THE CONTRIBUTION OF MUHAMMAD AL-FATEH: CONQUERING THE CONSTANTINOPLE ISLAM, KNOWLEDGE AND CIVILIZATION
Prepared by: Usamah bin Abdul Latif Bachelor of Engineering (Aerospace) (Honours)
Lecturer: Assoc Prof Dr Sayyid M Yunus Gilani
Introduction Constantinople is a very unique city in Europe as it is located in a very strategic geographic location, between two major continents, which is Asia and Europe. At the North, it is bordered with the Black Sea while Russia and Iran are at the South. From the East side, it is bordered with Syria and Mediterranean Sea whereas at the West, it is near with Bulgaria, Greece and Aegea Sea. This city is very beautiful and was acknowledged as among the beautiful city at that time altogether with Napoli at Hali and Lisbon at Portugal. It also has played a very important role as a connector between Asia and Europe. This city was seen as the “Capital of the World” because of its prime trading position in the centre of the medieval world. In fact, Constantinople was the capital city for the Roman Empire (753BM-476M) and the Byzantine 1 Empire (610-1453M). Napoleon has once quoted as saying, “If the Earth were a single state, Constantinople would be its capital”. From the Islamic perspective, the privileges of this great city has revealed from the age of Prophet Muhammad SAW. He has predicted that this city will eventually fall to the hand of the Muslims. In the authentic hadith, while digging trenches during the Battle of the Trench (Khandaq War), the Prophet’s hoe hit a rock and splashed fire. He spontaneously shouted Takbeer three times. The Companions asked, “What has happened, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied, “I have seen some sparks. After the first spark, I saw the shadow of the White Palace in the state of Yemen in the air. After the second spark, I saw the shadow of Kisra Castle in the Land of Persia and after the third spark, I saw the king’s p alace in 2 Constantinople.” In another authentic hadith, Rasulullah SAW said, “Verily, Constantinople shall be conquered. Its commander shall be the best commander ever, and his army shall be the 3 best army ever.” Hence, many Muslims have tried to be the best commander ever, by conquering the Constantinople for over 800 years, through 10 attempts. Among them were ‘Uthman bin ‘Affan, Mu’awiyah bin Abu Sufyan, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari al -Ansari which he was martyr and buried there, Sulayman bin Abd al-Malik, Harun al-Rashid, and many Muslims commander from the age of Umayyad Empire, ‘Abbasid Empire and also the ‘Uthmaniyyah Empire. Eventually, this great city falls to the hand of Muslim under the command of Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih th f rom rom the ‘Uthmaniyyah Empire in 29 May 1453M.
1
Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution. 2 Abi al-Hasan al-Hasan ‘Ali bin Abi al-Karam al-Karam Muhammad bin Muhammad bin ‘Abd Karim bin ‘Abd Wahid al-Shaybani al -Shaybani bin al-Athir, al-Kamil fi al-tarikh, pages 70-71. 3 Narrated by Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal, al-Musnad, no 18478.
An Overview about the rise and fall in the Ottoman Empire The history of the Ottoman Empire starts at the early 6H/12M century, after the fall of Banu Saljuk Empire in 511H/1128M. It began with a piece of land that was awarded by the governor of Banu Saljuk Empire at West Anatolia to a group of Turkish lead by Urthugrul. Then, they started to broaden their influence by launching military threat to the Europe countries. After Urthugrul passed away, this policy was then continued by his son, ‘Uthman bin Urtughrul (born 656H/1276M). He is the founder of the Ottoman Empire and start to form the government in 679H/1299M-726H/1326M. His wisdom in organizing the government administration was the basis of the forming of the Ottoman Empire. The emergence of the Ottoman Empire has change the political scenario of the Muslims as well as the European. At the early stage, this government has successfully formed a political and military power while most of other Islam’s country has been demolished by the Europe. In a very short period of time, this new government lead by ‘Uthman bin Urthugrul rise up and threaten the Europe countries. It all started when the Ottoman Empire conquers Balkan and some other places in Europe that was under the control of the Europe government before. The European have tried to fight and destroyed the Ottoman Empire but the bravery and wisdom of ‘Uthman bin Urthgrul is very incredible. In a very short time, he and his army managed to conquer Katah, Lafkah, Aq Hisar and Qawuj Hisar in 707H/1308M. Then, in 717H/1317M, Burusah city was conquered. After that, during the reign of Urkhan bin ‘Uthman, ‘Uthman , the more brave action was done. He managed to cross the Straight of Dardanelles hence conquering several important places over there. From that, the intention of the Ottoman Empire to conquer the Constantinople becomes clear. Urkhan then formed a new army infantry squad with the name of Inkissariyyah. When Sultan Murad (I) took over the government, they managed to expand their territory to several Asia and Europe countries. The most important success during the reign of Sultan Murad (I) was the opening of Adrionaple in 62H/1360M. The opening of Adrionaple was very important for the Ottoman Empire as this city was very strategic place at Balkan and it was the second capital city of Byzantine Empire. With the opening of this city, the capital of the Islamic state has move to the Europe. The successful administration of the Ottoman Empire was then continued by Sultan Bayazid (I), Muhammad (I), Sultan Murad (II) and then Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih that lead to the opening of the most influence places for any empire, the Constantinople. Then, Sulayman al-Qanuni continues the glory of the Ottoman Empire with his wisdom in ruling the empire.
But after that, the Ottoman Empire starts to decline and fall down. This empire fell because of a combination of internal degeneration and external pressures. One of the primary causes blamed for the fall of the Ottoman Empire was the declined of the Sultanate. Originally the Sultanate was a strong institution, in which the Sultan would select a competent successor from among his often numerous sons (some Sultans had over 500 sons). Over time, however, the Sultanate weakened. This weakening may have begun late in the reign of Sulayman al-Qanuni. Although his reign marked the height of the Ottoman Empire’s Golden Age, in his later la ter years, Sulayman became less actively involved in the affairs 4 of the state. In addition, his two most qualified successors plotted against him late in his life, and he had them executed. As a result, Selim II became the next Sultan, despite the fact that he had lived a relatively secluded life in the palaceand did not have experience in running the government. He was overly fond of physical pleasures and did not take seriously his governing responsibilities. After him, the Sultanate continued to decline. In the end, the degeneration in the Sultanate played a significant role in the decline of the Ottoman 5 Empire. Among the results of the decline of the Sultanate was the weakening of the central government’s control over the empire. Significant sections of the empire began to operate more or less autonomously. And the central government itself became fraught with strife and conflict as various parties struggled for power. By 1808 many of the empire’s holding s in North Africa were leaning toward independence, and in 1826, Greece started on its way to sovereignty. Because of the decline of the Sultanate, the Ottomans were beginning to lose 6 control of their empire. In addition to the problems in the government, the Ottoman Empire experienced economic stagnation as they failed to adapt to the changes in the world around them. For a long time, the Ottoman Empire served as the gateway to the East, because it sat at the crossroads between Europe and Asia. Consequently, the revenue from the trade routes formed a large part of the economy. As European began to develop new trade routes that bypassed the Ottoman Empire, however the Ottoman economy was severely damaged. Then, during the eighteenth century, the Ottomans failed to industrialize as the European countries did. Naturally, this caused them to lag behind in the productivity and efficiency, making their wares uncompetitive and further harming the economy. Economic stagnation, therefore, 7 also weakened the empire. The final major factor in the fall of the Ottomans was the shift in the international balance of power. Formed during the reign of Orkhan, the second Sultan, the Ottoman military division called the Janissaries had remained the fiercest fighting force in Europe for many years. During the days of Sulayman, the Ottoman Empire had become the most powerful state in the world, and it posed a serious threat to Europe. In fact, in 1529 Suleyman carried war as far as the gates of Vienna. However, as time went on, the situation changed. The 4
http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/essays/cot/t1w26ottomandecline.htm Ibid 6 Ibid 7 Ibid 5
Janissaries and their methods of warfare became obsolete. No longer did the Ottomans possess an unmatched fighting force. On top of this, numerous wars with land-hungry Russia, including the Crimean War, weakened the empire, as did the many wars the Ottomans fought with the encroaching en croaching European nations. In addition, the empire had to deal with the Balkan Rebellion. Eventually, the Ottomans became involved in World War I and sided with Germany. By the war's end, the empire was torn apart finally in 3 March 1924, the Ottoman Empire collapse with its last caliph was Sultan Abdul Hamid (II) and it was replaced with the territory of the modern-day Turkey.
The Biography of Muhammad al-Fateh Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih was born on 27 rejab 833H/20 April 1429M. He was the son of Sultan Murad (II). Since he was young, his parent was very concerned about his education and it was balanced mentally and physically. When he was 12 years old, he was sent to Maghnesia to seek knowledge. His father then appointed a very famous scholar, which is Ahmad bin Isma’il al-Kurani al -Kurani to be his teacher. Besides of earning a very complete education, he himself was a very committed person in gaining knowledge. He was very smart, brilliant, clever and good in memorizing. He also master in Nahu and Balaghah until he was called as Abu Hanifah. When he became a teenager, he was sent by Sultan Murad (II) to Adrionaple (Edirne) to become the governor for the Ottoman Empire there. His father took this decision to reveal to his son about the knowledge of administration. Muhammad al-Fateh was appointed as the governor with the assistance of two ministers, Zaganos and Sihab al-Din. They were the person that gives the guidance to the young governor. They also sometimes influenced Muhammad al-Fateh to conquer the Constantinople. At the early stages of his governance in Adrionaple, he has to face a great test for the first time as the governor. At that time, many of the European government leaders such as the King of Hungary, the Byzantine and Venice Emperor start to show off their interest to take the opportunity to this young leader of the Ottoman Empire. However, Muhammad al-Fateh has proved that he was the right people to rule the Adrionaple even though he was very young. After a few months, Muhammad al-Fateh was sent to Maghnesia to become the governer altogether with his two ministers. This is because of his inability to settle down the rebellion that was triggered by the Jenisseri at Adrionaple. This situation makes Sultan Murad (II) to return back to Adrionaple to settle down the issue. However, when he governs Maghnesia, he got a great influence and support to prepare himself to take over the caliphate. His real life started when he was married to the daughter of Sulayman Bay. Sulayman Bay was the governor of the Dhu al-Ghadir government (854H/1450M). His marriage ceremony was really happening as both of the bride and bridegroom were the son and daughter of the leader of their country. After the ceremony was finished, Muhammad al-Fateh returns back to Maghnesia to continue his job.
Unfortunately, his happiness was not last long. Couple of months after his marriage, he received a bad news. His father, Sultan Murad (II) passed away. He hurriedly headed to Adrionaple. Together with that bad news, he also got a good new that is he will be crowned as the next Sultan. 16 Muharram 885H/18 February 1451M, he was crowned as the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. At that time, he was only 22 years old. Hence, the new episode of the Ottoman Empire began. Under his governance, he really determines to conquer European states. In 879H/1457M, he manages to conquer Kaffa and Crimea. A year after that, he and his army conquers Moldavia and Croatia. Besides his success in the military aspects, he also really concern about the development of the states. For instance, he built Masjid al-Fateh at Constantinople and Masjid al-Ayyub. He also restructures the position of Jennissari elite army. In the field of knowledge, he was very passion in art. He always gives motivation to his people to make research about art and science. The very good thing about Sultan Muhammad al-Fateh is his determination to learn about the history of the good king. He always read about the life of Augustus, Constantine and Theodeosius. He also admires the leadership of Alexander the Great that enables him to conquer half of the world. Their leadership was his inspiration to open the Constantinople in order to complete the glory of the Islamic empire. Sultan Muhammad al-Fateh al-Fateh died in May 1481M/8 Rabi’ulawwal 886H and was buried at Constantinople. At that moment, he was 52 years old and has governed the Ottoman Empire for 30 years. His death was celebrated by the European as for them, this extraordinary Sultan was their nightmare. He was the most dangerous enemy and has an ability to destroy their Empire forever.
The Opening of the Constantinople The Preparation of the Army After the welfare of his people has been settled, Sultan Muhammad al-Fateh started to plan his strategy to conquer the Constantinople. At first, he launches his army to conquer Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro. All of this army expedition returns with success. This was a huge boost for him as the surrounding of the Constantinople was already under Islamic control. Sultan Muhammad al-Fateh realizes that the attempt to open the Constantinople was not an easy task as since a very long time, the Muslims army has besiege this city but it is ended with failure. Hence, this attempt must be planned well with good strategies. Realizing this matter, Sultan Muhammad al-Fateh makes a very detail preparation. He managed to gather 250,000 armies. 12,000 of them were the Jennissari elite army, 20,000 of them were the 8 Spahi armies, 100,000 were the infantry armies and the rest were the servants. This 8
Bernardine Kielty, The Fall of Constantinople, page 76
number of army was a very big number compared to the number of armies of other country. In addition, the Muslims army were very good in disciplines, well-trained in using many types of weapons and also also trained in war strategies. The Ottoman’s army also have a high spirit of Jihad as the Islamic scholars also involved in the expedition to convince them about the advantages of Jihad. As the Constantinople was a very strategic city besides the sea, the Byzantine emperor has built a very strong defence system. Sultan Muhammad al-Fateh realizes that the Byzantine Empire has a great potential to receive the military aid from the outsiders from the sea route from the Bosphorus to the Crysoceras (Golden Horn). Hence, Sultan Muhammad alFateh divided his armed forces into two divisions. The first division is the army that was equipped with the latest and modern weapon at that time. The second division is the navy that has get ready to block the military aid from the outsiders through the sea route from Bosphorus to the Crysoceras. In term of the naval power, Sultan Muhammad al-Fateh managed to gather very power naval forces. There were approximately 400 different types of warships. In addition, he also rented the Christian’s ship to carry his soldiers from Asia to Europe. Throughout the month of March 1453M/Rabiulawwal 857H, the naval forces of the Ottoman Empire has complete at Gallipoli. There were 6 Triremas ships, 10 Biremes ships, 15 Galleys ships, 75 Fust ae ships, 20 Parandaria and also a few Sloops and Cutters ships. At the end of March/Rabiulawwal, Sultan Muhammad al- Fateh’s armed forces started to cross Dardanellas and heading to the Marmara Sea. With the super power armed forces, he was confident that the failure of the Muslims to open the Constantinople before will end. Before he attack the Constantinople, Sultan Muhammad al-Fateh with his wisdom has signed an agreement with several countries including Galatta. Galatta was bordered with the Constantinople at the East. He also has signed an agreement with Majd and Venezia. However, these countries has breach the contract and help the Constantinople when Sultan Muhammad al-Fateh besiege that city. Then, to ensure that the military expedition towards the Constantinople run smoothly, Sultan Muhammad al-Fateh has built the Romali Hisyar fort at the Strait of Bosphorus that was located at the South of Europe. This fort has a very strategic position, facing the other fort that was built in the reigh of Bayazid (I). It was built with 82 meter of height. This fort has its function to enable the naval forces to cross from the east Bosphorus to the west. It is also block the military aid from the outsiders through the Black Sea.
The Preparation of the War Equipment The Ottoman Empire has made a complete preparation by preparing various types of equipment, logistics and weapons. The conventional equipment that has been prepared was including the mail, brease-plates, spear, sword and arrow. Meanwhile, the modern war equipment was the ballistas, battering-rams 145 and the big size of cannon.
At that time, the technology to innovate the new cannon was found by the Ottoman’s armed forces. They also precede the Western in terms of using the modern weapons. The Ottoman armed forces got a help from a Hungarian engineer that was very expert in innovating explosive materials named Urban. Various types of the weapons have been created by him that was never seen and known by the European. The Ottoman armed forces also were equipped with a hurling projectile that can throw the big stones in long distance. Sultan Muhammad al-Fateh has gave many facilities for the new weapon innovation project. Therefore, Urban has created very big cannon, named Sultan Muhammad Cannon. This cannon need 700 peoples to lift and move it. Meanwhile, it takes 2 hours to install the cannonball. This cannon has a weight of hundreds tonnes and required hundreds of cow to pull it. This cannon can launch 300 kg of cannonball and can shoot for 2 kilometres. Before the army launch the attack to the Constantinople, Sultan Sultan Muhammad al-Fateh stored this weapon at Adrionaple. Then, this big cannon was sent to Constantinople and it takes 2 months to reach the Constantinople.
The Attack on Constantinople Sultan Muhammad al-Fateh always think about the strategies until he has no times to sleep at night. After studying about the defence system of the Constantinople, he plans a strategy to enter the Constantinople. Then, after all of the preparation has been settled down, the armed forces finally reached the suburban of the city in Thursday 26 Rabiulawwal 857H/6 April 1453M. The first thing that he does to his armed forces is giving a sermon. In his sermon, he reminds his soldier that their main intention is to get the pleasure of Allah. He also remind about the good advantages of Jihad in the sight of Allah. Lastly, he read a few hadith about the opening of the Constantinople. At the time Sultan Muhammad al-Fateh made an ambush to the Constantinople, that city has an approximately 100,000 peoples, 4970 volunteers and 35,000 armies. All of the citizens have ready to face the invasion from the outsiders to their city. From the side of Sultan Muhammad al-Fateh, he has 250,000 armies that were ready to follow his command anytime. After his armies have took their place as planned earlier, Sultan Muhammad al-Fateh places all of his soldiers in front of the main fort outside the Constantinople. He divided their soldiers into three divisions. The first division was stationed in front of the main fort. The second division control the cannons that were placed in front of the main gate. The big cannon, Sultan Muhammad Cannon were placed in front of Tib Qabi gate. In the same time, the navy ships were supervising the sea route and blocking all the military aid from the outsiders from reaching the Constantinople. However, these navy ships unable to enter the Strait of Crysoceras because of the boom chain that was installed by the enemy. These chains can destroy the ship if the ship tries to p ass through it. After they have besieged the city, in 23 Rabiulawwal 857H/12 April 1453M, Sultan Muhammad al-Fateh launched an attack to the city. The enemy fought back and as expected,
the military aid from Genoa arrived. 5 vessels altogether with their commander, Gustinian arrived with 700 armies from the European countries. They come to save the Constantinople from being invade. The most difficult part that was faced by his army was to cross the boom chain to enter the Straight of Crysoceras through the sea route. Indeed, they can’t cross that boom chain after several attempts. In the end of Rabiulawwal 857H/April 1453M, 5 vessels from Genoa and Venice arrived to give the aid to the Constantinople. They were successfully beat the Ottoman’s navy and enter the Constantinople to give a help to that city. This situation makes Sultan Muhammad al-Fateh very angry. He then fired the Chief of the Navy, Balta Oghlami. The defence system of the Constantinople was very strong. At the early stages, Sultan Muhammad al-Fateh’s al-Fateh’s army feels that it was very hard to penetrate the fortress. The non stop attack finally destroyed the Byzantine fort at Lycus Valley at the West of the Constantinople. From there, the armies move forward and try to destroy the other fort. When they failed to destroy the fort, they try built a high ladder to enable them to climb the fort and enter the city. But this attempt was failed by the enemy. Gustinian has command all of his army to hardly defend the city. Muhammad al-Fateh then makes a supplication to Allah. He pray for a help from Allah for his good effort. They pray and make a zikir altogether with the Islamic scholar that support their effort. From his instinct, he thinks that the city of Constantinople can be entered only by the sea route through the Strait of Crysoceras. Finally, he got an idea on how to enter the Constantinople through the Strait of Crysoceras by transferring all of the vessels and warships over the land. In a night, 70 warships were transported from Romeli Hisar to the safe place. This makes the Constrantinople facing 3 the attack from 3 sides. It was a very 9 critical day for the army of the Byzantine. Finally, in 11 JamadilAwwal 857H/29 May 1453M, Sultan Muhammad al-Fateh with all of his ministers and teachers enter the Constantinople. The first thing he did was prostrate to the almighty God, Allah. Then, the Constantinople was officially falls to the hand of Muslim for the first time in history. Sultan Muhammad al-Fateh then changed the name of the city to “Islam Bul” (Istanbul) and it was used until now.
Conclusion 9
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehmed_II
Sultan Muhammad al-Fateh has proved that he was the best leader and his army was the best army as said by the Prophet Muhammad 800 years ago. His determination to open the Constantinople was the very first thing in his mind. In fact, his contribution in opening the Constantinople is a very valuable contribution to the Islamic civilization. It shows that the Islamic civilization is better than the Western civilization in all aspects. After he conquers the Constantinople, he has made a very fair policy to all of the people of the Constantinople. He appoints Patriarch Gennadius Scholarius as the boshop of the Catholics. He also gives freedom for the other religions to do their rites and rituals without any disruption. His actions proved that Islam does not discriminate other religion and Islam also is a very fair religion. The opening of the Constantinople has opened the eyes of the European to the true Islam and many of them embrace Islam without any force.
References
Main Source
Abd Hamid Ali, Detik-detik Constantinople dan Ibrah Buat Eropah, Mazni Irfan Publication, 2011, 291 pages
Supplementary Source
http://dailyhadith.adaptivesolutionsinc.com/hadith/The-Conquest-of-Constantinople.htm
http://www.historyguy.com/fall_of_the_ottoman_empire.htm
http://www.turizm.net/turkey/history/ottoman3.html
http://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empayar_Uthmaniyyah
http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/essays/cot/t1w26ottomandecline.htm
http://ibnusuhaili88.blogspot.com/2009/04/kejatuhan-turki-uthmaniyah-berakhirnya.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehmed_II
http://www.islambasics.com/view.php?bkID=119&chapter=14
http://my.opera.com/sawahijau/blog/2009/09/16/road-to-constantinople
