One of the most important aspects of the Human Rights issue is the respect and tolerance which society must show towards the religions of other people; this, of course, includes the issue of freedom of reli­gion. Tolerance means ‘’to bear.’’ As a concept, it refers to respect, acceptance and appreciation of the rich diversity of cultures, forms of expression and ways of being human. In Arabic, it is called tasamuh. Words like hilm (forbearance) or ‘afw (forgiveness) or saf-h (overlooking) also convey the meaning of tolerance. In Persian and Urdu, we use the word rawadari which is derived from rawadari meaning acceptable or bearable and dashtan meaning “to hold”. Thus it means to hold something acceptable or bearable. In this article,  I would like to discuss very briefly about the Islamic point of view and the Muslim rulers especially of Abbasid caliphs on the tolerance.