The early stages of Turco-Persian cultural synthesis in the Islamic world are marked by cultural, social and political tensions and competition among Turks, Persians, and Arabs, despite the egalitarianism of Islamic doctrine. The complex ideas around non-Arabs in the Muslim worldRoy P. Mottahedeh. The Shu'ubiyah Controversy and the Social History of Early Islamic Iran. International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 7, No. 2. (Apr., 1976), pp. 161-182Najwa Al-Qattan. Dhimmis in the Muslim Court: Legal Autonomy and Religious Discrimination. International Journal of Middle East Studies Vol. 31, No. 3. (Aug., 1999), pp. 429-444 lead to debates and changing attitudes that can be seen in numerous Arabic, Persian and Turkic writings before the Mongol expansion.Nathan Light, "Turkic Literature and the Politics of Culture in Islamic World", Ch.3 in Slippery Paths: the performance and canonization of Turkic literature and Uyghur muqam song in Islam and modernity, Thesis (Ph.D.), Indiana University, 1998.
