Page 68 - Justice and Compassion in the Qur'an

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JUSTICE AND COMPASSION IN THE QUR'AN

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 compassion, relieved them of all their fears and
allowed them to return to their homes and go on with their
43
daily lives. 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 compassion.
Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror tried to learn about
Christianity from a Christian, and granted the Patriarch an
45
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. The
46
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:

No one will oppress the patriarch: no one will ever bother him,
regardless of his identity. The patriarch and the great priests in his
service will be excused from all forms of services for an indefinite
period of time. 47
Right after the conquest, Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror
set about dealing with the judicial rights of minorities,
appointed Gennadius as the Greek-Orthodox Patriarch and
signed an agreement with them. Another agreement he made
with the People of the Book living in Galata (a district of