders to burn all the Muslims’ books. On the 1st December of 1499 “the record of eight centuries was annihilated in one day” (p. 19). Only 300 manuscripts of medicine and astronomy are saved on the request of Christian scholars who knew their worth very well. He assembles all the Muslim citizens to witness the pathetic sight of the destruction of their greatest asset i.e. their books and along with them their culture and identity which was preserved in those books. The purpose behind assembling Muslims on the spot is to snatch their hope of survival and show them that they are completely defeated. As Ximenes thinks aloud “whatever revenge they may plan in the depths of their grief, it will be useless. We have won. Tonight was our real victory” (Ali, 2000, prologue). In addition to this, he also plans to eradicate their language because he knows very well that language carries people’s cultural identity, controls their thoughts and works as a medium to produce knowledge. Whatever is produced springs from the fountain of language. Language is like a register recoding the origin and history of nations, thus, keeping their identity safe from destruction. Regarding the importance of language, Samuel Johnson says and James Boswell (1810) quotes: “I am always sorry when any language is lost, because languages are the pedigree of nations.” Muslims are, therefore, prohibited to use their language, Arabic. Ximenes even thinks of “plucking away the offending tongues” of Muslims to bring an end to their oral traditions and their history as well (Ali 2000, prologue). Muslims also, motivated by material concerns, are trying to find out a way of survival in these lands. But, when they are robbed of their culture, their identity and everything which made them who they are, they see no way of survival except conversion. In order to save their lives and properties, few Muslim characters abandon Islam and convert to Christianity. After conversion they become subject to humiliation because conversion robs them off their names as well. After conversion, they like Hisham die inside themselves. Few Muslims even “became desperate , walk into Churches and excrete on the altar, urinate in the holy font, smear crucifixes with impure substances and rush out laughing in the fashion of people who have lost their minds” (Ali, 2000,p. 212). Few characters do not convert into Christianity but it does not mean that they are derived


125

by the grand idea of saving their religion and faith. The real reason behind it is that, when Inquisition is established, they realize that Christians “not content with burning of ideas, they burn those who supply them” (p. 23) even if they convert, their properties and lives would be grabbed by the Church on one pretext or the other. So, they find no point in converting to Christianity. The Role of Ideology: Church and Inquisition From the time immemorial, the survival of states has been associated with their economic well-being. Economy plays a vital role to defend a state against foreign attacks and to build an army to attack on the weaker states in order to expand territories as well as wealth of the state. As Paul Kennedy (1987) says “Wealth is usually needed to underpin military power and military power is usually needed to acquire and protect wealth” (preface xvi). Therefore, in the art of statecraft nations do not have personal friends and enemies their interests direct their behavior of friendship or enmity. It is evident in the novel that the main motive of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand is to get rid of Muslims once and for all and assimilate their properties and wealth for the consolidation of their power. In order to fulfill their plans, the Christian monarchs choose religious ideology as their tool. Since the goal of ideology is to legitimize the action of the forces in a position of hegemony, religious ideologies can best accomplish this task because these ideologies are said to have a divine basis. And once something is tagged as divine it is rarely objected and the creators of such ideologies know this very well. For instance, as according to the Christian ideology king and queen are God’s anointed hence it is their duty to bring false believers on the path of salvation and if they are eager to prevail God’s will they are not guilty of any crime. Archbishop Talavera, who does not believe in forceful conversions, tries to persuade Muslims and Jews through reason, logic and sympathy (Ali, 2000, p. 18). He succeeds in converting few Muslims and Jews but Queen Isabella is not satisfied with his ways because it was a very slow process and above all no properties can be confiscated through this process. She, therefore, assigns the task of conversion in Granada to her most trusted Bishop, her confessor, Ximenes de Cisneros, which is like “handing over the keys of pigeon house to a cat” (Ali, 2000, prologue). Cisneros is like Isabella in terms of temperament. He is equally eager and determined to free “The Holy lands” from Infidels and seize their lands to increase the property of Church and thereby standing of the Church and the Christian state. To Cisneros whatever means are adopted are justified as long as the result is successful achievement. In order to acquire states of Muslims and Jews, Cisneros adopts every possible mean which will bring wealth to the church and State. As a Muslim character, Ibn-Basit says: “Ever since the cursed Priest entered our town they have been making an inventory of all the property and wealth in the hands of Moors and the Jews. There is no

126


doubt they will take everything away unless we convert” (p. 181). “And even we convert they will find other means to steal our property” (Ibid.) Says another Muslim character, Salman bin Muhammad. Ximenes is advised by Don Inigo, the Count of Tendilla and Caption-General of Garnata, to be patient with Muslims as they are people with culture and to wipe them out “with a lash of the whip” might compel them to rise for revolt (p. 67). As Ximenes’ real motive is not the spiritual uplift of Muslims and Jews but to compel them to revolt so that they can be destroyed and their properties can be taken away, so he does not pay head to Caption-General’s advise. He sets all the Muslim’s books of knowledge and culture on fire because in the light of Christian ideology these books contained poisonous doctrines which must be consigned to the fire of hell. He treats Muslims like animals because according to Christian ideology they are followers of a false prophet so they deserve to be treated in this way. This is how he uses religion to justify his sinister design and compels Muslims to revolt. Ximenes’ cruel acts fill hearts of Muslims with hatred for everything related to Christianity. Consequently, the Muslims start venting their anger by urinating on the holy images of Christians which had been removed from Church, emptying buckets full of human excrement over priests, cleaning their private parts in holy water (pp. 129, 132, 133). The people, who revolted publicly, are burnt at stake and their properties are seized. The People, who for the sake of survival, convert into Christianity are subjected to strict Holy Inquisition and whenever they are caught practicing their religion, they are declared as false converts and are brutally killed and their properties are assimilated. Whereas, the people who want to save themselves from inquisition, have to bribe the officials of Church with huge amounts of gold or silver. Ximenes skillfully manipulates every situation to accomplish his task. As when two Muslim brothers escape from the custody of the Church and take refuge in their mother’s house to avoid any more atrocities. He finds the situation a dream opportunity to pursue his evil designs against the Muslims. He knows that, as a military action is necessary to restore the order, he can exploit the situation to its fullest. He cunningly sends a party of soldiers to arrest them which results in an expected revolt on the part of Muslims. A royal Bailiff is killed and the other soldiers are taken hostage by the Muslim mob. Xemines arranges a meeting with Don Inigo and compels him to take measures against this rebel. Though, the Captain General knows that Ximenes is responsible for the uprising and, personally, is not in favour of subjugation of the Muslims but being a part of the state machinery, works in the interest of the Crown and the Church. As a result, persecution of the Muslims is intensified. The Captain demands the arrest of the person who has killed the royal bailiff. He declares that those who convert can keep their lands and properties, can speak their language and wear their dress. Those who don’t would be punished. The taxes on the


127

believers are doubled henceforth. Moreover, he would take hostages: One son each from the leading two-hundred families in Gharnata (p. 228). To setup Holy Inquisition is another very clever decision of Holy Church. The establishment of this institution is also the result of materialistic concerns. The Holy Inquisition is an ecclesiastical court and process of the Roman Catholic Church setup for the discovery and punishment of heresy. It was Pope Innocent IV who first authorized the creation of horrifying inquisition torture chambers in 1252 and granted inquisitors the license to find out heretics and punish them even without Bishop’s consent. Inquisition invented most horrific devices to torture victims. These devices were not invented to inquire the truth but to obtain confession whether true or false. With the help of these horrific devices inquisition can extract confession of guilt from any one whether guilty or innocent (Holy Inquisition n.d). These devices are so torturing that most of the times victims even confess the crime they never committed and after confession they are burnt at stake and the victims who do not confess ultimately die within the prison. In both cases properties of victims become the possession of Holy Church. Inquisition plays an important role in the consolidation of State as on the one hand it amasses huge amount of wealth for the Crown and Church and on the other hand through its policies of oppression, helps to build a Catholic monarchy by forcibly converting Muslims and Jews. Following critical remarks of Don Inigo tells how and to what extent “tried and tested” methods of Inquisition serve the purpose of Church and Crown “Yes, tried and tested on Catholics whose property you wanted to posses and on Jews who have never ruled over a kingdom and who bought their freedom by paying out gold ducats and converting to our religion…the Inquisition was amassing gigantic fortune for the Church. The confiscated estates alone could fund three wars against the Truks” (Ali, 2000, p. 67-68). Religion as Commodity Any object which satisfies human needs through its qualities has certain values i.e. Use-Value: how much it is useful to its owner, Exchange-Value: how much it earns to its owner, and Sign-Exchange-Value: the status it confers to its owner. According to Marxism, a thing becomes a commodity when it has Exchange-Value and SignExchange-Value. These both values are determined by the society in which the objects are exchanged. The act of perceiving objects or people in the terms of Exchange-Value or Sign-Exchange-Value is commodification. (Tyson, 2006, p. 62). In The Shadows of the pomegranate Tree, Ali has portrayed all the characters as embodiment of worldly wisdom. They have commodified view of the religion. Their economic realities decide whether they have to keep their religion or cast it away from their lives. The Muslims compare both religions on the economic grounds and find Christianity more worth adopting than Islam because it gives them guarantee of keeping their wealth and

128


properties. They are not adopting Christianity as a religion. Christianity is a security license to keep their possessions. The Christians also sell their religion as a commodity to earn material benefits. The Christians use their religion as commodity to earn money, power and social status. Their religion earns them heaps of wealth hence consolidates their rule. They easily sell their religion and allow the converts to practice their old religion if they bribe them with heavy amounts of gold or silver. Ximenes, who seems very loyal to his religion, has also commodified view of religion. As he is ruthless for others, so he is coward and greedy for himself. In his religion, he sees a Sign-Exchange-value. The reason behind his cruelty is his desire to secure his status of Archbishop of Granada and the Confessor of the Queen. He knows that the blood running in his veins is not pure Christian blood as it has been made impure by the inheritance of Jewish blood. As people also whisper about his apparent Jewish features so in order to prove himself a pure Christian, a loyal Archbishop of the Church, and a devout Confessor to the Queen, he adopts an extremely cruel behavior towards the Muslims and Jews. His mind is revealed during his conversation with Don Inigo: “Don Inigo: How it is then that Torquemada, whose Jewish ancestry was very well known, presides over Inquisition. Ximenes: To prove his loyalty to the Church he had to be more vigilant than the scion of the noble family whose linage can be traced to the Visigoth kings” (Ali, 2000, p. 69) For the aristocratic family of Umar it is the question of their lives, their children’s future and above all their ancestral estates and property which they hold dearer than anything else. They easily sell their religion in the exchange of their estates and possession. They are not a least bit concerned with their religion because had been the survival of their religion been their concern, they would never have compromised on their religion for the sake of their wealth and would have preferred to be migrated to any other Muslim state where they could be granted freedom to live their lives according to their religion. Along with their property and estates, they are afraid of losing their social status as well. Because, if they migrate to other Muslim states for the sake of their religion, it would be extremely difficult for them to earn that same high social status that they enjoyed in their native land. A few Muslim characters are also reluctant to accept Christianity because conversion into Christianity can somehow save their properties but cannot assign them the same social status that they enjoy being Muslim aristocrats. Miguel sells his religion as a commodity in order to earn a better social standing and life. As his mother was a member of Christian community, Christianity confers him a new social status of Archbishop. He finds both exchange-value and sign-exchange value in religion. He also tries to convince his kith and kin that it is useless to cling blindly to a faith which has lost its market value in Al-Andalusia and succeeds in convincing his


129

nephew Hisham, a successful merchant. Hisham, as a prudent businessman, knows very well how to secure his wealth and to earn more using that wealth. He while talking to Umar about the reasons behind his conversion confesses that the “reasons have nothing to do with his religion” (p. 67) which shows that he does not take decisions keeping religion in mind. His mind suggests him to keep God in his heart but to do whatever can save his property. He also sells his religion and earns the security of his family and his trade. Umar bin Abdullah, the head of Banu Hudayl family and village, is not an orthodox believer of Islam. Though he doesn’t convert yet he seriously considers the option of conversion with his wife. To him conversion into Christianity “is a political not a spiritual matter’’ as he says: “I will communicate with the Maker just as I have always done. It is simply a question of appearance” (p. 21). It does not really matter for him whether he remains a Muslim or converts into Christianity; the thing that matters for him is the survival of his family, children, villagers and above all his property and the estates. He argues with elder son, Zuhyar that since their properties are safe Zuhyar has not point to fight against the Christians. To quote Umar’s words: “They have taken power and authority away from us, but the estates are still intact. We can enjoy our wealth in peace in dignity. Why should al-Hudayl disturb the Castilians?” (p. 147). He does not believe in fighting for the sake of religion. He believes that religion is opium and “young fools getting drunk on religion” rush “to do battle with Infidel” (Ibid.). He is not hesitant to sell his religion but it is the thought of the destruction of their culture and knowledge which fills his heart with grudges against Christianity which is why he becomes reluctant to convert into Christianity. In the whole novel, we find him lamenting the destruction of their culture and their books of knowledge but not the destruction or the downfall of their faith and its followers. Like others, he also has commodified view of religion. He may have converted into Christianity if he had been sure that conversion will save his life, his family and his property but after the burning of books and appointment of Inquisition he realizes that their destruction is certain, therefore, he finds no point in conversion. Like others Zuhyar is also a materialistic person “nothing matters to” him “as much as the safety of” his “home and states’’ (p. 148). He also cares little about religion as he cares more about his social status. The village of Banu Hudayl was constructed by Zuhyar’s forefathers. As a member of Banu Hudayl family he enjoys great respect and authority on the villagers which fills him with a sense of superiority. Therefore, to him conversion into Christianity and living a life of slavery is unbearable. The signExchange-value that Islam confers him cannot be had from Christianity. Being a Muslim Aristocrat, he occupies front row in Mosque but being a Christian convert he will never get front seat in the church. He leaves his home not to save his faith but his property and

130


estates. Being a young blood, infused by the stories of his elders defeating their rivals in single combats, he finds this the only way to save all he has. For the villagers too their properties and their homes were very important. On hearing the news that the infidel was slapped by Zuhyar they become extremely worried and the thought of being imprisoned and being deprived of their homes and possessions by Christians perturbed them. They are also ready to sell their religion but only wait for the orders of Umar bin Abdullah. Among all the villagers the most avaricious is Ubaydullah. When he sees the signs of Banu Hudayl’s end, he goes to the Christian Commander along with some villagers to show willingness to sell his religion in the exchange of Christianity. Since the Commander is short-heighted, he fell on his knees to flatter him and to make him feel tall. It demonstrates that the wealth is more important for him than his self-respect. The few emotional young Muslims, who want to resist Ximenes’ designs against the Moors, are also, fully aware of the economic persecution of the Muslims. And this is also one great reason behind their planning a resistance against Ximenes. Conclusion The analysis of the text proves that Tariq Ali deconstructs the myth of Huntington’s thesis of clash between Muslims and the Christians as a civilizational clash based on culture and religion. On the contrary, Ali, through this novel (and the other four novels of the Islam Quintet) tries to establish that the clash was a political phenomenon motivated by materialistic concerns of power and economy. Queen Isabella and Roman Church despite having fundamentalists like Ximenes in their fold, exploit the religion for their material designs. They do not intend to prevail the word of God rather their motive is to attain and consolidate their power by victimising their arch-rivals, the Muslims. The queen with the help of Church tries to eradicate everything related to the Muslims and their culture because they fear a revival from a political rival that has a strong intellectual and cultural legacy. They deprive Muslims of their wealth and properties as it is clear from the practice of the Holy Inquisition. The Muslims, on the other hand, try their best to secure their properties, wealth and lands. To ensure this, they prefer to accept humiliating terms and conditions from their opponents than to migrate and some even convert to Christianity. The few Muslims who resist against the Christian powers are also not desperate to defend their faith, nor is their conversion to Christianity due to their pursuit of the right path; it is purely a measure to secure their lives, their wealth and their possessions.


131

References Ali, T. (2000) Shadows of the pomegranate tree. Islamabad: Alhamara Publishing. Boswell, J. (1810). The journal of a tour to Hebrides with Samuel Johnson L.I.D. Philadelphia: John F. Watson. Kennedy, P. (1987). The rise and fall of the great powers: economic change and military conflict from 1500 to 2000. New York: Random House. Marx, K. (1977). Critique of Hegel’s ‘philosophy of right’. New York: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved June 2, 2013, from http://books.google.dm/books?id=uxg4AAAAIAAJ Marx, K., & Engels, F. (2009). Manifesto of the communist party. New York: Cosimo, Inc. Retrieved June 2, 2013, from http://books.google.com.pk Marx, K., & Engels, F. (2001). The German ideology part one, with selections from parts two and three, together with Marx's "Introduction to a critique of political economy." New York: International Publishers. Retrieved June 2, 2013, from http://books.google.com.pk Marx, K. (1940). A contribution to the critique of political economy. Chicago: C.H.Kerr. Marx, K. (2002). Marx on religion. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.The horrors of the church and its holy inquisition. (n.d.). Retrieved May 2, 2013, from TheChristian Enterprise, http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/vatican/esp_vatican29.htm Tyson, L. (2006). Critical theory today: a user friendly guide (2nd ed.). New York: Taylor and Francis Group. Tuchman, W.B. (Nov. 1980). The book. Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 34(2), 16-32. Retrieved on April 24, 2013, from JSTOR.