Discuss religious tolerance in the context of post-Prophetic Muslim history.

Introduction

Religious tolerance means allowing people of other faiths to practise their religion freely and live with security and dignity. Islam laid down this principle in its sources, and for much of history Muslim states provided a degree of religious freedom unusual in the pre-modern world.

Foundations

"There is no compulsion in religion" (Al-Baqarah 2:256); "For you is your religion, and for me is mine" (Al-Kafirun 109:6). Allah does not forbid kindness and justice towards those who do not fight Muslims (Al-Mumtahanah 60:8). The Charter of Madinah and the treaty with the Christians of Najran guaranteed the faith, property and places of worship of non-Muslims. The Prophet ﷺ warned that whoever wrongs a protected non-Muslim (mu'ahid) will find him as an opponent on the Day of Judgement (Abu Dawud).

The Rightly Guided Caliphs

When Jerusalem surrendered in 638 CE, Hazrat Umar (RA) came in person and granted its Christians a covenant guaranteeing the safety of their lives, property, churches and crosses. According to well-known historical accounts, he declined to pray inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre so that Muslims would not later claim it as a mosque. Umar is also reported, in Imam Abu Yusuf's Kitab al-Kharaj, to have granted support from the treasury to an elderly, needy non-Muslim and exempted such people from jizyah.

Umayyads and Abbasids

Christians and Jews served as officials, physicians and secretaries. Under the Abbasids, the Bait-ul-Hikmah in Baghdad employed Christian, Jewish and Sabian scholars — such as the Nestorian Christian Hunayn ibn Ishaq — to translate Greek, Persian and Indian works. Non-Muslims paid jizyah, which exempted them from military service, and lived under their own religious laws in personal matters.

Muslim Spain

In al-Andalus, Muslims, Christians and Jews lived together for centuries, contributing to a flourishing culture in Cordoba, Toledo and Granada. Jewish scholars such as Maimonides and Ibn Gabirol wrote in Arabic, and Jewish communities enjoyed a "golden age". This coexistence (convivencia) ended with the Christian Reconquista and the expulsion of Jews and Muslims in 1492 and after.

Salahuddin Ayubi

When the Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099, they massacred its inhabitants. When Salahuddin recaptured the city in 1187, he allowed Christians to leave with their possessions or remain, protected the holy places and allowed pilgrimage — conduct admired even by his enemies.

The Ottomans

Under the millet system, Christian and Jewish communities managed their own religious, educational and legal affairs. In 1492, Sultan Bayezid II welcomed Jews expelled from Spain into the Ottoman Empire.

The subcontinent

Muslim rulers governed a predominantly Hindu population for centuries. Hindus held high positions in administration and the army, especially under the Mughals; Akbar abolished the jizyah, and many rulers made grants to temples. Sufi saints such as Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti attracted people of all faiths.

Lapses

Muslim history was not free of intolerance: periods of discrimination, forced conversions under some rulers, and sectarian persecution among Muslims themselves. These were departures from Islamic teachings, often driven by politics, and historians note that they were exceptions rather than the rule when compared with the religious wars of medieval Europe.

Lessons for today

Muslim societies, including Pakistan, should draw on this heritage to protect minorities' constitutional rights (Articles 20 and 36), counter extremism and mob violence, and promote interfaith harmony through education and dialogue, as the Quaid-e-Azam envisioned in his 11 August 1947 address.

Conclusion

From the covenant of Umar to Muslim Spain, Salahuddin's Jerusalem and the Ottoman millets, post-Prophetic Muslim history offers outstanding examples of religious tolerance rooted in the Quran and Sunnah. Reviving this tradition is both a religious duty and a necessity for peaceful plural societies today.