A Study On The Status Of Jews In The Ottoman Empire From The Late 15^th Century To The 16^th Century

Nowadays, the Arab-Israeli conflicts seem difficult to be solved. Many people are pessimistic and losing hope about the peace process. Some people even think that Jews and Muslims are always enemies. This paper which studies the peaceful contacts between Jews and Muslims can help us to learn from history, strengthen our confidence in peace process. Therefore, this study has some theoretical and realistic significance.In introduction, the author introduces the sources, approaches, themes, and significance of this paper. The sources include Jerusalem Muslim Court documents (the Sijill) in the 16th century and important books and papers. The author uses the approaches of religious studies, social history studies, and the theory of peaceful contacts between civilizations.The first chapter explains the Ottoman Empire’s policies towards the Jews. Islamic policy towards the Dhimmis is the foundation of Ottoman Empire’s policies towards the Jews. The general situation of the Empire directly influenced the status of the Jews. With the rise of the Ottoman Empire, the Empire welcomed the Jewish refugees from Spain and Portugal. The Jews, mainly the Sephardim from Spain, came to the Empire in large quantity. The Jews regarded the Empire as a safe haven. They got relatively high social status, autonomy and prosperity. During the second half of the 16th century the decline of the Empire adversely affected the status of the Jews. But the Ottoman Empire’s limited tolerance policies towards the Jews did not change substantially. The Ottoman Empire could always give the Jews basic protection and Justice.The second chapter studies the legal status of the Jews in the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire followed the Hanafi section of the Islamic law, which comparatively treats non-Muslims fairly. Many Jews found justice and protection from the Muslim court. There was cooperation as well as competition between Muslim court and Jewish Court. According to the Jewish principle of "the Law of the Kingdom is the Law", the Jews generally abided by the laws of the Empire. The rabbis took a flexible attitude towards the Islamic Law to avoid conflicts with the Muslim authorities.The third chapter examines the autonomy of the Jewish communities in the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Millet system gave the autonomy of the Jewish communities a framework guarantee. The Ottoman Jewish communities enjoyed high autonomy and prosperity. The leadership and intermediaries of the Jewish communities played a big role in communal autonomy and mediated between the Jewish communities and the Ottoman Rulers. The taxation system of the Jewish communities was an important part of Jewish communal autonomous life. This chapter also explores the structure, function and the leadership of the Jerusalem Jewish community. The Shaykh(head) and Dayan (judge) of the Jewish community had to be named by the Muslim Kadi. The scope and extent of the Jewish communal autonomy was limited. The Ottoman Jewish communal autonomy exemplified the Ottomans’limited tolerance towards the Jews.The fourth chapter deals with the economic life of the Jews of the Ottoman Empire. Some Jews became influential courtiers in the Ottoman Imperial Court. The Jewish courtiers helped to improve the situation of the Jews. The Ottoman Jews were active in many fields, such as commerce, trade, finance, food processing and handicrafts. The Ottoman rulers protected economic and trade activities of the Jews. But economic activities of the Jews were not allowed to sacrifice the interests of the Muslims. This again showed the Ottoman Empire’s tolerance towards Jews was limited. This chapter also studies the economic activities and population changes of the Jerusalem Jews. In the first half of the 16th century, the Jerusalem Jewish population increased. In the second half of the century, the Jerusalem Jewish population decreased with the decline of the Empire.The fifth chapter discusses the cultural and religious life of the Jews in the Empire. The dominant culture was the Sephardic Jewish culture which the Sephardim inherited from Spain. Under the favorable circumstances offered by the empire through its limited tolerance policy, The Ottoman Sephardic Jews preserved and developed the unique Sephardic culture to a new level. They developed the Ladino language, and published a large number of books in Ladino. There were many famous Rabbis and scholars, such as Joseph Caro. They produced many books and Responsa on Judaism. The Empire became a world center of Sephardic culture. In the late half of the century, the Jewish culture was adversely affected by the general decline of the Empire. The deteriorating social and living conditions gave rise to the surge of the already existing Jewish mystical studies and thinking among the Jews in the Empire.The last part summarizes and comments on the Ottoman Empire’s limited tolerance towards the Jews.