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

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JUSTICE AND TOLERANCE IN THE OUR'AN
everyone: Jews, Armenians and Syrian Orthodox
communities. 41 That is why during his reign, many nations
were pleased to be under his rule. A statement by the Grand
Duke Lucas Notaras, the Byzantine commander, "I would
rather see the Muslim turban in the midst of the city than the
Latin mitre" 42 confirms that fact.
The conquest of Istanbul by Sultan Mehmed was initially
a cause of great fear among non-Muslims. The majority of
these feared they would suffer discrimination, oppression
and attacks, and so fled from Istanbul or congregated in St.
Sophia Church. However, Sultan Mehmed, who treated them
with justice and tolerance, relieved them of all their fears and
allowed them to return to their homes and go on with their
daily lives. 43 He allowed non-Muslims to live according to
their own religions and their own rules, and furthermore,
brought in conditions under which people of different creeds
could carry out their religious obligations without
hindrance. 44 In the palace, Muslim and Christian scholars
lived side by side and discussed issues in an atmosphere of
tolerance.
Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror tried to learn about
Christianity from a Christian, 45 and granted the Patriarch an
imperial edict entitling the Christian community to
administer their own law in the conduct of their daily lives.
Sultan Mehmed gave the Patriarchate enormous freedom,
and thus the Patriarchate received autonomy under Turkish
rule. 46 The historian Hammer published a copy of the
imperial edict (modus vivendi) compiled from Western and
Eastern sources. Hammer quotes the following in the
acquittal sent to the Patriarch by the Sultan: