mehmed iv’s life and legacy, from ghazi to hunter 233
Belgrade and Buda, almost as much as the income sent by the governor of
Wallachia (Romania), and nearly one-fi fth of the total loads spent by the inner
treasury. By 1 685, therefore, the sultan’s hunting habit had indeed become an
incommensurate burden to bear. It is not surprising that these critiques did the
most to shape the unfortunate sultan’s legacy.
Finally, the religious scholars took it upon themselves to upbraid Meh-med IV. They desired a sedentary sultan in Istanbul and began to openly
denounce the sultan’s lifestyle. Silahdar narrates that on a Friday at the begin-
ning of autumn in 1 686, the sultan invited Hajji Evhad dervish lodge Sheikh
Hüseyin Efendi to give the sermon at Davud Pasha Mosque. But the sheikh
refused, saying, “The one who wants to hear a sermon should come to Istan-
bul like other people to be present at the mosque. It is not our duty to go there;
let him come here. Besides, he should abandon the hunt, come and sit on his
throne, and be occupied with worship and piety, obeying the ordinances of
God. The empire is in ruins. Protect the subjects! It is not lawful to go to the
foot of a man who does not accept counsel. The truth goes in one ear and out
the other” (2:245). Himmetzade Abdullah Efendi was brought to Davud Pasha,
but he also fearlessly stated criticism similar to how the religious class had
criticized Ibrahim nearly forty years earlier. A pious sultan who had devoted
much of the second half of his reign to converting Christian holy space into
Muslim sacred geography was accused of allowing the opposite to happen:
“Muslims and the state are without a leader. Because of this, territories and
citadels of Islam are taken by the enemy of religion. Countless mosques and
masjids have become temples fi lled with idols and places of pagan worship.
Change your actions! Repent from your sins! Ask for God’s pardon and for-
giveness! What is this inordinate appetite for mounting and dismounting?...
For how long have you been lying in the sleep of heedlessness? Sovereigns go
hunting regularly, I understand. But now is not the time. There is a time for
everything” (2:246). The members of the sultan’s entourage, their eyes full of
tears, threw him out. Just as Hüseyin Efendi predicted, the sultan did not heed
the advice. While the sheikh was speaking he proclaimed, “Let there not be
sermons at the mosques I attend while I am out riding and on the hunt.” The
chief justice went to the sheikhulislam to ask why the sultan did not attend Fri-
day mosque and prayers. They asserted that while he engaged in his nighttime
adventures, following his whim for the hunt and chase, the empire’s condition
had become dire. Without his fi xed gaze, the whole thing fell apart: important
matters of the Muslims were ignored. They urged the sultan to abandon the
hunt in order to save the religion and empire, to sit on his throne, attend
mosque like every other Muslim. In short, “We do not want him to go on the
hunt, and not come to prayer” (2:246).