Yahya - Justice and Tolerance in the Qur'an (2003)

PEACE IN SOCIETIES WHERE TRUE JUSTICE PREVAILS
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members of communities that lived under Turkish rule for
centuries. The Great Seljuk and Ottoman empires, the two
great Turkish examples of their kind, spring to mind in this
context. Numerous peoples who lived under their rule
enjoyed the maintenance of social justice and lived in peace.
Khans of the Great Seljuk Empire
who Administered Justice
With the conversion of the Turks to Islam, khans (a title
given to the supreme rulers of Turkish tribes and Ottoman
sultans) and sultans ruled in the light of the Islamic
teachings. The spread of Islam witnessed praiseworthy
accomplishments, great conquests and many other important
contributions during the reign of these leaders, thanks to the
guidance of justice described in the Qur'an. In his book, The
Spread of Islam in the World, Sir Thomas Arnold, a British
researcher, explains the willingness of Christians to come
under Seljuk rule in these terms:
This same sense of security of religious life under Muslim rule led
many of the Christians of Asia Minor, also, about the same time, to
welcome the advent of the Saljuq Turks as their deliverers… In the
reign of Michael VIII (1261-1282), the Turks were often invited to
take possession of the smaller towns in the interior of Asia Minor
by the inhabitants, that they might escape from the tyranny of the
empire; and both rich and poor often emigrated into Turkish
dominions. 17
Malik Shah, the ruler of the Islamic Seljuk Empire during
its brightest age, was very careful to apply the judgements of
the Qur'an. He approached the people in the conquered