Page 62 - Justice and Compassion in the Qur'an

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JUSTICE AND COMPASSION IN THE QUR'AN

Anatolia and Europe experienced no interruption in their
25
social and religious lives. As a result of the strict adherence
of Ottoman sultans to the Qur'an, no distinction was made
between people because of their race, language and ethnic
origins, and people of different descent enjoyed social justice.
In his book, The Ottoman History, historian İsmail Hakkı
Uzunçarşılı stresses that non-Muslim people considered the
strong compassion of the Turks as a salvation:

The respect of the Turks for the religious feelings of non-Muslim
communities was the main cause why these people considered the
Ottoman administration as a saviour. 26
European historian Richard Peters expresses how Muslim
Turks exercised exemplary justice in the countries they
conquered:
For ages, Turks ruled many nations but never attempted to
assimilate them. They granted them their freedom and allowed

them to live by their religious principles and culture. 27
All these examples evinced the Muslim Turks'
unwillingness to exploit conquered lands. They respected the
rights of all peoples under their rule. Both Seljuks and
Ottomans took it upon themselves to protect every individual
living within their territories. Thus it was that people of
different nations and religions lived in peace without coming
into conflict with one another. If the Ottoman leaders had not
adopted a just attitude towards these people, they would
certainly have failed to found such well-established empires
and keep them intact for so long. However, we see that the
elevated values and traits Islam endowed these administrators
with helped them attain a high level of culture and
civilisation.