“The emperor stood beneath the banner of the Prophet [AS] and raised his hands in prayer: ‘Oh God, yours is the power and the strength, yours the bestowing of aid in battle; yours is the grace and the favour, yours the kindness, yours the protection. Turn not away from this powerless body of Muslims. Take not the part of the strong-armed enemy.’ The soldiers of Islam witnessed the tears falling from the sultan’s eyes as he prayed. To a man they gave out a wondrous moan and weeping, which all took for a sign of divine favour. As the autumn leaves fall from the trees, they fell from their horses and pressed their faces to the black earth. In that moment they cried out with broken-hearted humility and all committed themselves to eternal life”
-(Solakzade (d.c. 1658). The public prayer of Sultan Suleyman I before the battle of Mohacs in Hungary (1526), one of the most celebrated Ottoman victories in south-central Europe. The battle led to the establishment of the Ottoman province in Hungary in 1541 within only a few days’ march of Vienna, capital city of Ferdinand, Habsburg king of northeastern Hungary and brother of the Holy Roman Empire, Charles V.
January 17th, 2008 - 9:36 pm
Beautiful. I had known the history of the Ottomans at a basic level but I do so appreciate these snippets of the lives of the Ottoman Caliphs. Whoever doesn’t realize that there was a definite reason why Allah decided to keep them in power and honor them for so many reasons is ignorant of history, ungrateful to their predecessors and cut off from a source of guidance and blessings that could help the Muslims in this time of trouble. Barakallahu feek. Keep me and the Ummah of the Beloved, upon him peace and blessings, in your du’aas.
January 18th, 2008 - 12:42 pm
I wonder if the Sultan would have been better off making Hungary a puppet state (a la Wallachia and Moldavia) instead of annexing it outright. It was too strongly Christian to integrate into the Empire proper.