islamic-jihad-legacy-of-forced-conversion-imperialism-slavery

Islamic JihadThe suffering of slaves was not over after their arrival at their master’s abode. Thomas Pellow, atwelve-year-old British captive, caught onboard a ship, was bought by Sultan Moulay Ismail and ended up inthe imperial palace. When Pellow and his comrades, trekking 120 miles through the desert, reached thecapital, they were greeted by jeering and hostile Muslim crowds assembled outside the palace to mock andinsult the hated Christians. The unruly crowd shouted, mocked and tried to attack them as they were ledthrough to the palace. Despite guarding by the sultan’s soldiers, many in the crowd were able to punch andlash them and pull their hair. 778In the imperial palace, Pellow initially worked, alongside hundreds of European slaves, in thesultan’s huge armory, toiling for fifteen hours daily to repair and keep the arms in immaculate condition. Hewas soon given to his son, Prince Moulay es-Sfa. The prince had extreme contempt for Christian slaves andsubjected Pellow to beating and harrowing torment by making him perform the useless task of running ‘‘frommorning to night after his horse’s heels,’’ wrote Pellow. Later on, the prince, as was his custom, pressedPellow to convert to Islam, saying: ‘‘if I would, I should have a very fine horse to ride on and I should livelike one of his esteemed friends.’’ When Pellow firmly refused to convert and requested the prince not to pressfor his conversion, an enraged es-Sfa said, ‘‘then prepare yourself for such torture as shall be inflicted onyou, and the nature of your obstinacy deserves.’’ Thereupon, es-Sfa locked Pellow in a room for severalmonths and subjected him to terrible torture, ‘‘every day severely bastinading me,’’ wrote Pellow. 779Such was a general punishment for European slaves. The captives were suspended with ropes upsidedown and bastinaded, normally on the soles of their feet. On one occasion, according to Father Busnot, SultanMoulay Ismail ordered two slaves to be given 500 bastinadoes, which dislocated the hip of one of them. Thedislocated hip was put in place by another round of bastinadoes at a later date. 780Es-Sfa personally beat Pellow while uttering ‘‘Shehed, shehed! Cunmoora, Cunmoora! In English,Turn Moor (Muslim)! Turn Moor,’’ wrote Pellow. Daily beating had become unbearable for him as theintensity of beating increased by the day. He was denied food for days and when food was offered, it was onlybread and water. After months of sufferance, wrote Pellow: ‘‘My tortures were now exceedingly increased…,burning my flesh off my bones by fire, which the tyrant did, by frequent repetitions, after a most cruelmanner.’’ Tortures and pain of half-starved young Pellow reaching beyond endurance, he finally gave in oneday as es-Sfa came in for another round of beating, ‘‘calling upon God to forgive me, who knows that I nevergave up the consent of the heart,’’ added Pellow. 781 Decades earlier, John Harrison, who had made eightdiplomatic voyages to Morocco (1610–32), wrote: ‘‘He (sultan) did cause some English boys perforce turnMoores.’’ 782Torturing the European slaves for converting to Islam was not limited to the male captives alone; itequally applied to the female ones. The Barbary corsairs once plundered a British ship headed for Barbados;they took the crew captive and brought to Moulay Ismail’s palace. Among the captives were four women, oneof them virgin. This delighted the sultan, who tempted her to give up her Christian faith ‘‘with promises ofgreat rewards if she would turn Moor and lie with him,’’ noted British captive, Francis Brooks. Her refusalenraged the sultan, who ‘‘caused her to be stript and whipt [sic] by his eunuchs with small cords, so long tillshe lay for dead.’’ He then instructed to take her away and feed her nothing but rotten bread. Eventually, thepoor girl had no option but to ‘‘resign her body to him, though her heart was otherwise inclined.’’ The sultan778. Ibid, p. 71–72779. Ibid, p. 79–80780. Ibid, p. 81781. Ibid, p. 82782. Ibid, p. 21225