Editing Ottoman Empire (section)

=== Religion ===
{{See also|Millet (Ottoman Empire)}}

[[File:Portrait Caliph Abdulmecid II.jpg|thumb|[[Abdulmejid II|Abdülmecid II]] was the last [[Caliphate|caliph]] of Islam and a member of the [[Ottoman dynasty]].]]

[[Sunni Islam]] was the prevailing ''[[Din (Arabic)|Dīn]]'' (customs, legal traditions, and religion) of the Ottoman Empire; the official ''[[Madhhab|Madh'hab]]'' (school of Islamic [[jurisprudence]]) was ''[[Hanafi]].''<ref name="Gunduz">Gunduz, Sinasi [https://books.google.com/books?id=4BXsV0_qhs4C&pg=PA104 Change And Essence: Dialectical Relations Between Change And Continuity in the Turkish Intellectual Traditions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101141240/https://books.google.com/books?id=4BXsV0_qhs4C&pg=PA104&lpg#v |date=1 November 2022 }} Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Change. Series IIA, Islam, V. 18, pp. 104–05</ref> From the early 16th century until the early 20th century, the Ottoman sultan also served as the [[Caliphate|caliph]], or politico-religious leader, of the [[Muslim world]]. Most of the Ottoman Sultans adhered to [[Sufism]] and followed [[Sufi orders]], and believed Sufism was the correct way to reach God.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Yılmaz |first=Hüseyin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KvbWDgAAQBAJ |title=Caliphate Redefined: The Mystical Turn in Ottoman Political Thought |date=8 January 2018 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-8804-7 |language=en |access-date=16 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114151656/https://books.google.com/books?id=KvbWDgAAQBAJ |archive-date=14 January 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Non-Muslims, particularly Christians and Jews, were present throughout the empire's history. The Ottoman imperial system was charactised by an intricate combination of official Muslim hegemony over non-Muslims and a wide degree of religious tolerance. While religious minorities were never equal under the law, they were granted recognition, protection, and limited freedoms under both Islamic and Ottoman tradition.<ref name="emigrnonm" />

Until the second half of the 15th century, the majority of Ottoman subjects were Christian.<ref name="Benton-2001" /> Non-Muslims remained a significant and economically influential minority, albeit declining significantly by the 19th century, due largely to migration and [[secession]].<ref name="emigrnonm" /> The proportion of Muslims amounted to 60% in the 1820s, gradually increasing to 69% in the 1870s and 76% in the 1890s.<ref name="emigrnonm" /> By 1914, less than a fifth of the empire's population (19.1%) was non-Muslim, mostly made up of Jews and Christian Greeks, Assyrians, and Armenians.<ref name="emigrnonm">{{Cite journal |last1=İçduygu |first1=Ahmet |last2=Toktaş |first2=Şule |last3=Ali Soner |first3=B. |date=1 February 2008 |title=The politics of population in a nation-building process: emigration of non-Muslims from Turkey |journal=Ethnic and Racial Studies |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=358–389 |doi=10.1080/01419870701491937 |hdl=11729/308 |s2cid=143541451}}</ref>

==== Islam ====
{{Main|Islam in the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Caliphate|Ottoman persecution of Alevis}}
{{See also|Islam in Turkey}}[[Turkic peoples]] practiced a form of [[shamanism]] before adopting Islam. The [[Muslim conquest of Transoxiana]] under the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasids]] facilitated the spread of Islam into the Turkic heartland of Central Asia. Many Turkic tribes—including the [[Oghuz Turks]], who were the ancestors of both the Seljuks and the Ottomans—gradually converted to Islam and brought religion to Anatolia through their migrations beginning in the 11th century. From its founding, the Ottoman Empire officially supported the [[Maturidi|Maturidi school of]] [[Schools of Islamic theology|Islamic theology]], which emphasized [[Reason|human reason]], [[rationality]], the pursuit of science and [[Islamic philosophy|philosophy]] (''falsafa'').<ref>Alpyağıl, Recep (28 November 2016). "[https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780195390155/obo-9780195390155-0232.xml Māturīdī]". ''Oxford Bibliographies – Islamic Studies''. [[Oxford]]: [[Oxford University Press]]. {{doi|10.1093/obo/9780195390155-0232}}. Archived from the original on 18 March 2017.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://nationalinterest.org/feature/turkeys-200-year-war-against-isis-13412 |website=The National Interest |title=Turkey's 200-Year War against 'ISIS' |first1=Selim |last1=Koru |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206131711/http://nationalinterest.org/feature/turkeys-200-year-war-against-isis-13412 |archive-date=6 February 2018 |date= 24 July 2015 }}</ref> The Ottomans were among the earliest and most enthusiastic adopters of the [[Hanafi]] school of Islamic jurisprudence,<ref>{{cite book |first=John L. |last=Esposito |date=1999 |title=The Oxford History of Islam |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-510799-9 |pages=112–14 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=imw_KFD5bsQC&pg=PA112 |access-date=16 November 2023 |archive-date=21 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231121145710/https://books.google.com/books?id=imw_KFD5bsQC&pg=PA112 |url-status=live }}</ref> which was comparatively more flexible and discretionary in its rulings.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=4BXsV0_qhs4C&pg=PA104 Change And Essence: Dialectical Relations Between Change And Continuity in the Turkish Intellectual Traditions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101141240/https://books.google.com/books?id=4BXsV0_qhs4C&pg=PA104&lpg#v |date=1 November 2022 }} Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Change. Series IIA, Islam, V. 18, p.104-105</ref><ref>[http://www.mei.edu/content/map/salafism-infiltrates-turkish-religious-discourse Middle East Institute: "Salafism Infiltrates Turkish Religious Discourse" by Andrew Hammond], 22 July 2015. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180807091143/http://www.mei.edu/content/map/salafism-infiltrates-turkish-religious-discourse |date=7 August 2018 }}.</ref>
[[File:Istanbul asv2021-10 img15 Yıldız Hamidiye Mosque.jpg|thumb|The [[Yıldız Hamidiye Mosque]] in [[Istanbul]], Turkey]]
The Ottoman Empire had a wide variety of Islamic sects, including [[Druze]], [[Isma'ilism|Ismailis]], [[Alevism|Alevis]], and [[Alawites]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Why there is more to Syria conflict than sectarianism |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22770219 |date=4 June 2013 |first1= Mark |last1=Urban |access-date=5 June 2013 |archive-date=6 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606173420/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22770219 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Sufism]], a diverse body of Islamic [[mysticism]], found fertile ground in Ottoman lands; many Sufi religious orders (''[[tariqa]]''), such as the [[Bektashi Order|Bektashi]] and [[Mevlevi Order|Mevlevi]], were either established, or saw significant growth, throughout the empire's history.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sufism in the Ottoman Empire Research Papers  |url=https://www.academia.edu/Documents/in/Sufism_in_the_Ottoman_Empire |access-date=23 March 2022 |website=Academia.edu |archive-date=23 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220323021442/https://www.academia.edu/Documents/in/Sufism_in_the_Ottoman_Empire |url-status=live }}</ref> However, some heterodox Muslim groups were viewed as heretical and even ranked below Jews and Christians in terms of legal protection; Druze were frequent targets of persecution,<ref>{{Cite book |last=C. Tucker |first=Spencer C. |title=Middle East Conflicts from Ancient Egypt to the 21st Century: An Encyclopedia and Document Collection [4 volumes] |publisher=ABC-CLIO |date=2019 |isbn=978-1-4408-5353-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PkTPEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA364 |pages=364–366 |access-date=13 February 2024 |archive-date=23 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240423220418/https://books.google.com/books?id=PkTPEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA364 |url-status=live }}</ref> with Ottoman authorities often citing the controversial rulings of [[Ibn Taymiyyah|Ibn Taymiyya]], a member of the conservative [[Hanbali|Hanbali school]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=S. Swayd |first=Samy |title=The Druzes: An Annotated Bibliography |publisher=University of Michigan Press |date=2009 |isbn=978-0-9662932-0-3 |page=25}}</ref> In 1514, Sultan Selim I ordered the massacre of 40,000 Anatolian Alevis (''[[Qizilbash]]''), whom he considered a [[fifth column]] for the rival [[Safavid Iran|Safavid Empire]].

During Selim's reign, the Ottoman Empire saw an unprecedented and rapid expansion into the Middle East, particularly the [[Ottoman–Mamluk War (1516–1517)|conquest of the entire Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt]] on the early 16th century. These conquests further solidified the Ottoman claim of being an [[Caliphate|Islamic caliphate]], although Ottoman sultans had been claiming the title of caliph since the reign of Murad I (1362–1389).<ref name="Lambton-1995" /> The caliphate was officially transferred from the Mamluks to the Ottoman sultanate in 1517, whose members were recognized as caliphs until the [[Abolition of the Caliphate|office's abolition on 3 March 1924]] by the [[Grand National Assembly of Turkey|Republic of Turkey]] (and the exile of the last caliph, [[Abdulmejid II|Abdülmecid II]], to France).

==== Christianity and Judaism ====
{{Main|Christianity in the Ottoman Empire|History of the Jews in the Ottoman Empire}}
[[File:Gennadios II and Mehmed II.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Mehmed II|Mehmed the Conqueror]] and Patriarch [[Gennadius Scholarius|Gennadius II]]]]

In accordance with the Muslim ''[[dhimmi]]'' system, the Ottoman Empire guaranteed limited freedoms to Christians, Jews, and other "[[People of the Book|people of the book]]", such as the right to worship, own property, and be exempt from the obligatory alms (''[[zakat]]'') required of Muslims. However, non-Muslims (or {{Lang|ota|dhimmi}}) were subject to various legal restrictions, including being forbidden to carry weapons, ride on horseback, or have their homes overlook those of Muslims; likewise, they were required to pay higher taxes than Muslim subjects, including the ''[[jizya]],'' which was a key source of state revenue.<ref>Peri, Oded (1990). "The Muslim waqf and the collection of jizya in late eighteenth-century Jerusalem". In Gilbar, Gad (ed.). ''Ottoman Palestine, 1800–1914 : Studies in economic and social history''. Leiden: E.J. Brill. p. 287. {{ISBN|978-90-04-07785-0}}. <q>the ''jizya'' was one of the main sources of revenue accruing to the Ottoman state treasury as a whole.</q></ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Akçam |first=Taner |title=A shameful act: the Armenian genocide and the question of Turkish responsibility |title-link=A shameful act: the Armenian genocide and the question of Turkish responsibility |publisher=Metropolitan Books |date=2006 |isbn=978-0-8050-7932-6 |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/shamefulactarmen00ak/page/24 24] |author-link=Taner Akçam}}</ref> Many Christians and Jews converted to Islam to secure full social and legal status, though most continued to practice their faith without restriction.

The Ottomans developed a unique sociopolitical system known as the [[Millet (Ottoman Empire)|millet]], which granted non-Muslim communities a large degree of political, legal, and religious autonomy; in essence, members of a millet were subjects of the empire but not subject to the Muslim faith or Islamic law. A millet could govern its own affairs, such as raising taxes and resolving internal legal disputes, with little or no interference from Ottoman authorities, so long as its members were loyal to the sultan and adhered to the rules concerning ''dhimmi.'' A quintessential example is the ancient Orthodox community of [[Mount Athos]], which was permitted to retain its autonomy and was never subject to occupation or forced conversion; even special laws were enacted to protect it from outsiders.<ref>{{Cite news |agency=Associated Press |date=21 October 2022 |title=Greek monastery manuscripts tell new story of Ottoman rule |language=en |work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/10/21/1130424515/greek-monastery-manuscripts-tell-new-story-of-ottoman-rule |access-date=24 October 2022 |archive-date=24 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221024010806/https://www.npr.org/2022/10/21/1130424515/greek-monastery-manuscripts-tell-new-story-of-ottoman-rule |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Rum Millet|''Rum'' Millet]], which encompassed most Eastern Orthodox Christians, was governed by the Byzantine-era {{Lang|la|[[Corpus Juris Civilis]]}} (Code of Justinian), with the [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|Ecumenical Patriarch]] designated the highest religious and political authority (''millet-bashi'', or [[ethnarch]]). Likewise, [[History of the Jews in the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Jews]] came under the authority of the ''[[Hakham Bashi|Haham Başı]],'' or Ottoman [[Chief Rabbi]], while [[Armenians]] were under the authority of the [[Catholicos of All Armenians|chief bishop]] of the [[Armenian Apostolic Church]].<ref name="Syed-2011">{{Cite book |last=Syed |first=Muzaffar Husain |title=A Concise History of Islam |date=2011 |publisher=Vij Books India |isbn=978-93-81411-09-4 |location=New Delhi |page=97}}</ref> As the largest group of non-Muslim subjects, the Rum Millet enjoyed several special privileges in politics and commerce; however, Jews and Armenians were also well represented among the wealthy merchant class, as well as in public administration.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Krummerich |first=Sean |date=1998–1999 |title=The Divinely-Protected, Well-Flourishing Domain: The Establishment of the Ottoman System in the Balkan Peninsula |url=http://www.loyno.edu/history/journal/1998-9/Krummerich.htm |url-status=dead |journal=The Student Historical Journal |publisher=Loyola University New Orleans |volume=30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090610014150/http://www.loyno.edu/history/journal/1998-9/Krummerich.htm |archive-date=10 June 2009 |access-date=11 February 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Turkish Toleration |url=http://www.globaled.org/nyworld/materials/ottoman/turkish.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010320091629/http://globaled.org/nyworld/materials/ottoman/turkish.html |archive-date=20 March 2001 |access-date=11 February 2013 |publisher=The American Forum for Global Education}}</ref>

Some modern scholars consider the millet system to be an early example of [[religious pluralism]], as it accorded minority religious groups official recognition and tolerance.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sachedina |first=Abdulaziz Abdulhussein |url=https://archive.org/details/islamic_sac_2001_00_4172/page/96 |title=The Islamic Roots of Democratic Pluralism |date=2001 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-513991-4 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/islamic_sac_2001_00_4172/page/96 96–97] |quote=The millet system in the Muslim world provided the pre-modern paradigm of a religiously pluralistic society by granting each religious community an official status and a substantial measure of self-government.}}</ref>