Research On The Social Status Of Jews In The Arab Empire(632-1258)

The Arab Empire was a multi-ethnic country,with Arabs,Persians,Turks,Armenians,Berbers and other peoples living within its borders.As one of the minorities in the Arab Empire,the social status of the Jews is not only a reflection of the authority of the Muslims and Islam,but also a demonstration of the tolerant ethnic policies and multicultural environment of the Arab Empire.This thesis will take the Jews in the Arab Empire as the main line,discuss the political,economic and religious status of the Jews so as to fully understand the social status of the Jews.This thesis is divided into four chapters.The first chapter elaborates the basic situation of Jews in the Arab Empire.This part is divided into two aspects: the historical situation and the distribution of Jews in the Arab empire.Jews in the Arab Empire have a long history.Before the birth of Islam,Jews had been living in Babylon,North Africa,Syria,Palestine,Asia Minor and so on for more than 1,000 years,which laid the foundation for the development of Jews in the Arab Empire.The establishment of the Arab Empire and its tolerant national policy provided fertile ground for the development of the Jews.The wide distribution of the Jews throughout the Arab Empire shows the characteristic of “large dispersion,small settlement”.The second chapter mainly analyzes the political status of Arab Empire Jews.Political power is the external reflection of political status.The autonomy of the Jewish community played an important role in safeguarding the political rights of Jews.They could manage themselves in judiciary,finance,social administration etc.This policy that Jews were barred from holding public office,are not strictly observed in real life.Some Jews,by virtue of their own strengthens,participated in the government administration,and enhanced their political status.In addition,this chapter also discusses the political oppression of the Jews by the Arab Empire,mainly from the two aspects of the Dhimmi status of the Jews in politics and the anti-semitic activities of the Arab Empire so as to explore the political reasons behind the empire's policy towards Jews.Chapter three focuses on the economic status of Jews in the Arab Empire.TheJews' full participation in the economic field of the empire was an important manifestation of their economic status.Agriculture was an ancient profession of the Jews,which continued throughout the Arab Empire;The handicraft industry was the field at which the Jews were good and they almost covered all the fields of the handicraft industry.The trades of the Jews not only promoted the economic prosperity of the Arab Empire,but played an important role in the formation and development of the Mediterranean trade circle,especially the trade activities of the Jews of Ratan and the trade of the Jewish families in North Africa.In addition,the financial sector was synonymous with the Jews of the Arab Empire.The Jews,by virtue of their dominance in the monetary sphere,also promoted the development of the financial sector of the Arab Empire.Chapter four mainly focuses on the religious status of Jews in the Arab Empire.Islam is a dominated religion in the Arab Empire,which discriminated against and persecuted Judaism in order to maintain its own authority,and promulgated a large number of anti-Jewish policies.However,most of these anti-semitic policies were symbolic and were kept within limits,as a result,they did not develop into mass expulsions and massacres like the anti-semitism in Western Europe.In terms of religious culture,Jews were strictly restricted in the field of religion,which did not affect the prosperity of their religious culture,on the contrary,they created splendid religious culture.