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

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JUSTICE AND TOLERANCE IN THE OUR'AN
originally a small state that spread rapidly, superseding the
Byzantine Empire and which eventually came over a vast
swath of land including southwest Asia, northeast Africa,
and southeast Europe. Today, we still come across traces of
the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans, the Middle East and
North Africa. Everywhere in the Ottoman Empire was ruled
by Muslim administrators who displayed the noble traits of
people who adhered to Islamic tenets. One can understand
the influence of the Ottomans from the quotation below,
taken from the ten-volume work, Histoire de la Turquie, (1854)
by Lamartine:
Visit Izmir, Istanbul, Syria or Lebanon. Go to monasteries, holy
places, and educational institutions there. Look at the places where
religious education is provided and ask people "Was there anything
wrong with the attitude of the Ottomans to you, or the protection
they provided?" All of them will tell you about "the impartial
treatment of the Ottomans and the Sultan"… Indeed, in the
administration of these religious places, the Ottoman sultans acted
with a profound sense of objectivity, respect and peace… 21
Starting from the time of Osman Ghazi (a title given to a
victorious Muslim military leader), the founder of the
Ottoman Empire, Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror, and other
emperors became role models for all humanity to follow with
their elevated manner and the justice they displayed in their
administrations. Under their authority, people of different
religions and creeds co-existed in peace. Furthermore, there
existed some communities which did not resist at all and of
their own free will submitted to the rule of Sultan Mehmed
the Conqueror. This alone bespeaks the great satisfaction