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

82 honored by the glory of islam

Islamization offered a visible sign of the successes of the dynasty and religion

emerging phoenixlike out of the ashes of despair.

Köprülü Mehmed Pasha’s successor, his son Fazıl Ahmed Pasha, marked

his turn to a more rigorous interpretation of Islam with the promotion of the

Islamization of Christian space in the capital in the wake of the same cata-

clysmic event. Chroniclers linked Fazıl Ahmed Pasha’s Islamization policies in

Istanbul with his waging war against Christians in central Europe and convert-

ing their churches to mosques. Thus writers surveyed the terrain from Hun-

gary to Istanbul and considered the raising of minarets in place of church bells

and the construction of prayer niches facing Mecca rather than Jerusalem to be

part of the same manifestation of piety.

This chapter mainly addresses one of the book’s central themes: how con-

version affects religious geography and sacred space. I discuss the great fi re

of the summer of 1 660 and the meaning given to it by contemporary writers,

Hatice Turhan’s converting of Jewish places in the wake of the fi re, the con-

struction and dedication of the Valide Sultan Mosque in the heart of the former

main Jewish neighborhood, Fazıl Ahmed Pasha’s Islamization of Christian

places, and how Muslim commoners followed the rulers’ example in articulat-

ing the call to enjoin good and forbid wrong by removing perceived obstacles

to Muslim piety. These processes transformed the religious geography of the

imperial capital, shaping a more Islamic landscape.

The Great Fire of 1 660 and the Meaning

Given to It by Contemporary Writers

On a hot summer day in July 1 660, a great confl agration broke out in Istan-

bul and incinerated most of the city. Throughout its history, many fi res had

burned half the city.^3 Although fi re was a frequent occurrence in seventeenth-

century Istanbul, this was the most devastating the city had ever experienced.^4

It gave meaning to the Turkish proverb, “May God protect Istanbul from fi re

and Anatolia from plague (or invasion).” Just when “Islambol” was prosperous

and fl ourishing, a city of palaces, great size, population, and wealth, the pride

of the Ottomans and Islamic world, it was ruined by fi re.^5

Writing only fi ve years later, Mehmed Halife blames the fi re on the im-

moral behavior of Istanbul’s inhabitants. He claims they became conceited

because of their prosperity and success and then deviated from the path of God.

He spares no class of society in his critique. Commoners cheated each other

and did not respect the religious class. The religious class did not act accord-

ing to the Shariah. Ignoring the Shariah, the merchants, most of whom were