SOME INSTANCES OF RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE
The Islamic revolution brought about by the Prophet and his, companions did not remain simply a matter of religion, for the followers of Islam established powerful states far beyond the boundaries of Arabia—a process which continued for a thousand years and affected the whole inhabited world of that time. But never once, throughout that period, was there any attempt to impose censorship on human thinking. In all these new Islamic states, the people enjoyed total freedom of thought. Here we shall quote some instances to this effect from Professor Arnold’s book, titled, The Preaching of Islam. First, there is an excerpt from a full statement made by one of the Spanish Muslims who had been driven out of his native country. Protesting against the persecution of the Inquisition, he stresses, in contrast, the toleration of his co-religionists: “Our arms, it is true, are ever open to receive all who are disposed to embrace our religion, but we are not allowed by our sacred Quran to tyrannise over consciences...”
Then, on the subject of the religious tolerance of the Turks, Professor Arnold has this to say: “ ... at least for two centuries after their conquest of Greece (the Ottomon emperors) exhibit a toleration such as was at that time quite unknown in the rest of Europe.” Macarius, Patriarch of Antioch in the seventeenth century, prayed for the Turks when he saw the fearful atrocities that the Catholic Poles inflicted on the Russians of the Orthodox Eastern Church. These are his words: “God perpetuate the empire of the Turks for ever and ever! For they take their impost, and enter into no account of religion, be their subjects Christians or Nazarenes, Jews or Samarians.”
Giving many further instances of the freedom of thought and expression during the Muslim period, Arnold has written that those Roman provinces which were rapidly conquered by Muslims suddenly found themselves in such an atmosphere of tolerance as had been unknown to them for centuries. Such tolerance was quite striking in the history of the seventh century.
