History of the Jews under Muslim rule

Jewish communities have existed across the Middle East and North Africa since classical antiquity. By the time of the early Muslim conquests in the seventh century, these ancient communities had been ruled by various empires and included the Babylonian, Persian, Carthaginian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and Yemenite Jews.

Jews under Islamic rule were given the status of dhimmi, along with certain other pre-Islamic religious groups. These non-Muslim groups were nevertheless accorded certain rights and protections as "people of the book". During waves of persecution in Medieval Europe, many Jews found refuge in Muslim lands.^[1]

Today, Jews residing in Muslim countries have been reduced to a small fraction of their former sizes, with Iran and Turkey being home to the largest remaining Jewish populations. This was due to widespread persecution, antisemitism, political instability and curbing of human rights. In 2018, the Jewish Agency estimated that around 27,000 Jews live in Arab and Muslim countries.^[2][3][4]