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

PEACE IN SOCIETIES WHERE TRUE JUSTICE PREVAILS
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people derived from his fair treatment.
As is the case with all Islamic states, the Ottoman sultans
treated the non-Muslims in the conquered lands with the
utmost justice. 22 That is because according to the Qur'an, the
people of the conquered lands were God's trusts to the
sultans. The protection of these people and keeping them
safe from the cruelty of others were the responsibilities of
administrators who ruled with justice. That is why, while
European kingdoms subjected native peoples to genocide
and cruelty, and exploited all the natural resources in the
countries they occupied, the Ottoman sultans made it their
main goal to bring welfare to the conquered lands. They
never resorted to coercion to convert the natives. On the
contrary, they provided them all the means to worship in
peace. 23
Muslim Turks never intervened in the language, religion
and many of the social and administrative structures of the
people living under their rule. In brief, the cultures of these
people were kept intact. That is why people whose religions,
languages and cultures were completely different could live
together in peace and harmony under one roof. Regarding
this subject, historian André Miquel states the following:
The Christian communities lived under a well administered state
that they did not have during the Byzantine and Latin periods.
They were never subjected to systematic persecution. On the
contrary, the empire and especially Istanbul had become a refuge for
Spanish Jews who were tortured. People were never Islamized by
force; the movements of Islamization took place as a result of social
processes. 24