Answer:
Explanation:
Muslim-majority and Muslim-ruled societies underwent massive transformations during the medieval period. They went from being united under centralized, Arab-dominated caliphates like the Umayyads and Abbasids to being ruled by smaller, decentralized regional powers. Many of these regional powers were non-Arab or and had different religious traditions. As a result, Muslim societies featured very different kinds of social organization.
Within each society, complex social relations governed the lives of residents. People’s lives were defined by their religion, ethnicity, social class, gender, and legal status. Because so many factors were involved, it’s difficult to generalize about life in the Muslim world during this time. To better understand it, it’s helpful to explore the different social institutions and hierarchies that determined people’s experiences.
Religious identity was an important aspect of life. Non-Muslims and Muslims following different traditions had different experiences, and there is a lot of scholarly debate about whether non-Muslims were persecuted or treated comparatively well in Muslim societies. There is no simple answer; the treatment of non-Muslims varied considerably depending on the context.
Generally, non-Muslims were able to practice their religions and exerted some degree of autonomy in governing their own internal affairs and commercial activity. As a protected class, called dhimmi, they were accorded these freedoms provided they paid a special tax called a jizya and accepted Muslim rule.
