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

128 honored by the glory of islam

Writing at the beginning of the eighteenth century, the historian Raşid

Mehmed Efendi narrates Shabbatai Tzevi’s adventure in a much more suc-

cinct fashion, emphasizing his conversion. He titles the account “Making the

Famous Jew Appear before the Sultan and His Conversion to Islam”:

Previously a Jewish person from Izmir called a rabbi appeared in

whom the Jewish people believed. He was banished and exiled to

the fortress of the straits since signs of disorder were seen from

those who gathered around him. Since even there he spread disor-

der among the Jews, he was made to appear at the imperial stir-

rup [before the sultan] in Edirne on the sixteenth of the month of

Rabia al-Ahar. The aforementioned Jew was brought forth while the

sheikhulislam, Vani Efendi, and the deputy grand vizier were in

the imperial presence. When he was interrogated about that which

had occurred, he denied the nonsense attributed to him, which had

earned him fame. Because he knew that his execution was certain, he

showed an inclination to become Muslim.^20

Abdi Pasha used the story of Shabbatai Tzevi’s conversion to emphasize

Meh med IV’s exertions on behalf of Islam, his central role in the period, his

piety and magnanimity, as illustrated by his distribution of cloaks and furs. For

this reason Mehmed IV is compared with Chosroes, the ancient Persian who

serves as the archetype of the just ruler. This is another opportunity for the sul-

tan to display his credentials as a worthy Islamic ruler and for his chronicler to

magnify them. Raşid, on the other hand, writing years after that sultan had been

deposed, stated much more bluntly that Shabbatai Tzevi converted to save his

life. Although that fact is also apparent in Abdi Pasha’s account, he emphasized

the rewards that accrued to converts: sumptuous robes, coins, and palace posi-

tions. It is another chance for the sultan to display his munifi cence. At the same

time, the “nonsense” and “false beliefs” of irrational Jews are ridiculed and con-

trasted with Islam, deemed enlightening and ennobling since it is God’s truth.

We can imagine how Mehmed IV must have looked during that meeting

of the council; an Ottoman miniature, the original lost, serves as the basis for

a drawing of the sultan published in Paul Rycaut’s The History of the Present

State of the Ottoman Empire ( 1 668).^21 The ruler has thick eyebrows and large,

melancholy eyes. His gaze is central to Ottoman narratives of the conversion of

Shabbatai Tzevi. His eyes hovered over the proceedings leading to the prophet’s

conversion, scanning the room and all gathered within, as he sat concealed

behind a screened and barred window high above the assembly. The sultan

was in control, not Shabbatai Tzevi with his preposterous claims. Mehmed IV’s

curiosity was piqued, mingling with outrage.