By Hyder Ali

Throughout the history of Islam, from Prophet(ASWS) to the Osmanli Khilafat, the opponents of Islam, have yearned to find more about what makes Islam so successful, on and off the battlefield. The rapidly growing and expanding Islamic state was a puzzle to the other sovereign powers watching from afar. To know their adversary better, the enemies of Islam went to great lengths to harness knowledge, anything to aid them in thwarting the Muslims from taking their lands – by hook or by crook. Dignitaries to spies, to spies disguised as dignitaries, would be sent to the lands where Islam was ruling strong, to report back to them. Propaganda through such media, demonizing the nature and the character of Muslims was always very popular and was a large part of their assault, when the military failed, or when it was unthinkable to attempt to try their hand on the battlefield. The fear of their own peoples embracing something that seemed so alien, terrified them, yet the fact that it was uncoerced was a bigger mystery. To solve this mystery the “orientalists” were sent on the pretext of diplomacy, science, or espionage to mix and mingle, extract the ‘needful’ and to poison entire peoples against the whole of Islam and Muslims. Elhamdulillah, that those who were and remain sincere – their hearts would be open to the Truth, and more often than reported– would accept it. When Islam was ruling in the form and shape of the Osmanli Khilafat for 700 years, such attempts were deployed on a regular basis. The Sultans(Cennat Mekan), knowing very well about these efforts would nevertheless (unless they deemed it dangerous), serve as gracious host even in the face of open duplicity as they had nothing to fear from showing the true face of Islam. Mash’Allah to those Sultans who were as genuine with their servants as they were with foreign diplomats – and as our Sheykh is saying, each and every one of the Ottoman Sultans was a saint. They were truly living and applying the heart of Hasbin’Allahu wa ni’mal wakeel, Mash’Allah.

The reports of the Orientalists were presented to well-funded ‘scholarly’ groups such as “The Royal Asiatic Society” as well as others. These groups would fund translations of Historical works, the end result being a chop-shop job carved in their own image and terrible agenda. At other times, eye witness accounts by dignitaries and officials holding rank would be encouraged by their sovereign kings. These ambassadors would either be invited, or would request invitation to the audience with the Sultan and His people, and his city- and would later give their account in written detail. Despite the sweeping generosity and hospitality of these visits, poison in the published works was universally evident. Even after all this planning, however, it was no surprise that many high ranking officials, well-respected in their own circles, could not help but to have their sincerity opened by the reality of what they witnessed. Lord Byron, who history records as a Greek Hero(as he sailed with the Greeks to fight for their independence from the Ottoman Empire at Lepanto), wrote –

“in all transaction with the Moslems, I ever found the strictest honour, the highest disinterestedness. In transacting business with them, there are none of those dirty peculations, under the name of interest, difference of exchange, commission, &c., uniformly found in applying to a Greek house to cash bills, even on the first in Pera.” – “Travels in Greece and Turkey”, Major Grenwell, Bart. – 1836

These reverent and glowing experiences were far too many among the sea of poison to ignore and opened many hearts to Islam, Elhamdulillah. Unfortunately, almost a hundred years after the last Sultan stepped down from the throne, this sea of ignorance has divided and conquered the 21st century Muslims to be oblivious of their own history, and therefore removed from their identity. Nationalism has invaded the empty space where that history should be preserved and guarded, and cut the present generations off from the strength of our great-grandfathers. As our Sheykh is saying, BismillahirRahmanirRahim, – each of us should think and identify with the Ottomans, rather than claim loyalty to politically drawn borders, initiated not a hundred years ago. Insh’Allah Rahman, if we are sincere, we are asking to be able to connect ourselves to our Osmanli Sheykh , and the truth of Ottoman history, in order to resume our stolen identities, and take our place behind the Sultans at least in spirit. Ameen. For the sake of the Most Beloved One in divine presence. Biz Osmanliyiz! Pek Sanliyiz!

Yursil’s Note:

For those who distrust any history by citizens of a state, of a state (much less court histories): “Travels in Greece and Turkey”, published 1836 by Saunders and Otley, Conduit Street, London, is one of the travelogues that (although English and French in origin) cuts through some false history Muslims have taken on for themselves.

Some excerpts:

On his interpreter:

Mustafa, my accompanying interper was a yasakji, (a rank next to that of ghawas,) a man well known to all English travellers who have been at Constantinople, Mr. Cartwright, the consul-general, to whose service he is attached, kindly allowing him to act as cierone to strangers. He is a native of Switzerland, and early in life renounced Christianity for Islamisms, and served in Egypt and other campaights ; he speaks English, French, Italian, German, Arabic and Turkish of course, and is extremely useful ; sometimes he also acts as Tartar in inland excursions. He belonged to the forty second orta of the Janizaries.

On Ottoman houses

Most Turkish houses have some sentence from the Koran painted on the facade ; the words inscribed both on the outside of the sultain’s serai and in the rooms were (Ya Hafiz!) “Oh Protector!”

On Dedicated Reciters by Order of Sultan

We also see a model of the sacred temple of Mekkah, together with the adjoining mountain and valley; and a number of handsome copies of the Koran are kept for the use of the pious. Service is still regularly performed in this chapel ; twelve readers are also appointed, who are paid to read extracts from the Koran to any person who desires them ; six turbehdars are maintained to keep the place in order.

On Musjid being center of activity, education

To most of the mosques, as well as to this of Suleuman, are attached a number of useful and benevolent establishments – such as imarets (hospices) where the priests and the poor are fed ; taby khaneh’s and bimar khanebs (lunatic asylums and hospitals) mektebs (schools ) mudressehs (colleges) and ketab khanelis (or libraries).

On of the first acts of Muhummad II, after his conquest of Constantinople, was that of founding two universities – the one attached to Aya Sofiya, the other to the Muhummedeah ; the first contained six colleges, the latter sixteen, and the most talented men in the empire were appointed as teachers. The Muhammedeah is still considered as one of the chief boasts of the Constantinopolitans. There are more than five hundred mudressehs, each bearing the name of its founder; a great number of mektebs, and thirty public libraries indepedent of the one in the seraglio.

On Charity

Not only the sultans and pashas, but private individuals generally leave part of their fortunes towards supporting different benevolent institutions already established, and also, when their means are sufficient for the purpose, for founding new ones. We must certainly look upon the Turks as a nation posses of much charitable feeling, which they exercise in its purity, uncontaminated by any germ of vanity or ostentation ; for by far the greater number of the fountains erected in the desert bear no inscription to commemerate their founder; and the host of unclean and abhorred dogs who possess no master, are daily fed by the chartible Turks.

Piety

The piety also of the Moslem seems sincere; often have I stopped to admire them at their prayers, when they seem to be so entirely wrapped up in their devotion as to be perfectly unconscious of the bustle of the surrounding scene : no false shame prevents them, at the stated hours appointed for prayer , from kneeling down in the camp, at the road side, or in the crowded street ; nor do they omit doing so in the midst of vast solitudes, where they cannot be aware that any eye but that of the Almighty is bent on them

On trade

“I strongly recommend all persons to confine their deals as much as possible to Turks, who are easily known by their white turbans ; they possess better goods, are incalculably more honest, and do not importune you. Next to them apply to the Armenians, and, if you can avoid it, have nothing whatever to say to Greeks or Jews; I say, if you can avoid it, because these two latter classes are precisely those who rush round you, overwhelm you with civil speeches, tell countless lies, and speaking a little Italian, finally succeed in drawing the bewildered traveller into their stalls and plundering him. I have often heard Christian merchants who have long been in the habit of trading with the Turks, say, that they relied as much on the word of a Moslem as on the bond of one of themselves. Lord Byron, who, from his knowledge of the East, must be considered good authority on this subject, says, that “in all transactions with the Moslems, I ever found the strictest honour, the highest disinterestedness. In trasactioning business with them, there are none of those dirty peculations, under the name of interest, difference of exchange, commission, &c, uniformly found in apply to a Greek house to cash bills, even on the first in Pera”

Later on speaking on slaves:

“Judging from the sounds of laughter, and from the broad grins displaying beautfiul rows of pearl-white teeth, these slaves, whom it is so much the custom to pity, appeared very contented and happy, or rather, seemed looking forward with certainty to their being so when purchased – for there is not the slightest doubt that, generally speaking, the slaves in Turkey are as happy and contented as any other class of the community : they are well fed, clothed, treated and educated, by their masters, and in their old age are not abandoned.

(He footnotes) My observation on the happy state of slaves are made only in reference to those in the Turkish dominions ; as to what their condition is under Christian lords, let the negroes of the Brazils, the United States and the West Indies, speak.

On the dignity of the Ottomans:

It may here be remarked that one of the most remarkable features in the Turkish character is the natural dignity they all possess, which qualifies them to bear with the graceful ease the high offices so often and so suddenly conferred on members of the very lowest classes. A man to-day is a vizeer or a pasha who but the day before was porter or a boatman; and yet after watching him closely, you feel inclined to beleive, from his manners and bearing, that during the whole of his life he has held the highest rank in society, and not only so, but that his family have done so for successive generations before him.