He was the first Muslim leader to call for equality for non-Arab Muslims. ... While his administration brought some prosperity and stability, the belief among Arab Muslims that Islam was a Arab religion became increasingly fractious. ... Equality for all Muslims was mandated, and a Muslim's options greatly expanded. ... The ulama consists of Muslim scholars, judges and legal advisors who study and implement Islamic law. ... The Ottoman Empire emerged from a group of ghazis, Muslim warriors, who waged war against Byzantine Christians in an effort to expand the domain of Islam. ...

• Word Count: 2157
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The appointed officials were not required to be Muslim. Islamic beliefs say that Muslims are obligated to bring the world under Muslim rule but did not have to convert the people. ... Sometimes, regional elites would eventually convert to Islam after conquest. ... Less than half of their population in the 1500s was Muslim. Muslims recognized the Jews and Christians, since their religion was based upon the same biblical tradition as Islam. ...

• Word Count: 1306
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In 1529, yet another religion and power fueled clash occurred when a Christian incursion into Muslim territory triggered a response by Adal as a Muslim holy war. ... His vision for the empire was to rule by Islamic sharia law, and the empire, under Mughal rule, should be primarily for the benefit of Muslims (Sivers, 689). Although he did not force conversion, he did offer lavish goods to Elites who converted to Islam, as well as gave them preferential assignments. ... Furthermore, Aurangzeb's commitment to a strong and legalistic Islam caused him to believe that the lands belonging to non...

• Word Count: 1984
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

With reference to Islamic quotes like Qur'an:8:39 "So, fight them till all opposition ends and the only religion is Islam... The unifying force of religion is especially evident in that the Ottomans, left as the major Muslim rivals of Byzantium, attracted masses of nomads and urban unemployed who were roaming through the Middle East searching for not only means to gain their livelihoods and but also to fulfill their religious desire to expand the territory of Islam. ... The belief of Islam had always existed among the Middle Eastern since 622 CE, way before the time of Osman I, when the b...

• Word Count: 4027
• Approx Pages: 16
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

They would take these children to Istanbul or another central part of the Ottoman Empire, and convert them to Islam.2 After being positioned as a janissary in the Ottoman Imperial administration, Mehmed demonstrates he is a "brave officer at the Sultan's court" and moves on to become a Great Admiral of the Fleet, eventually becoming the Sultan's son-in-law. ... An example of this is when Alihodja, a Muslim, has his ear nailed to the bridge by another fellow Muslim simply for not wanting to partake in a stand against the Austrians. This is great example of how Muslims, even ...

• Word Count: 1230
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

A Muslim sheikh summarizes the hatred shown toward Christians, commanding to "cut their throats after the Mecca rite of sacrificing sheep,"5 as if the Armenians equaled livestock. ... They introduced a policy of Turkification, encouraging non-Turkish citizens to convert to Islam and become more Turkish. ... "10 Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were granted the status of "dhimmi," or protected non-Muslim subjects of a Muslim state; this status granted Christians complete protection as long as he or she paid the appropriate taxes. Unfortunately for the Armenians, t...

• Word Count: 1964
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The harem in which Roxelana was installed was a social institution with a long history in the Middle East, where polygamy had been a tradition practice long before the region became Muslim. The nomadic, pre-Islamic, Turkic tribes frequently engaged in warfare, and Turkic women often fought side-by-side with the men and otherwise enjoyed considerable equality; Turkish culture prized girls, and mediatory prayers often requested the birth of a female. ... Islam, meanwhile, actually improved women's status, as it guaranteed the greater property rights than those enjoyed by their European coun...

• Word Count: 1508
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Christian Serbs and Croats were defeated by Muslim Ottoman Turks and claimed the entire region as a sovereign conquest. ... Gradually ethnic Albanians and to a lesser extent Serbs became converted to Islam. ... This "Great Migration- of Serbs in the late 17th century left Kosovo under populated and was resettled by Christian and Muslim Albanians attracted by fertile land . ... Bosnian Serb leaders adopted the radical and brutal policies to "purify- the nation of Croats and Bosniacs (Bosnian Muslims) through methods of ethnic cleansing. ...

• Word Count: 2293
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate