History testifies that Muslims are successful in diversity management. Islamic polity has never aimed to build a community exclusively for Muslims; instead, Muslims built an Open Civilization from Andalusia to India where people from different cultures lived together. Islamic law has taken adamiyyah (humanity regardless of religion) as the subject of Islamic la to which rights and duties are accorded. This tradition, originating from Abu Hanifa, has formed the foundation of a universalistic interpretation of Islam in the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey. The present movement in the Muslim world from dictatorships towards democracy is a long-delayed outcome of Islamic political ideals and values, which give utmost priority to unity, freedom and justice. There is a strong universalistic Islamic political tradition, the last major example of which is the Ottoman Khilafah whose pluralistic legacy has yet to be claimed. Islamic unity in diversity or Open Civilization is rooted in the multiplex Islamic thought.
