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The Orphans' Decree was introduced in Yemen and obligated the Zaydi state to take under its protection and to educate in Islamic ways any dhimmi (i.e. non-Muslim) child whose parents had died when he or she was a minor. First introduced or revived in the 17th century,〔 the Orphans' Decree was ignored during Ottoman rule (1872–1918), but was observed during the period of Imam Yahya (1918–1948).〔Simon, Reeva Spector; Laskier, Michael Menachem & Reguer, Sara, eds. (2003) ''The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa in Modern Times''. New York: Columbia University Press; p. 392〕 According to one source, the decree has "no parallel in other countries".〔 Although forced conversion is not widely recognized under Islamic laws, historian and Arabist Shelomo Dov Goitein believes that a forced conversion of orphans could have been justified by the revelation attributed to Muhammad that states: "Every person is born to the natural religion (), and only his parents make a Jew or a Christian out of him." 〔 ==Before Ottoman rule== There are only some fragmentary and isolated accounts about the enforcing of the decree before Ottoman rule. It was not enforced equally in every part of Yemen. There were places where Jews were able to hide orphaned children and protect them from being forcibly converted to Islam.〔 Still there are several accounts about the enforcement of the decree.〔 Shalom Shabazi, a Jewish poet who lived in 17th century Yemen, wrote in one of his poems about "stealing orphans". A translation of the poem runs thus: "Thousands of orphaned souls, both boys and girls, were wrested from the arms of their parents, grandfather and grandmother, by force by the nations all the days of the many kings of Yemen."〔 Rabbi Hayyim Habshush writes that by the end of Al-Mansur Ali I's rule in 1809 the Imam built palaces for his sons "and when he settled his sons in those palaces he ordered that the orphaned Jewish children be seized and converted and made servants and scribes in the palaces." In the same account Habshush testifies that there were some "who concealed the children in their homes until they were fully grown."〔 One more account is dated to 1850. Jewish scholar Amram Qorah recalls a story about his orphaned father, who was hidden by a Jewish family in their home and thereby escaped a forced conversion.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Orphans' Decree」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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