From ottomanpalestine.com:
“Until 9 December 1917 for more 400 years the city and Palestine lived peacefully under Pax Ottomana. Despite this 400 year long rule of Turks in Jerusalem there are not many visible Turkish Architectural Works. No slender minarets or Royal Mosque as in Balkans was build. The reason for this was respect for the local traditions and because there was a congregational Mosque of Masjid el-Aqsa. No other Mosque could be built that could surpass the holy shrine. Never the less, the City of Jerusalem has still a visible Turkish Presence. ”
Suleiman had a special relationship with Jerusalem. Evliya Çelebi describes Sultan Suleiman’s special relationship with Jerusalem as follows:
“In the year 926/1520 Sultan Suleiman acceded to the throne and conquered the fortress of Belgrade 927/1521 and later on the island of Rhodes 928/1522 and accumulated thereby intense wealth. The Prophet Muhammed (s.a.w) appeared to him in a blessed night and told him: “O Suleiman you will make many conquests You should spend these spoils on embellishing Mecca and Medina, and for the fortification of the citadel of Jerusalem in order to repulse the unbelievers, when they attempt to take possession during the reign of your followers. You should also embellish its sanctuary with a water basin and offer annual money gift to the dervishes there, and also embellish the Rock of Allah and rebuild Jerusalem.”
“Such being the order of the Prophet (S), Suleiman sends from his spoils one thousand purses to Medina and another thousand purses to Jerusalem. Together with required material he dispatched the master architect Koca Sinan and transferred Lala Mustafa Pasha from the governorship of Egypt to that of Syria, this latter having been ordered to carry out the restoration of Jerusalem, gathered all the master builders, architects and sculptors available in Cairo, Damascus and Aleppo and send them to Jerusalem to rebuild it and to embellish the Holy Rock.”
Ottoman Soldiers in Palestine
Ottoman Passport Palestine
Palestinian Wedding Procession 1904
Visiting of King of Germany to Ottoman Palestine 1898
Ottoman Railway, First Train to BI’RšSSEBA BETWEEN HAIFA DER’A
Ottoman Railway Haifa Train Station, Opening Prayer 1905
Ottoman Jerusulem 1898
![11-OTTOMAN PALESTINE [BETWEEN 1898 AND 1917] SQUARE FACING DAVID'S TOWER (by ottomanpalestine2)](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2468/3610353828_66f1d7fbbb_b.jpg "11-OTTOMAN PALESTINE [BETWEEN 1898 AND 1917] SQUARE FACING DAVID'S TOWER (by ottomanpalestine2)")
OTTOMAN PALESTINE [BETWEEN 1898 AND 1917] SQUARE FACING DAVID’S TOWER
Modern Palestine:
This message of Abdul-Hamid Khan, the last Sultan having real power over the Ottoman Empire, was written in the times when the Sufi knowledge was so authoritative that each Islamic Ruler/Sultan/Governor and most of his subjects had their own Murshid (Spiritual Teacher). Unfortunately today not only the rulers, but also a great part of the Muslims, do not even know that it is the duty of every Muslim to follow the Sufi Sheykhs, according to the words of the great Imam Al-Ghazali.
In the name of Allah the Compassionate, the Merciful! Let Allah, the God of the Worlds, be praised. Let there be peace and blessings upon the Prophet Mohammad, Messenger of Allah , Lord of All the Worlds.
I address the respected Sheykh of the Shazali Tariqat Mohammad Efendi Abu Shamat, the healer of the souls and the flasher of the hearts, the outstanding man of his times. After the greetings I want to say that I got your message of this May 22 and I thank Allah that you are in good health
My lord, God being my helper, I devote days and nights to reciting wirds and I ask to always remember me in Your prayers. Let me share with You, and with lucid-minded people, my worries in respect of one very important question:
I left the post of the ruler of Caliphate only because of the obstacles and threats on the side of people who call them “Young Turks”. “The Committee of Unity and Progress” (Ataturk was one of its leaders, the comment of the translator) obsessively insist on my agreement to form a national Jewish state in the sacred land of Palestine. But in spite of their obstinacy I strongly refused them. In the end they offered me 150 mln English pounds in gold, but again I refused and said the following to them.
” If you offer me all the gold of the world adding it to your 150 man, I won’t agree to give you the land. I have served the Islam and the ummah of Mohammad, peace and blessings be upon him, for more than 30 years, and I won´t cloud the Islamic history, the history of my fathers and grand fathers Ottoman sultans and caliphs”.
After my definite refusal they decided to remove me from power, and after that they told me that they would transport me to Salonika and I had to resign. I praise my benefactor who didn´t let me bring shame on the Ottoman state and the Islamic world. I want to stop at this. I praise the Almighty once again and finish my letter.
I kiss your noble hands (my Sheykh) and hope that you won´t refuse my respect for you. Greet all our brothers and friends, oh, my Excellent Teacher.
Forgive me for such a long letter but I wanted you to be informed.
Peace, blessings and mercy of Allah upon You.
Chief of the Believers,
Abdul-Hamid ibn Abdul-Majid.
29 Ramadan 1329.
September 22 1911.
Umar Lee on RIM: Rand Institute Muslims – Point 2
Umar Lee continues writing about identifying ‘Rand Institute Muslims’:
The Way They Support Palestine
The only international political issue you will hear RIMS speak on (besides maybe Dafur or opposition to so-called honor killings and female genital mutilation) is Palestine. This is because they can speak on behalf of Palestine without using the language of the Islamic Movement. In their advocacy for Palestine they do not quote many actual Palestinians or the likes of Sheykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi or Sheykh Safir al-Hawali. Instead they will quote non-Muslims (often atheists who are hostile to any religion) such as Noam Chomsky and John Esposito. They will also never verbally support an Islamic group, such as Hamas, who are fighting for liberation based on the principals of Islam. In this they are ceding the political argument to secular forces in Palestine and here in the West they are just making an alliance with, and using the arguments of, the secular left.
Abstaining from supporting an institution which openly considers suicide bombing as ‘martyrdom operations’ and perfectly legitimate and halaal, is a problem? Is losing more promising Muslims in one-off bombs that accomplish nothing the only solution? Really?! How pathetic we are.
“The Hamas movement is prepared to stop terror against Israeli civilians if Israel stops killing Palestinian civilians … We have told (Palestinian Authority Prime Minister) Abu Mazen in our meetings that there is an opportunity to stop targeting Israeli civilians if the Israelis stop assassinations and raids and stop brutalizing Palestinian civilians.” – Abdel Aziz Rantisi
Do we have to buy into this to be a non-Rand-Muslim according to Umar Lee?
Does Umar Lee support Hamas and everything that organization has done? Can’t we support the Muslims without supporting another post-modern political party claiming to be representatives of the people while being unable to defend them one iota and sucking Muslim money dry?
There has been no more well funded Muslim political party than the Palestinian parties. They have accomplished zilch and left the body bags in their wake. That is the truth, blame the Zionists and Americans all you want. The Muslims didn’t blame the Kuffar in Uhud, and they didn’t even claim their victory in Badr (R) through their own hands and political agitation.
Sincere Muslims leaders are people of faith, of miraculous support from Allah. This story of Umar (R) is cited by Imam Suyuti and helps us understand the capabilities of real Muslims and leaders:
Umar was delivering the khutbah on the day of Jumu’ah and then he turned aside during his khutbah and said, ‘Sariyah, the mountain! He who asks the wolf to be a shepherd will be wronged.’ People looked about, one to another. Then ‘Ali said to them, ‘Let him explain what he meant.’ When he had finished they asked him and he said, ‘It occurred to me in my mind that the idolators were defeating our brothers who were passing by a mountain, and that if they were to turn towards it, they would fight on one front only, but if they passed by it they would be destroyed. So there came out of me that which you claim you heard.’ He said: The messenger came a month later and mentioned that they had heard the voice of ‘Umar on that day, and he said, ‘We turned towards the mountain, and Allah gave us victory.’
We need real Muslims like Sayiddina Umar (R) who know how to be Muslims in this manner, not modern revolutionists who talk a lot, accomplish nothing and are truly looking for excuses to find Che Guevara in Islam.
We don’t need to side with the Democrats or Republicans in the States. And real Muslims, not those hyped up on anger and over-compensating for lack of a father figure and white-guilt, don’t need to side with any political party outside of the states to prove their sincerity to anyone.
We don’t have to have to play this game invented by Umar Lee’s (philosophical?) forefathers. Islam operates on a completely different level.
In 1901, the founder of the Zionist movement, Theodor Hertzil, visited Istanbul and tried to meet Sultan Abdul Hamid to buy Palestine.
Sultan Abdul Hamid refused to meet him and he told his Head Of The Ministers Council
“Advise Dr. Herzil not to take any further steps in his project. I can not give away a handful of the soil of this land for it is not my own, it is for all the Islamic Nation. The Islamic Nation that fought Jihad for the sake of this land and they have watered it with their blood. The Jews may keep their money and millions. If the Islamic Kalifah State is one day destroyed then they will be able to take Palestine without a price! But while I am alive, I would rather push a sword into my body than see the land of Palestine cut and given away from the Islamic State. This is something that will not be, I will not start cutting own bodies while we are alive.” – Sultan Abdul Hamid Han
Sultan Abdul Hamid put a law out that no one could sell Palestinian lands and put entry restrictions on Jews in Palestine, in fact he began purchasing these lands personally to anyone wanting to sell it. However, the Palestinians continued to sell their lands to Jews. Zionists used foreign consulates in order to seek protection and validity of their purchases, and they also purchased through the native Shepardic Jews in order to bypass the restrictions on selling the land to foreigners.
The governor realized that laws were not enough to prevent the sale of land to foreign Jewish settlers because many lands had been acquired by private agreements and the connivance of corrupt officials … Suffice it to say that largely as a result of that foreign interference, by 1908 when Sultan Abdul-Hamid II’s rule collapsed, it was estimated that the Jewish population of Palestine had risen to 80,000, three times its number in 1882, when the first entry restrictions were imposed. And Jews had acquired some 156 square miles of land, setting up 26 colonies.
ref: Sultan Abdul-Hamid and the Zionist Colonization of Palestine: A Case Study from Jerusalem. Dr. Hala Fattah
T.E. Laurence “Laurence of Arabia” – His report of January 1916:
“Husayn’s activity seems beneficial to us, because it marches with our immediate aims, the break-up of the Islamic bloc and the defeat and disruption of the Ottoman Empire… The Arabs are even less stabled than the Turks. If properly handled they would remain in a state of political mosaic, a tissue of small jealous principalities incapable of political cohesion. – (ref: Finlayson, Contemporary Political Thought (2003). NYU Press)
The Arab Revolt began in June 1916, when an Arab army of around 70,000 men moved against Ottoman forces. They captured Aqabah and cut the Hejaz railway, a vital strategic link through the Arab peninsula which ran from Damascus to Medina. This enabled the Egyptian Expeditionary Force under the command of General Allenby to advance into the Ottoman territories of Palestine and Syria.
–
Commentary:
Some have heard of ‘Laurence of Arabia’, but few Muslims know exactly what he did or what his impact was, and how directly he schemed to tear apart Muslim unity. One of the key steps to the Formation of Palestine was the Arab Revolt of 1916, where Muslims rose up against the Calipha looking for ‘independence’ and separate states.
the truth on 
m.a.kidwai,CME/IND.RLY.(retd.) on 
