WHO WROTE THE QURAN

esumed the full control of Palestine the Christians were given their formerstatus as citizens. The Coptic Church, too had little cause for complaintunder Saladin’s strong government, and during the time of the earlierMameluke sultans who succeeded him, the Copts experienced moreenlightened justice than they had hitherto known. The only effect of theCrusaders upon Egyptian Christians was to keep them for a while frompilgrimage to Jerusalem, for as long as the Frank were in charge hereticswere forbidden access to the shrines. Not until the Moslem victories couldthey enjoy their rights as Christians.Marmaduke Pickthall - Tolerance in Islam, Lecture, 1927, Madras, India:In the eyes of history, religious toleration is the highest evidence of culturein a people.... It was not until the Western nations broke away from theirreligious law that they became more tolerant, and it was only when theMuslims fell away from their religious law that they declined in toleranceand other evidences of the highest culture. Before the coming of Islamtolerance had never been preached as an essential part of religion....If Europe had known as much of Islam, as Muslims knew of Christendom,in those days, those mad, adventurous, occasionally chivalrous and heroic,but utterly fanatical outbreaks known as the Crusades could not have takenplace, for they were based on a complete misapprehension....Innumerable monasteries, with a wealth of treasure of which the worth hasbeen calculated at no less than a hundred millions sterling, enjoyed thebenefit of the Holy Prophet’s Charter to the monks of Sinai and werereligiously respected by the Muslims. The various sects of Christians wererepresented in the Council of the Empire by their patriarchs, on theprovincial and district council by their bishops, in the village council bytheir priests, whose word was always taken without question on thingswhich were the sole concern of their community....The tolerance within the body of Islam was, and is, something withoutparallel in history; class and race and color ceasing altogether to bebarriers.Sir John Bagot Glubb - Reflections on a Great ERA:The Abbasid Khalifa [Caliph] Al-Ma’mun’s period of rule (813 - 833 CE) maybe considered the ‘golden age’ of science and learning. He had alwaysbeen devoted to books and to learned pursuits. His brilliant mind wasinterested in every form of intellectual activity. Not only poetry but alsophilosophy, theology, astronomy, medicine and law all occupied his time.By Mamun’s time, medical schools were extremely active in Baghdad. Thefirst free public hospital was opened in Baghdad during the Caliphate of39