Major characteristics of the Ottoman decress of toleration for Christian communities

The rights and freedoms of non-Muslims have always been an important academic issue in Islamic history and Islamic towns. In addition to the right to life, non-Muslims were promised the safety of life and property. The religion of Islam has granted the members of other religions the right to live in an Islamic country under certain conditions. It is understood that in other religions, such systematic rights and privileges are not granted to people from other religions. Non-Muslims, who benefited from many rights and privileges as they lived in Islamic towns, received the guarantee for the safety of life and property through agreements called emân (trust). With these verbal or written agreements, non-Muslims have gained Dhimmi status. With the dhimmi status, they were accepted as a citizen of that state. The Ottoman Empire, an Islamic state, also continued the Emân (trust) tradition and implemented it very effectively. Before starting war in the areas they conquered, they made an offer of Emân, and many castles and cities were conquered in this way. The people living in areas conquered by war were also given the Emân. The Ottoman Empire granted many privileges to the dhimmis within the scope of emân and made sure to protect these privileges. In this study, some of the Emânnâme given to Nâsara Taife in the Ottoman State were examined within the scope of the discussion on these rights and privileges.