36 honored by the glory of islam
half a century as favorite, mother, and grandmother of sultans remained as
regent and the most important member of the dynasty.^45
Even if the sultan was only a boy, the water-borne procession to the holyMuslim tomb and return to the palace overland in a great military procession
offered the dynasty an opportunity to display to the public its link with Muham-
mad, its historical continuity, and its latest leader.^46 The sentiment of a court
poet, that the enthronement of the boy sultan made the world serene, however,
could not have been further from the truth. The question facing the dynasty
at this point was who would actually run the empire. One of the fi rst imperial
decrees issued in Mehmed IV’s name concerned the challenge that his father
posed. It states that Ibrahim was stirring insurrection with the help of his loyal
followers, making it necessary to “remove this injurious thorn from the skirt of
the realm and Muslim people.”^47 Some within the palace desired to spring the
former sultan from prison and reinthrone him.^48 He had numerous support-
ers among the harem eunuchs and palace guards, and there was a “gathering
storm of opposition” to the little sultan.^49 Some began to claim that “because
he had not reached puberty, he is not ready or prepared to take measures for
the order of the kingdom. It is necessary to again enthrone his father.”^50 Know-
ing that so long as the deposed sultan was alive the threat of rebellion was
real, and wishing to protect their class interests, men of the bureaucracy and
military asked for a legal opinion to execute Ibrahim.^51 The sheikhulislam gave
an affi rmative answer. Thus leaders of all three branches of state sought the
sultan’s execution because they reasoned that to prevent rebellion it was nec-
essary to kill him. The former valide sultan apparently wept while praying
before the mantle of Muhammad, agreeing to spare Ibrahim the indignity of
imprisonment in favor of journeying to the afterlife. Still, she asked, “Who
gave this man the evil eye?” In the end, she allowed him to be killed, just
as she gave permission for him to be deposed. She articulated the fact that
only she could make the fi nal decision concerning who sat on the throne and
whether the sultan lived or died: “They said my son Ibrahim was not suitable
for the sultanate. I said ‘depose him.’ They said his presence is harmful, I said
‘let him be removed.’ I said ‘let him be executed.’ If anyone is under my protec-
tion, it is my son.”^52
When the grand vizier and the sheikhulislam entered Ibrahim’s chamberwith the executioners, he was wearing a rose-colored satin robe, red breeches
ornamented with gold, and a skullcap on his head, and held a Qur’an in his
hand. Wailing, he asked, “Why will you kill me? This is God’s book, you ty-
rants, what authority permits you to murder me?”^53 Three weeks after he was
deposed, and soon after Mehmed IV made his journey to Eyüp, the merciless
hand of the executioner Kara Ali executed the thirty-fi ve-year-old former ruler