206 honored by the glory of islam
This chapter analyzes the Ottoman siege of Vienna in 1 683 in the frame-work of several of the book’s interrelated themes: the links between conver-
sion and conquest and between piety and proselytization, the centrality of the
mediator in conversion, how conversion affects religious geography and sacred
space, and the role war, violence, and changing power relations play in conver-
sion. As is well known, the siege did not go as planned and the Ottoman forces
were routed. The rest of the chapter explores the fallout. While the sultan con-
tinued to hunt and convert peasants, a gathering storm of opposition coalesced
to banish Vani Mehmed Efendi and dethrone Mehmed IV.
Vani Mehmed Efendi’s Incitement to Conquest and Conversion
Vani Mehmed Efendi authored an important Qur’anic commentary in 1 679–
80 that explicitly linked conversion and conquest.^3 The commentary offers the
preacher and Kadızadeli leader’s theory of the process of conversion, which
mirrors the practice of religious transformation at Mehmed IV’s court: conver-
sion of self, others, and sacred space. According to his historical model, for
which he cites the Islamization of central and southern Asia and Anatolia as
evidence, Turkish leaders converted and they and their descendants were then
compelled by piety to conquer territories, including Constantinople, changing
religious geography in the name of Islam.
His understanding of history also promoted the idea that when those oftrue faith go to war, their piety is rewarded. Thus according to Vani Mehmed
Efendi, Constantinople was conquered merely by the Ottomans saying “There
is no God but God and God is most great” three times. For the preacher, con-
version and conquest have additional import. Conversion of the Turks to Islam
followed by their successful conquests fulfi lled God’s destiny not only for Turks
but for all Muslims, and thus humanity.
He begins the crucial section concerning conversion and conquest using aQur’anic passage (9:38–39, At-Tawba, Repentance) to promote the idea that the
Arabs failed to fi ght on the path of ghaza. First he quotes the Qur’anic passage:
“‘Believers, why is it that when it is said to you: ‘March in the cause of God,’
you linger slothfully in the land? Are you content with this life in preference to
the life to come? Few indeed are the blessings of this life, compared to those
of the life to come. If you do not fi ght [the ghaza in Rum] He will punish you
sternly and replace you by other men” (542b). He then begins his commen-
tary on the passage, using the opportunity to claim that Turks do not resemble
Arabs, for they willingly take up the cause of jihad.