It is important to note that the historical development of the Middle East is among the most interesting since it was the place where major monotheistic and Abrahamic religions emerged. The two examples of regional empires that exhibited universal and multicultural traits were the Achaemenid or Achaemenian Empire and the Ottoman Empire. When compared to the Umayyad Caliphate, all of them had a social hierarchy, but the leadership was different.
The Umayyad Caliphate was the second major caliphate following the Prophet Muhammad’s death. It was universal and multicultural because it was built around the religion of Islam, which was meant to deliver the message of God to all of humanity rather than Arabs only (Goldschmidt and Davidson 2010). Its population was comprised of a wide range of ethnicities, races, and religious groups, but Muslim Arabs were at the top of the social hierarchy, followed by non-Arab Muslims, People of the Book, and slaves (Goldschmidt and Davidson 2010). The Ottoman Empire was similar in terms of its multicultural and universal aspects, with a social hierarchy dominated by Muslim Turks (Malcolm 2019). The key difference was the empire was a sultanate – ruled by Sultan rather than Caliph (Malcolm 2019). The Achaemenian Empire was an ancient Persian empire that existed before Jesus or Muhammad. It was ruled by the king, and religion was not as critically important, but the empire was tolerant of all religious groups.
In conclusion, both the Umayyad Caliphate and the Ottoman Empire were nations based on Islam and Islamic law or Sharia. However, the latter was ruled by Sultan, whereas the former was led by Caliph. Both put one ethnic and religious group above others but showed a degree of tolerance. The Achaemenian Empire was much more ancient and tolerant of other religions since it was not founded on the basis of faith but rather by the king.
References
Goldschmidt, Arthur Jr., and Lawrence Davidson. 2010. A Concise History of the Middle East. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.
Malcolm, Noel. 2019. Useful Enemies: Islam and The Ottoman Empire in Western Political Thought, 1450-1750. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.