Welcome to Sheikhy Notes, unique website that features, videos, notes given by traditional Muslim scholars. As well my posts/articles on particular subjects. Scroll down for various topics, scholars, links, quotes and monthly archives or use search engine to find posts. Please note that articles are copyright and cannot be copied without express permission. Allah Subhanu wa Ta’ala knows best. Est. 2005, ma sha Allah.
Showing posts with label Turkey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Turkey. Show all posts
Friday, February 24, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Discovering the Ottomans By llber Ortayli
This was a book that I picked up whilst browsing in a book store a few months ago. History is one of my favourite subjects and I like to delve into the past every now and then. Sometimes looking back is difficult because of the things that have occurred and sometimes it is interesting because the past can indicate to the future, as well as explaining the present.
The book is aimed at the average Turk who is ambivalent to the great Ottoman past. The author makes a real effort in trying to engage the reader into looking into this past and bringing out its many jewels.
The Europeans had been telling the Ottoman Empire that it was outdated for many years. When the empire ‘fell’ at the hands of the Mustafa Kamel, he re-enforced this idea. What then spread was a rabid type of secularism much like what we see today in Turkey. Islam was pushed into the background as other government systems and policies were sought.
Ilber paints a picture of an Istanbul that you would love to be in. He speaks about the family unit, how they used to be together and united. He speaks with great nostalgia about the rulers of the Ottoman Empire. This really encourages the reader to look back at the Ottoman heritage and ponder is there something that they have missed?
Turkish people must wonder why they have so many visitors to Istanbul. Why are they coming? What are they going to see?
He ends with something that had a profound effect on me, “As writers, educated people and ordinary citizens, the Turkish people are expects at misunderstanding and misinterpreting the Ottoman Empire, and believing that things were the exact opposite of the way they actually were. Let us hope that we will make up for this in the future.”
Turkish people should be rightly proud of the Ottoman Empire as the greatest manifestation of the Islamic caliphate system. It is not without truth that the Ottoman Empire was the single longest lasting caliphate, some six hundred years.
Misunderstanding the past is not just a Turkish problem we as Muslims need to accept the blame as well. Just about every country that was occupied by European or Western forces, sing this same refrain, that Islam is backwards etc. If that was true then the West is backwards as well because the basis for the Western system of almost everything lies with Islam! So they are actually calling themselves backward as well!
So read your history start with life story of the Beloved (may Allah bestow upon him peace and blessings) then read selected works that have been recommended to you by someone who has read them.
This book is a good place to begin to understand the legacy of Islam and the most successful manifestation of this was the Ottoman Empire.
(The picture is the grave of Muhammad Al-Fatih or Mehmet; the famous Ottoman Sultan (may Allah show him mercy)).
The book is aimed at the average Turk who is ambivalent to the great Ottoman past. The author makes a real effort in trying to engage the reader into looking into this past and bringing out its many jewels.
The Europeans had been telling the Ottoman Empire that it was outdated for many years. When the empire ‘fell’ at the hands of the Mustafa Kamel, he re-enforced this idea. What then spread was a rabid type of secularism much like what we see today in Turkey. Islam was pushed into the background as other government systems and policies were sought.
Ilber paints a picture of an Istanbul that you would love to be in. He speaks about the family unit, how they used to be together and united. He speaks with great nostalgia about the rulers of the Ottoman Empire. This really encourages the reader to look back at the Ottoman heritage and ponder is there something that they have missed?
Turkish people must wonder why they have so many visitors to Istanbul. Why are they coming? What are they going to see?
He ends with something that had a profound effect on me, “As writers, educated people and ordinary citizens, the Turkish people are expects at misunderstanding and misinterpreting the Ottoman Empire, and believing that things were the exact opposite of the way they actually were. Let us hope that we will make up for this in the future.”
Turkish people should be rightly proud of the Ottoman Empire as the greatest manifestation of the Islamic caliphate system. It is not without truth that the Ottoman Empire was the single longest lasting caliphate, some six hundred years.
Misunderstanding the past is not just a Turkish problem we as Muslims need to accept the blame as well. Just about every country that was occupied by European or Western forces, sing this same refrain, that Islam is backwards etc. If that was true then the West is backwards as well because the basis for the Western system of almost everything lies with Islam! So they are actually calling themselves backward as well!
So read your history start with life story of the Beloved (may Allah bestow upon him peace and blessings) then read selected works that have been recommended to you by someone who has read them.
This book is a good place to begin to understand the legacy of Islam and the most successful manifestation of this was the Ottoman Empire.
(The picture is the grave of Muhammad Al-Fatih or Mehmet; the famous Ottoman Sultan (may Allah show him mercy)).
Monday, October 04, 2010
Still want to pray at home?
One of my most shameful moments as a Muslim was when I saw something in Turkey that I will never forget. I was outside Masjid Al-Fath where, close by, the great Ottoman leader Muhammad Al-Fatih is buried.
Then I saw something that will stay with me forever. The call to prayer was being made and there were people entering the Masjid then out of the corner of my eye I saw a man in a wheelchair. Approaching the stone steps there was no lift or any ramp that he could use to allow him to enter the masjid. He had one complete arm and the rest of his limbs where amputated. He was able to move out of the wheelchair using his stumps and onto the floor before the stairs.
These stone steps are about eight or nine inches in height and there were at least forty or maybe even fifty steps. Forty cold stone steps without a rail on either side. This man proceeded to use his stumps and his complete limb to climb up the stairs as best as he could. Within a very short space of time he reached the top and entered the masjid. At the bottom of the stairs there man who put his wheelchair into a place that it would not move.
I was really shocked about this event and it made me want to find him. I went up the same set of stairs but there was no more room. So I entered the masjid from the other entrance and I looked for him but I was unable to find him because of the amount of people there. After the prayer I went to the other entrance but I could not find him. A short while later I saw him go down the stairs as he went up then crawl back into his wheelchair and leave.
I was ashamed to speak to him and what would’ve I have said? When I sit at home and don’t attend the congregational prayers out of laziness. What could I say? Do I have an excuse? He has an excuse to pray at home and I do not have any excuse. Do we know how it feels to have such great trouble in taking one step. Have we ever felt that every step we take is like a mountain?
Then I saw something that will stay with me forever. The call to prayer was being made and there were people entering the Masjid then out of the corner of my eye I saw a man in a wheelchair. Approaching the stone steps there was no lift or any ramp that he could use to allow him to enter the masjid. He had one complete arm and the rest of his limbs where amputated. He was able to move out of the wheelchair using his stumps and onto the floor before the stairs.
These stone steps are about eight or nine inches in height and there were at least forty or maybe even fifty steps. Forty cold stone steps without a rail on either side. This man proceeded to use his stumps and his complete limb to climb up the stairs as best as he could. Within a very short space of time he reached the top and entered the masjid. At the bottom of the stairs there man who put his wheelchair into a place that it would not move.
I was really shocked about this event and it made me want to find him. I went up the same set of stairs but there was no more room. So I entered the masjid from the other entrance and I looked for him but I was unable to find him because of the amount of people there. After the prayer I went to the other entrance but I could not find him. A short while later I saw him go down the stairs as he went up then crawl back into his wheelchair and leave.
I was ashamed to speak to him and what would’ve I have said? When I sit at home and don’t attend the congregational prayers out of laziness. What could I say? Do I have an excuse? He has an excuse to pray at home and I do not have any excuse. Do we know how it feels to have such great trouble in taking one step. Have we ever felt that every step we take is like a mountain?
Even writing this and contemplating is making me ashamed. How lazy I am and how great is this man.
In Arabic the word for man is Rajal which comes from the word Rijal meaning leg. So they say a man is he stands upright on his legs but this man was more of a man than most of us.
Thursday, May 06, 2010
Friday, August 07, 2009
Dr. Justin McCarthy
Armenian-Turkish Conflict
This is a link to the doctor answering the Armenian Question
http://homepages.cae.wisc.edu/~dwilson/Armenia/justin.html
This is a link to the doctor answering the Armenian Question
http://homepages.cae.wisc.edu/~dwilson/Armenia/justin.html
Monday, August 03, 2009
Said Nursi
See the link for works of the scholar
http://www.nur.gen.tr/en.html#leftmenu=Home&maincontent=Home
http://www.nur.gen.tr/en.html#leftmenu=Home&maincontent=Home
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
The Cries of the Seagulls
One of the most exhilarating and inspiring moments of Islamic history, outside the prophetic period and what followed it, is the conquering of the city of Constantinople. This event marks the beginning of the Ottoman expansion into Europe.
It comes also as welcome relief to readers of history, as on the other side of Europe, the Spanish caliphate is flickering like a candle about to go out. So this event occurs as Islam is setting on one part of Europe and dawning on the other side. The Ottoman Sultan Muhammad or Mehmet, as the Turks say, heard the narration about the conqueror Constantinople, "Verily, you shall conquer Constantinople. What a wonderful leader will he be, and what a wonderful army will that army be!" Imam Ahmed. (please see http://www.sunnah.org/msaec/articles/Constantinople.htm )
He was a young man at this point and when he conquered the city he was only twenty one years old! One of the first things he did was to change the Hagia Sofia into a masjid and ordered the call the prayer to be announced. The church was changed into a masjid and this continued for a nearly five hundred years until the Turkish republic changed it into a museum in 1935.
Since then it has been given to non-Muslims and they have removed the carpets, the decorations, most of the calligraphy and everything else. To the Muslims credit, they plastered over the pictures of Jesus (upon him peace) Yahya and other pictures. When they changed it into a masjid, they did not destroy what was previously there. This is a common feature in Islamic history, Muslims would use the best of the people that they came into contact with and used what the people were good at. They did not destory what they came into contact with.
The Byzantine researchers have removed almost everything that made it a masjid. It stands now as a cold building, devoid of life, devoid of a spirit, devoid of a soul. The only thing that remains in the masjid are the amazing wooden boards that have the divine name Allah (mighty and majestic), the name of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), the names of the four rightly guided khalifs, Hassan and Hussain (may Allah be pleased with them all) written on them.
It comes also as welcome relief to readers of history, as on the other side of Europe, the Spanish caliphate is flickering like a candle about to go out. So this event occurs as Islam is setting on one part of Europe and dawning on the other side. The Ottoman Sultan Muhammad or Mehmet, as the Turks say, heard the narration about the conqueror Constantinople, "Verily, you shall conquer Constantinople. What a wonderful leader will he be, and what a wonderful army will that army be!" Imam Ahmed. (please see http://www.sunnah.org/msaec/articles/Constantinople.htm )
He was a young man at this point and when he conquered the city he was only twenty one years old! One of the first things he did was to change the Hagia Sofia into a masjid and ordered the call the prayer to be announced. The church was changed into a masjid and this continued for a nearly five hundred years until the Turkish republic changed it into a museum in 1935.
Since then it has been given to non-Muslims and they have removed the carpets, the decorations, most of the calligraphy and everything else. To the Muslims credit, they plastered over the pictures of Jesus (upon him peace) Yahya and other pictures. When they changed it into a masjid, they did not destroy what was previously there. This is a common feature in Islamic history, Muslims would use the best of the people that they came into contact with and used what the people were good at. They did not destory what they came into contact with.
The Byzantine researchers have removed almost everything that made it a masjid. It stands now as a cold building, devoid of life, devoid of a spirit, devoid of a soul. The only thing that remains in the masjid are the amazing wooden boards that have the divine name Allah (mighty and majestic), the name of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), the names of the four rightly guided khalifs, Hassan and Hussain (may Allah be pleased with them all) written on them.
The divine name is obscured by elaborate scaffolding that extents from the centre of the prayer area up to the main dome. As they chip through some of the most beautiful calligraphy that I have ever seen, in search of a picture of Mary the mother of Jesus.
In Spain, the masjid of Cordoba was changed into a church at the command of the Christian rulers after the removal of the final khalif in Spain.
I remembered the thoughts of a famous author who saw it and was repulsed by the injustice done by the work of the builders on the masjid. Nothing that the author wrote in his three hundred page book affected me like the paragraph he wrote on this. I knew if I ever went there that maybe I would feel the same repulsion but, at least, I would be prepared for it.
So it would not be a shock, I would have prepared myself. Nothing prepared me for what I saw in Hagia Sofia, every cell of my being was nauseated. One of the party who went with us and told us that it was turned into a museum, I did not believe them. When I saw this with my own eyes I was horrified. I knew that secularism was very deeply rooted into the Turkish experience but there are some lines that cannot be crossed. This was a line that had been crossed.
I knew that Kemal had cancelled so many things but after his death, other political parties came and changed a lot of things back to how they were. The main difference between the Hagia Sofia and the Masjid in Cordoba was the masjid was on land "re-conquered" and there was little we do about it. The Christian leaders had broke the agreement to allow the Muslims worship without hindrance and maintain their places of worship. The Hagia Sofia was given up, here you go, you want it? You can have it.
I could understand if it was a non Muslim country but in a Muslim country, I could not except it.
The following narration gave me much needed solace. Abu Hurayra reports that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, ''Have you heard of a town of which a part is in the sea?'' ''Yes.'' they said. He said, "The last hour shall not occur till 70,000 of the children of Ishaq shall attack it. When they come to it, they (Muslims) will not fight with arms, nor throw arrows. They will only say; There is no god but Allah, Allah is the greatest, and then on of its sides will fall down. They will recite for the second time : there is no god but Allah, Allah is the greatest, and then another of its side will fall down. After that they will say it for the third time: there is no god but Allah and Allah is the greatest, and then it will be opened for them and they will enter and acquire booty. While they will be dividing the booty, a proclaimer will come to them and say, "The Dajjal has come out!" Then they will leave everything and return." (Muslim)
Istanbul is city that has parts divided by waters. In any part of the city you will be close to water and the seagulls come so close, that you can hear them and see them.
I was walking down a city lane (closeby) and I thought that I heard a child cry but looking around, there was no child visible. Then I realised it was not a child it was seagulls, their cries were unlike anything that I heard. I had heard seagulls before but they did not sound like any seagulls that I had heard before. It is something that I will not forget in a hurry. The cries of seagulls...
I remembered the thoughts of a famous author who saw it and was repulsed by the injustice done by the work of the builders on the masjid. Nothing that the author wrote in his three hundred page book affected me like the paragraph he wrote on this. I knew if I ever went there that maybe I would feel the same repulsion but, at least, I would be prepared for it.
So it would not be a shock, I would have prepared myself. Nothing prepared me for what I saw in Hagia Sofia, every cell of my being was nauseated. One of the party who went with us and told us that it was turned into a museum, I did not believe them. When I saw this with my own eyes I was horrified. I knew that secularism was very deeply rooted into the Turkish experience but there are some lines that cannot be crossed. This was a line that had been crossed.
I knew that Kemal had cancelled so many things but after his death, other political parties came and changed a lot of things back to how they were. The main difference between the Hagia Sofia and the Masjid in Cordoba was the masjid was on land "re-conquered" and there was little we do about it. The Christian leaders had broke the agreement to allow the Muslims worship without hindrance and maintain their places of worship. The Hagia Sofia was given up, here you go, you want it? You can have it.
I could understand if it was a non Muslim country but in a Muslim country, I could not except it.
The following narration gave me much needed solace. Abu Hurayra reports that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, ''Have you heard of a town of which a part is in the sea?'' ''Yes.'' they said. He said, "The last hour shall not occur till 70,000 of the children of Ishaq shall attack it. When they come to it, they (Muslims) will not fight with arms, nor throw arrows. They will only say; There is no god but Allah, Allah is the greatest, and then on of its sides will fall down. They will recite for the second time : there is no god but Allah, Allah is the greatest, and then another of its side will fall down. After that they will say it for the third time: there is no god but Allah and Allah is the greatest, and then it will be opened for them and they will enter and acquire booty. While they will be dividing the booty, a proclaimer will come to them and say, "The Dajjal has come out!" Then they will leave everything and return." (Muslim)
Istanbul is city that has parts divided by waters. In any part of the city you will be close to water and the seagulls come so close, that you can hear them and see them.
I was walking down a city lane (closeby) and I thought that I heard a child cry but looking around, there was no child visible. Then I realised it was not a child it was seagulls, their cries were unlike anything that I heard. I had heard seagulls before but they did not sound like any seagulls that I had heard before. It is something that I will not forget in a hurry. The cries of seagulls...
This is a picture of how the masjid used to be...
http://www.amalpress.com/index.php?l_dis=publications_enlarge&id=16
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)