Biography Of Sultan Abdul Hameed The Second
And The Fall Of The Islamic Khilafa
Sultan Abdul Hameed The Second was born on Wednesday, the 21st of September 1842.
His full name is Abdul Hameed Khan The Second Bin Abdul Majeed Khan. He was the son of Sultan Abdul Majeed
(from his second wife.) His mother died when he was seven. Abdul Hameed spoke Turkish, Arabic and Persian and he
studied several books in literature and poetry. When his father Abdul Majeed died, his uncle, Abdul Aziz became
the Khalifa. Abdul Aziz did last long in power. He was forced out of power and then assasinated by the
political enemies of the Ottomans. His successor was Sultan Murad, the
son of Sultan Abdul Aziz, but he was also
removed from power after a short period because he was not fit for office.
On the 31st of August, 1876 (1293 H) Sultan Abdul Hameed was given the Khilafaship, the people pledged
allegiance and loyalty to him. He was at that time aged 34. Abdul Hameed realised, as he explaines in his diary,
that
at the time of the assasination of his uncle, and the constant change in leadership was some
sort of a conspiracy against the Islamic state.
Abdul Hameed had a character historians looked deeply into. He was given the leadership of a huge state
that was in a tense and critical situation. He spent more than thirty years full of
interior and exterior conspiracies, wars, revolutions, events and constant changes. Abdul Hameed himself
expressed these feelings in his writings and poetry. Here is a sample of his handwritten poetry, which was
taken from the book "My Father Abdul Hameed," written by his daughter Aisha.
- The poetry translates,
- My lord I know you are the Dear One (Al-Aziz) ... and no one but you is the Dear One
- You are the One, and noting else
- My God take my hand in these hard times
- My God be my helper in this critical hour
The first trouble Abdul Hameed ran into was Midhat Pasha. Midhat Pasha was secretely involved in the removal
of Abdul Hameed's uncle. When Abdul Hameed came into power he assigned Midhat Pasha as The Head of The Ministers
council because Midhat was very popular at that time and Abdul Hameed needed any kind of insurance to stay in
power. Midhat Pasha was a good governor but he was opinionated. Midhat Pasha was supported by a strong stream in
the Shora council (parliament). With the help of these people he was successful in passing the resolutions to go
into war against Russia. Abdul Hameed could not stop that stream. Had he tried to he would have porbably been
removed from office. Still the stream wanted to blame him for all the losses that resulted from these
missclaculated wars. Abdul Hameed did not want any wars at that time. The Islamic state was too exhausted
to engage in warfare. Abdul Hameed was able to use the differences between him and Midhat
Pasha to decrease Midhat's popularity. He finally was able to break lose from his chains and he exiled him to
Europe. The people and polticians welcomed that move greatly.
Afterwards, Abdul Hameed turned to the foreign enemies of the Islamic Ottoman State. He was able to
somehow predict the Communist Revolution in Russia, and that it will make Russia stronger and therefore more
and more dangerous. At that time, the Bulkan parts of the state faced two dangers, Russia and Austria. Abdul
Hameed tried to awaken the Bulkans and make them realise the coming danger. He came close to an
agreement with the Bulkans, but when the agreement was in the final stages, four Bulkan states made a separate
agreement and excluded the Otoman state. Western and Russian influence was the reason for that change.
Abdul Hameed realised that the consperacy to destroy the Ottoman state was bigger than anyone thought. It
was both interior and exterior. He thought he got rid of Midhat Pasha and his likes for good, but he was faced with
Awni Pasha, head Of the Ministers Council (Alsadr Alazam) and one of the leaders of the army. Later Abdul
Hameed discovered that Awni Pasha took money and presents from the English, and his role in the removal of
Abdul Aziz (Abdul Hameed's uncle) was exposed to Abdul Hameed. Awni Pasha pushed the Ottoman state into the
wars of Bosnia against the will of Abdul Hameed. Abdul Hameed knew that if the war took place Russia, England,
Austria- Hungary, Serbia, Montenegro, Italy and France will all attack the Ottoman state and make sure Bosnia
is snatched. Awni misinformed Abdul Hameed about the size of the Ottoman army in Bosnia. He claimed to have
200,000 soldiers ready. However, Abdul Hameed checked with other generals of the army and discovered he had only
30,000 soldiers, faced by more than 300,000 soldiers. The people at that time loved Awni and Abdul Hameed
couldn't remove him from office because that would endanger the interior stability of the state. The western
powers, realising that they had outnumbered the Ottomans attacked under the cover of four Bulkan states (Romania,
Montenegro, Serbia, Austria-Hungary). As a result, Bosnia and Greece were lost and seperated from the Otoman state.
Abdul Hameed exposed Awni and his mistakes afterwards and got rid of him. The public accepted this move.
The court found him guilty of the charges of conspiracy against the Ottoman state and aiding foreign powers,
such as England.
The fall of the sick man of Europe appeared to be eminent. everyone wanted a part of it and that doesn't
exclude the Jews. In 1901 the Jewish banker Mizray Qrasow and two other Jewish influential leaders came to visit
Abdul Hameed, they offered to give him :
- 1) Paying ALL the debts of the Ottoman state.
- 2) Building the Navy of the Ottoman state.
- 3) 35 Million Golden Leeras without interest to support the prosperity of the Ottoman state.
In Exchange for
- 1) Allowing Jews to visit Palestine anytime they please, and to stay as long as they want "to visit the
holy sites."
- 2) Allowing the Jews to build settlements where they live, and they wanted them to be located near Jerusalem.
Abdul Hameed refused to even meet them, he sent his answer to them through Tahsin Pasha, and the answer was
"Tell those impolite Jews that the debts of the Ottoman state are not a shame, France has debts and that doesn't
effect it. Jerusalem became a part of the Islamic land when Omar Bin Alkhattab took the city and I am
not going to carry the historical shame of selling the holy lands to the Jews and betraying the responsibility and
trust of my people. May the Jews keep their money, the Ottoman's will not hide in castles built with the money
of the enemies of Islam." He also told them to leave and never come back to meet him again. With the
Jews and Zionists in the game the set was complete, and the play of the end of the Ottoman state was about to
start. The Jewish money was an important asset to finance the destruction of the Ottoman state to build the
Zionist state in Palestine, the state that Jews wanted so badly they were willing to risk anything for.
The Jews did not give up on Abdul Hameed, later in the same year, 1901, the founder of the Zionist movement,
Theodor Hertzil, visited Istanbul and tried to meet Abdul Hameed. Abdul Hameed 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 owr bodies
while we are alive." After this, the Jews turned to the British to turn their dreams into reality.
The British and French were ready to finish the Ottoman State, still the word "Jihad" was powerful
enough to make all Europe tremble. Europe still feared the Sick Man Of Europe. The British decided to use its most
important foreign policy, devide and conquer. It supported new groups like Young Turkey and Young Arabia. When
Young
Turkey became strong in the Ottoman state, Britain did not need to do anything anymore, Young Turks did the rest,
they started a national and prejidice stream withen the Turkish citiziens of the Islamic State. In resonse,
Arabs, Armenians, Kurds and other races developed their own national brand. People started feeling a part of their
race not a part of the state, and that was the beggining of the end of the Islamic state. Later in WWI, Arabs
collaborated with the Bristish and French and revolted against the Ottoman State. They were betrayed by the
British and French and later invaded.
Abdul Hamid did not forget the development of his state, he built many institutions and services to the
public like Hamedi market, Alazm palace in Damascus. He also built many mosques, public bathes, markets and
hospitals in Cairo, Demscus, Sana, Baghdad and the rest of the Islamic cities. He also worked on the development
of the educational system. The Ottomans tried to imitate the European educational system but they failed, except
in two areas, Medicine and Military. The Ottoman army was not as weak as people today think it was. The Ottoman
artillary was the strongest in the world. The Ottoman Navy was very well organized and was ranked the
world's third most powerful fleet after the English and French. Many industries such as weapons manufacturing,
weaving and Sugar appeared. The road system was updated,and seaports were expanded. Many new newsprints were
established and before the first world war Egypt, Iraq and Great Syria had more than 1300 newspapers and
magazines.
For a little time it appeared like the Sick Man of Europe will finally stand up, but the western allies
were determined to destroy the Islamic Unity at any cost. The non-muslim minorities in the Ottoman state were used
by the West to create trouble and instability, especially the Christian citiziens of the state. The western
states
always interfered in the Ottoman domestic policy under the excuse of "protecting the Christian minorities." The
west also launched a campaign of Christian preaching in the Islamic world by building Christian schools and
churches. The target was snatching muslims away from Islam and spreading un-islamic social habits and ideas. Many
newsprints were also established for the same reason, to poison the minds of the muslims and spread destructive
ideas and misconceptions between them. The west also wanted to make the Ottoman state busy and for that it used
the minorities again. The west encouraged the Armenians and financed their revolution against the Ottoman state.
England helped the Druz and France helped the Maronites in Lebanon and they both engaged in a big battle that
was solved by the interference of the Ottoman army. More troubles between Muslims and Christians took place, and
at some time the Muslim population of Damascus was about to wipe the Christian population of the city. The
Ottoman army interfered in the last moments and prevented a massacre from taking place. That era was a constant
battle between the conspiracies of the west and the defence of Abdul Hameed and the rest of the faithful
Muslims.
It is important to mention that the debts of the Ottoman state, when Abdul Hameed came to power, were 2,528
Million Ottoman golden Leeras. When he was removed from power they were only 106 Million Leera. Which means he
cut the
debt to about 1/20 of its original value. The Young Turks, who came after Abdul Hameed, raised it back by 1300%.
Such an
achivement of Abdul Hameed would give the impression that he could not spend on development, but that is untrue.
Abdul Hameed established fax lines between Yemen, Hijaz, Great Syria, Iraq and Turkey. Then he connected it to the
fax lines of Iran and India. He managaed to earn back the cost of the project withen only two years because of the
extensive use of these lines by the Hujjaj (the people who go to Mecca to do the pilgramage).
Abdul Hameed realised that the only hope for Muslims is a form of a strong Islamic Unity. Abdul Hameed was
able to see that the West will try to seperate the Islamic state and then deal with each part seperately.
The only way to prevent that is through Islamic Unity. Abdul Hameed decided to present the Ottoman Khilafaship
as a
leadership to the Islamic World. Abdul Hameed was able to touch and effect the Muslims of India and Pakistan and
he caused many troubles to the British in these areas. Similar results were established with the Muslims of
Russia and the southern USSR republics. Abdul Hameed also used these Muslims to pressure Russia. At this time,
Abdul Hameed mentions in his diary that he feels the walls falling on him, and that he feels he is alone and he
can not fight the enemies of the Islamic Nation alone. He later started an alliance with Germany, but that too
seemed to be insufficient, because the Germans wanted a part of the Ottoman state as well. Sultan Abdul Hameed
felt
at that time that the big war is very close. And it was obvious that the remains of the Ottoman state is what the
fighting factions will fight for.
Abdul Hameed needed something big, something strong, something to awaken the feelings of the Islamic unity in
the hearts of the muslims all arround the Islamic world. Abdul Hameed searched and searched and finnaly decided to
establish the Hijaz rial road(1900). The rail road ran from Demscus to Madina, and from Aqaba to Maan, the line
symbolized the Islamic Unity, all the muslims who used to do the pilgrimage felt that the Ottoman Khalifa was
trying to bring them closer, with a new rail road system and one of the most sophisticaed fax systems. Muslim
started getting the feeling of gratitude and appreciation to the Ottoman State. The rail road payed for its
expences in a couple of years and it functioned as an important tool to connect the parts of the Islamic state, it
also was to be used as a fast line to transport and deploy military units. Abdul Hameed also launched a campagin
to spread the idea of islamic untiy and islamic support in southern Russi, India, Pakistan and Africa. He started
inviting many muslim scholars from Indonesia, Africa and India to the Otoman state, and he established a program
to build mosques and Islamic Institutions all arround the Islamic world.
The western teeth reacted quickly and encouraged the Bay of Tunessia to revolt against the Ottoman state in
1877 and so he did. In 1881 france occupied Tunessia, in 1882 Britain occupied Egypt. Later the netherlands invaded
indonesia, Russia invaded central Asia, Britain expanded deeper into india and Sudan .. it appeared like the west
is about to crush the Islamic World.
Finally, on Tuesday the 27th of April 1909, the 240 members of the Otoman senate agreed under the
pressure of the National Young Turks to remove Abdul Hameed from power. Senator Sheikh Hamdi Afandi Mali
wrote the Fatwa of the removal. The Otoman Senate approved it. Here is the translation of that Fatwa :
- "If the Imam of the Muslims took the important religous issues from the legislative
books and collected those books, wasted the money of the state and engaed in agreements that contradicted the
Islamic Law, killed, arrested, exiled the people for no reason, then promised not to do it again and still
did it to harm the conditions of muslims all around the Islamic world then this leader is to be
removed from office. If his removal will bring better conditions than his staying, then he has the choice of
resigning or being removed from office."
- The Sheikh Of Islam Mohammad Dia' Aldin Afandi
The Fatwa is very strange and any person can see that the conditions set in it do not fit Abdul Hameed's
deeds and actions. Afterwards the Head Of The Ministers Council, Tawfiq Pasha was called to tell Abdul Hameed
about the decision. He refused to do so. So they sent him a group of four people : Aref Hikmat, Aram Afandi
(Armenian), As'ad Tobatani and Emanuel Qrasow (Jewish). As they entered his office, they found him standing
calmly, Aref Hikmat read the Fatwa to him, then As'ad Tobatani came forward and said "The nation has
removed you from your office.", Abdul Hameed became angry and said "The nation has removed me
from my office, that is okay ... but why did you bring the Jew to the Quarters of the Khilafa?" and he
pointed to Qrasow. Obviously that was the point of payback, Abdul Hameed rejected selling Palestine to the
Jews, and now they show him that they were a part of his removal. A chalenge in the face of Abdul Hameed
and the face of the Islamic Nation.
After Abdul Hameed's removal from office many writers started attacking him and his person, one of these
people was John Haslib, his book "The Red Sultan" became very famious, and was treanslated into many languages such
as Arabic and Turkish. A Turkish book titled "iki me vrin perde arkasi - yazan : nafiz tansu" by Ararat Yayinevi
was also a part of hateful propaganda that drawes the Ottoman state sinking deeper and deeper only to be saved by
the Young Turks who removed Abdul Hameed. Another one is by the famous Arab Christian writter Georgy Zaydan in his
book "Stories Of The Islamic History - The Ottoman revolution". These books are nothing but a bunch of lies written
by people who hate Islam and muslims deeply. It presents Sultan Abdul Hameed as a man sunk into pleasures of life
such as women and alcohol, and a vicious merciless tyrant towards his political enemies and his people. These lies
did not stand because the truth always prevails.
Finally, after Abdul Hameed came a bunch of weak leaders. They couldn't maintain the state and they lost their
powers easily. As Sultan Abdul Hameed predicted, WWI took place and the Ottoman state was divided. Arabs revolted
in Hijaz with the help of the British and French, who later on betrayed them and put them under occupation, and
gave Islamic Palestine to the Jews. If only they had listened to Abdul Hameed.
The National Young Turks got power and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk canceled the Islamic Khilafa in 1924. That was
the end of a united leadership for Muslims for 1300 years. The West had succeded fully.
Today Muslims started to wake up from the ashes of the Arab-Isreali war of 1967, from the ashes of the Bosnian
war, the Chechnian war, the Kashmir wars. Muslims are starting to realise that they will not stand unless they
are
united and attached to the bond of Islam. Muslims are starting to return to Islam and the West is alarmed again,
after
several years of Turkish Athan the mosques of Istanbul retruned to declare "Allah Akbar" in clear Arabic. A
sign of the coming back of a great civilization.
We kindly ask the Muslim reader to read Alfatiha on the soul of Sultan Abdul Hameed and the Muslims who
dedicated their lives for the well being of Islam and the whole Islamic Nation. We hope we have been able to
present you with something that will make you see things more clearly and strengthen your belief in the Islamic
Dream and remove any misunderstandings or misconceptions if you have had any. Unite to the bond of Islam, may God
bless the Islamic Nation and have mercy on the soul of Sultan Abdul Hameed and the rest of the sincere
Muslims.
The Sun May Have Set, But It Will, God Willing, Rise Again.
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