I obtained this letter from Archives of the Imperial War Museum, during my
studies in England. The letter was sent to Sudanese Muslims in 1915 by Ürgüplü
Mustafa Hayri Efendi who was Shaikh of Islam of Ottoman Empire. Letter was
written in a fetwa style. In the letter, Shaikh of Islam explained why Muslims
should fight, against whom and why. He was explained his arguments according
to the verse of Quran, decisions of ulema (Scholars) and fetwa of jihad which
was immediately published in Istanbul after the beginning of the World War
First. He invited Sudanese Muslims to the jihad beside the Ottoman State. The
reasons for jihad were also explained in the letter.
In the letter, questions were asked to the ulema (Scholars) from time to time,
and answers were given to the questions by ulema. In this way, the words of
Shaikh of Islam in the letter, confirmed by Ulama. Thus, although the letter
was written by Shaikh of Islam, it is emphasized that Ulema was in unity about jihad. Answered questions are asked again and again in different paragraphs of
the letter and answered again. With this method, the calls made to Muslims are
repeated and emphasized.
In this study, with the examination of the Shaikh of Islam’s letter, the politics
of the Ottoman State and it’s ally’s Germany, towards to Muslims of the world,
the Jihad policy of the Ottoman State in the First World War, the activities of the
Ottoman State in Sudan during the War, the reactions of the Sudanese people to
the invitation of Jihad and finally the expectations of Germany from jihad policy
were also tried to be discussed and put forward
Journal Section | ARTICLES |
---|---|
Authors | |
Publication Date | June 21, 2017 |
Published in Issue | Year 2017 Volume: 27 Issue: 1 |