Islamic Heritage of the Ottomans

Continuing on from yesterday, my post today looks briefly at the Islamic heritage of the Turkic people. How they went from following the ancient religion of Tengriism, to fully embracing Islam. And how the descendants of Ertuğrul Gazi and Sultan Osman I became the Caliphs of Islam.

The Abbasid Caliphate

The Arab conquest of Persia, by the Abbasid dynasty in the 7^th century, first brought the teachings of the Prophet Muhammed to the Turkish tribes of Central Asia.  The confederacy of Oğuz Turks established trading, religious and cultural contacts with the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad, as their armies made incursions into the Turkic heartlands of Central Asia.  It is from this time that the Turks first converted to Islam, and renounced their Tengriist and Shamanistic beliefs.  

Conversion to Islam was gradual, but by the 10^th century the majority of the Turkic people had become Moslem.  During the course of the following centuries the Turks would not only adopted Islam, but would also become its guardian, its protector and its temporal leaders.

The Ottoman Caliphate

For the Ottoman Turks, the ultimate honour came in 1517 when they defeated the Mamlukes. The last Abbasid Caliph relinquished his title to an Oğuz Turk from the Kayı tribe – to the all powerful Ottoman Sultan, Selim I. 

The Turks had wrestled the leadership of the Islamic world from their Arab brothers.

For the next four hundred years, the Ottoman Turks took on the role of protectors of all orthodox Sunni Moslems. They governed the two Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina, as well as the Holy City of Jerusalem.  

They also conquered the ancient capitals of the earlier Caliphs – Damascus, Baghdad and Cairo, thereby bringing many Islamic scholars, academics and educated elite within the borders of their Empire.   Their own capital, Istanbul, became a centre of Islamic teaching and Islamic intellectual learning, and the home of the precious holy relics of Islam.  

A Void

It is quite unbelievable that the office of Caliph of Islam has essentially remained vacant since the abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate in 1924.

Perhaps many of the current problems in the world would not exist if Sunni Moslems had a leader to give them a coherent voice. Perhaps the Islamic world would be more unified, more understood and less exploited by the west. I often wonder how different the world might have been had the Caliph remained in power. I wonder how he would have dealt with the situation in Palestine. How he would have addressed rising Islamophobia. And how he would have combated extremism and fanaticism, and promoted love, respect and tolerance.

I invite you to join me in praying for peace. For peace remains so elusive in former Ottoman lands…