TÜRK HOŞGÖRÜSÜNÜN TARİHİ YANSIMASI (OSMANLI ARŞİV BELGELERİ DOĞRULTUSUNDA KOSOVA HALKININ MÜSLÜMAN OLMASI)
REFLECTIONS ON THE TURKISH HISTORY OF TOLERANCE (KOSOVO PEOPLE BEING MUSLIM - IN THE CERTIFICATES FROM THE DIRECTORIES OF THE OTTOMAN ARCHIVE)

Summary/Abstract: One of the principles of Islam is that there is ‘no compulsion in religion’. The Qur’an and Hadiths vehemently insist on religious tolerance and the idea of "no compulsion in religion". Compulsion is opposite to the ihtida. Ihtida is the volunteer embracing of Islam by people who belong to other religions. A person, who embraces Islam, is called a muhtadi. According to Islamic Theology, ihtida is shaped by the individual decision and creation of God. There was no compulsion in religion for Christians and Jews during the Period of the Prophet Muhammed and the Caliphs. Many Muslim states like the Omayyads, the Abbasids and the Seljuks, carried out these Qur’anic orders. Historically, Turks have always been dependent on the order of the Qur’an as “There is no compulsion in religion”. Especially the Ottoman state was adopting the order of ‘no compulsion in religion’ along all borders of the empire. We have some evidences proclaimed as firman about this subject, like: “There is no permission to a person who has not his/her consent and accept to become a Muslim by compulsion, and these situations must be prevented in the Ottoman territories”. The idea of ‘no compulsion’ is carried out in the Kosovo by Ottomans. As a consequence, the people of Kosovo were accepting Islam by free will. As a matter of fact, some archival documents support these claims.

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