Honored by the Glory of Islam. Conversion and Conquest in Ottoman Europe

islamizing istanbul 91

central Europe and brought Anatolian and Rumelian Jews to repopulate Istan-

bul after it was conquered. Bayezid II allowed Iberian Jews to settle in the city

following their expulsion from Spain and Portugal. But Mehmed IV’s court

confi scated the synagogue properties of the descendants of these Jews and ex-

pelled their congregants from the heart of the city to a predominantly Jewish-

inhabited village on the Golden Horn.

Completing the Mosque

No expense was spared for the mosque’s decoration. The valide sultan’s new

mosque boasts stunning tile work, some of the fi nest ever made by Ottoman

artisans. The Sovereignty (Al-Mulk) chapter of the Qur’an is legible on glazed

tiles above all the windows. The shutters of the windows and doors were covered

from top to bottom in mother-of-pearl, the fl oors covered in beautiful Persian

and Egyptian carpets. The calligraphy was stunning. It was also an illuminated

mosque refl ecting the ascribed luminous qualities of the sultan. Evliya Çelebi

was struck by its lighting, claiming that the mosque’s chandeliers are unlike

any other in Istanbul, and perhaps anywhere in the Islamic world, and that it is

a well-lit mosque due to its rock crystal and cut glass windows and numerous

places for burning candles.^48 He was seconded by the French scientist Joseph

Pitton de Tournefort, visiting in 1 700, who also noted, “The lamps, chandeliers,

spheres of ivory and crystal globes embellish the mosque greatly when lit.”^49

As was written near the marker of the direction to Mecca in gilded calligraphy,

after the valide sultan found the mosque of (a previous) valide sultan and com-

pleted it, “it truly became a Ka‘aba for the pious.”^50

In late autumn 1 665, Muslims held their fi rst Friday prayers in the valide

sultan’s new mosque, following an elaborate ceremony attended by the royal

family, administration, religious class, military, mosque personnel, and the reti-

nues of the grand vizier and valide sultan.^51 The sultan, “the refuge of religion,”

the valide sultan, the sultan’s favorite concubine, and the “brave prince” arrived

at the mosque to perform prayers and then “bestow so many gifts and favors

that it boggles the mind and is beyond comprehension.”^52 The valide sultan

presented to her son a stunning jewel-covered dagger with a handle made from

a single solid emerald, on display today in the Treasury Exhibit of Topkapı Pal-

ace. She also gave him a diamond-studded sash and ghazi aigrette, also adorned

with a pure diamond and ten sumptuously adorned pure Arabian horses.^53 The

sultan bestowed forty sable fur cloaks and 1 50 cloaks upon the leading men

of state, including Grand Vizier Fazıl Ahmed Pasha; the sheikhulislam who is

“the mufti of mankind”; Sheikh Vani Mehmed Efendi, considered “the famous