Muslim-Christian relations were at a low ebb when the Ottomans arrived in the Arab lands [in 1516]. The Mamluk sultans of Egypt, the previous rulers of the area, had embarked on an ideological as well as a military campaign against the various Christian communities still living in the Middle East. . . . In the aftermath of this disaster, Christianity in the Arab east was in psychological and numerical decline. Jewish communities in the region fared somewhat better than their Christian neighbors but could hardly be characterized as flourishing on the eve of the Ottoman conquest.
The Jews and Christians in the region were at first probably ambivalent, if not indifferent or hostile, to the change in the dynastic succession from Mamluk to Ottoman sultans who exercised sovereignty over their lives, but their fortunes were about to improve under the new regime. The Ottoman sultans were still winning victories against European armies on the battlefield, and the presence of Christians so distant from the war zone in Central Europe must not have felt particularly threatening or indeed important (beyond the collection of their taxes) to most Ottoman officials posted in the Arab lands. In the case of the Sephardic Jews,* the Ottoman sultans welcomed them into their realm as potentially revenue-producing subjects. Most importantly, the political tradition honored by the Ottoman sultans was to grant autonomy to the various religious groups of their empire. This afforded the Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Middle East fairly wide-ranging freedoms and allowed them to recover some of the losses they had endured under the Mamluks, including the right to repair damaged churches and synagogues and, in a few cases, permission to build new ones.
*Jewish communities from the Iberian Peninsula who were forced to leaveafter the Christian reconquest of what became Spain and Portugal
Bruce Masters, historian, Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Arab World, book published in 2001
All of the following statements are factually accurate. Which might best be used to undermine or modify the author's argument in the second paragraph?
A Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire faced considerable restrictions on their religious practices, legal rights, and social freedoms.
B Christian and Jewish communities in many other Muslim states in the period circa 1450-1750 enjoyed some of the same rights as Ottoman Christians and Jews did.
C The Ottoman Empire was a preferred destination for Jews fleeing religious persecution in Europe, as well as for Protestant Christian groups fleeing Catholic persecution in Central and Eastern Europe.
D Many Ottoman Christians and Jews achieved great financial success through commercial activities, including long-distance trade.
