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

72 honored by the glory of islam

polytheism, but the sheikh refused to change his ritual unless there was a de-

cree from the sultan ordering him to abandon the practice. At that time, before

Mehmed IV’s majority, one was not forthcoming.

Further Opposition to the Kadızadelis and Strife among Muslims

The growth in the movement’s infl uence did not follow a linear trajectory.

There were setbacks when administration interest in law and order hindered

both Kadızadelis and their opponents the Halvetis. Following the actions of

the head of the palace guards, the sultan returned to Istanbul, dismissed him

from offi ce, and sent him into exile.^46 In the 1 653 battle of the books, zealous

Halvetis, including a Kurdish scholar named Molla Mehmed, wrote treatises

defending their whirling devotions and criticizing and satirizing the founda-

tional treatise of the Kadızadelis, Birgili Mehmed Efendi’s Way of Muham-

mad, a book read by most Kadızadelis and used as their propaganda tool.^47

Üstüvani and his followers argued that the Halvetis articulated ideas contrary

to Sunni Islam and deserved to be executed as heretics. Instead, their books

were banned and the sheikhs were exiled. According to Katip Çelebi, “no one

benefi ted.”^48 A book was at the center of another dispute involving a follower

of Kadızade in eastern Anatolia two years later. Evliya Çelebi criticized humor-

less fanatics because they hindered conversion, gave Islam a bad name, and

caused strife because they told other Muslims what it means to be a Muslim.

He satirized a Kadızadeli follower as “a person claiming to belong to the hypo-

critical, fanatical and pederastic sect of the followers of Kadızade, a cowardly

and slanderous usurer, a catamite and mischief-maker, despised even by the

ignorant, an obscure and nasty individual, mothered in sin, belonging to the

tribe of the deniers.” This particular Kadızadeli destroyed the fi fty miniatures

in a Persian Book of Kings, which he had pledged to purchase at auction, be-

cause he believed painting was forbidden. When asked why he had ruined the

book, he responded, “Is that a book? I thought it was a priest’s writing. I ‘for-

bade evil.’ I did well to destroy it.” The pasha responded, “You are not charged

to ‘forbid evil.’ But I am charged to practice government.”^49 In this case, a

struggle between enforcing communal morality and following the laws of the

land and protecting the sultan’s property was decided in favor of the latter.

Opposition to the Kadızadelis continued to be voiced in intellectual circles.

Sheikhulislams, who were head of the offi cial religious hierarchy, and magis-

trates in Istanbul, responsible for applying Shariah, frequently opposed them

for challenging their religious authority, violating the law, not observing their

citations, and inciting rebellion, in addition to attacking Sufi orders to which