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

the failed final jihad 207

“If you do not fi ght.” Oh Arabs, you do not fi ght on the campaign

for Byzantium [Rum].... But the Turkish people do not in any way

resemble the Arabs. Because for a long time the Turks have been

the ones who are the mujahids waging ghaza against the Byzantines

and Europeans [Efrenj] by land and sea in the East and West. It is

the Turks who have conquered all of the lands of the Byzantines and

settled in them. They have made all of the lands of the Byzantines,

Armenians, and Georgians, and some of the lands of the Europeans

and Russians into Turkish territories.... Most Christian peoples

from all different sects became Muslim with the blessing of the

Turks; after fi rst being Byzantine, European, and Russian they then

became Turkish. This is also another sign of the great grace and

kindness with which God blessed the Turks. (543a)

He then discusses the Hadith concerning the conquest of Constantinople, ex-

plaining that Muhammad predicted that Turks would conquer the city. First he

quotes the Hadith:

Muhammad asked, “have you heard of a city surrounded on one side

by water, on the other by land?” They said “yes.” Muhammad contin-

ued by prophesying: “the Final Day will not occur until 70,000 sons

of Isaac arrive to conquer it. They will enter without shooting an arrow

or fi ring a weapon. The fi rst time they say ‘there is no God but God

and God is most great’ [la illaha illa la wa allahu akbar] the sea side of

the city will fall to them. The second time they say the same phrase

the land side will fall. When they say it for the third time, their way

will be cleared, they will enter the city, and take its booty.” (543a)

To Vani Mehmed Efendi, the meaning of the passage is clear: “I say that the

people who were prophesied are the Muslim Turks... their campaign will

reach as far as the city. Because of this, it was expected that the city’s conquest

would be achieved by the Turks.” Consequently, “the Turks conquered Constan-

tinople, their commander Sultan Mehmed son of Sultan Murad the Ottoman

conquered Constantinople after a 54 day jihad in 857 [ 1 453]” (543b). This fact

allows Vani Mehmed Efendi to contrast Ottoman success with Arab failure.

Arabs were not “destined to conquer the city. It is as if the Turks’ merely declar-

ing ‘God is most great’ was enough to conquer the city without even resorting

to arms or battle” (543b).

Before returning to his main argument that the Turks replaced the

Arabs in fulfi lling God’s intent to spread monotheism at the expense of the