Chronology: Date 1844-03-21

Edict of Toleration was issued by the Sultan of Turkey: The Muslim government of the Ottoman Empire was compelled by the Western Powers, notably Britain and France, to grant religious tolerance to all nations within its borders. Broader questions of religious tolerance, such as might presumably involve Jewish land rights and Jewish immigration are not mentioned in the Edict. [Sours (below) p9]

To set the context, this came during the period known as "Tanzimat" (lit. Reorganization) 1838 to 1876. The Tanzimat era was characterised by various attempts to modernise the Ottoman Empire and to secure its territorial integrity against internal nationalist movements and external aggressive powers. The reforms encouraged Ottomanism among the diverse ethnic groups of the Empire and attempted to stem the tide of the rise of nationalism in the Ottoman Empire. During the Tanzimat period, the government's series of constitutional reforms led to a fairly modern conscripted army, banking system reforms, the decriminalization of homosexuality, the replacement of religious law with secular law and guilds with modern factories. The Ottoman Ministry of Post was established in Istanbul in 1840. [Wikipedia]

The fulfillment of the prophecies of Christ and of the Bible has been over a period of a hundred years or more matter of common knowledge and remark in the West. But the full extent of that fulfillment is only seen in Bahá'u'lláh. The proclamation of His Faith was made in 1844, the year when the strict exclusion of the Jews from their own land enforced by the Muslims for some twelve centuries was at last relaxed by the Edict of Toleration and "the times of the Gentiles" were "fulfilled." [GPBiv Introduction by George Townshend]

See The 1844 Ottoman "Edict of Toleration" in Bahá'í Secondary Literature by Michel W. Sours and published in the Journal of Bahá'í Studies Vol 8 no 3 1998 pp 53-80.

Michael Sours makes the point that there have been some Christian notions that have been adopted uncritically by a number of Bahá'í apologists that cannot be supported: 1. That Jews were strictly excluded from Palestine for 1,260 years prior to 1844 2. That Muslim Authorities were responsible for this exclusion 3. That the 1844 Edict ended the exclusion and enabled Jews to immigrate to Palestine 4. That the Edict brought about the fulfilment of the prophecy concerning the "times of the Gentiles". By extension it was the Christian maltreatment of Jews in Europe and elsewhere that prompted the large migration in the 19th and particularly in the 20th century. [Sours p77]

Edict of Toleration; Jews; Judaism; History (general); Prophecies; Israel; Palestine; Constantinople; Turkey

Try also a shorter date like 1844-03-2 or 1844-03

try also the Chronology Canada — 1844-03-21 or 1844-03-2 or 1844-03

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