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

introduction 15

individ ual’s studied refl ection of his or her relation to the divine or the transfor-

mation of an individual living in solitude.^17 Nor does conversion concern only

an autonomous quest for spiritual meaning, the isolated interior path of self-

realization, or a moment in a single individual’s private personal destiny.^18 It is

not only the life of the mind that matters, but also the life of the social being,

for conversion is not only deeply private, but also deeply social.^19

Avoiding the pitfalls of studies that focus on the social to the exclusion of

the spiritual, I unite a study of the piety and religious conviction of converts

with the social effects of their religious change. In so doing I advance scholarly

discussions of the social aspects of conversion by focusing on motivations of

the converter, insofar as these can be gleaned from their historical context, and

concentric rings of conversion set into motion as the most powerful people in

the dynasty and administration are convinced to change their religious outlook.

Conversion is infl uenced by contextual situations and personal relations. An

important element in the process of conversion is an encounter with an advo-

cate, mediator, or external agent who exposes the individual to the new way of

being and, through dynamic interplay and dialogic encounter with the convert,

brings him or her to the advocated manner of piety or faith.^20 In Islamic socie-

ties, Sufi s or magistrates frequently served as mediators in conversion.^21 Here

I focus on the mediating role of preachers and the sultan. Interaction with

the mediator, especially when followed by the establishment of affective, in-

terpersonal bonds and a relationship, leads to change and commitment by the

convert.^22 The way the instigator communicates the message, whether through

propaganda, proselytization, teachings, or the examples of pious individuals,

brings others to piety or a new religion.^23 Conversion can have its rewards when

the converter offers the convert gifts of money and other fi nancial and social

incentives such as tax breaks, pardon for crimes, and clothing.^24 The giving of

clothes, especially robes of honor, signals both a change in social status of the

convert and his or her introduction into an ongoing relationship with the agent

of conversion: “The hand of the giver left its ‘essence’ on the robe.”^25 The object

serves to embody the recognition of the conversion, serving as a reminder of

the transformation. Converts display the effect of the adoption of a new moral

system on the body, such as when Muhammad offered his mantle to his former

opponent, Ka‘b ibn Zuhayr, who recorded the occasion in his poem, the “Man-

tle Ode,” symbolizing the acceptance of the convert into the community.^26

Intellectual or religious, political, and social contexts and constraints, situ-

ated within events that are not always of the convert’s choosing, lead to poten-

tially radical social results and ramifi cations, whether the convert is the ruler,

whose conversion compels him to launch military conquests, or his subject.

Whether involving a single person or the masses, religious change can be one