By: Khalid Alsadek, Founder, CEO, and Editor-in-Chief of The Dreamer’s Alchemy
Edited by Hamza Aziz, President and Chairman of The Dreamer’s Alchemy
Published by The Dreamer’s Alchemy
On behalf of The Dreamer's Alchemy Team, I'd like to thank all our loyal readers who stood by us since day 1. On the day this article gets published in Turkey, The Dreamer's Alchemy will have been given a platform none of us would have thought of in just over a year of The Dreamer's Alchemy being a motivational blog and brand. This huge achievement has been made possible thanks to your support of our content.
This article is very special to my heart. I’ve dedicated it to Sultan AbdulHamid, whose birthday was last Tuesday, September 21st, 2021. As I was writing a famous quote of the blessed Sultan while he was in exile in 1909, I could not hold back my tears. I recognized how much the almost 2 billion Muslims of the world need another AbdulHamid.
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In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
“I’ve served my state for 33 years, day and night. I always made the well-being of my people my first priority. I did my best to not lose any of our lands. I have kept my word.
I have stood unbowed, and with dignity against the great powers. I never hurt the innocent. I have been fair, even to my enemies. But this is how fate turned out to be.” - Sultan AbdulHamid II, 34th Sultan and 26th Caliph of the Exalted Ottoman Empire.
Dear blessed Sultan and Caliph, this is the least I can do for you. As a direct descendant of our Beloved Prophet (Peace and Blessings be Upon Him), and someone from the Ummah of Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be Upon Him) who knows about your dignified 33-year reign full of struggle against the world who tried to tear down Islamic Unity, the least I can do for you with the platform God has bestowed upon me is to write about your glorious character and struggle.
Dear Sultan, where do I start? Do I start in 1876 when you ascended the Ottoman Throne and gave us Muslims a chance of modern democracy, although we were not ready yet? Do I start when you did all you could do to avert war, but in 1878, Russia, Austria, Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, and Romania declared war and almost brought us to our knees, but you gave us a way out with your blessed diplomatic genius? Or do I start when you orchestrated the blessed Hejaz Railway, having Muslims from all over the world, whether in Muslim or non-Muslim land, feel a sense of Islamic Unity again as they altogether donated their money to this blessed project?
Oh Sultan, if it weren’t for you, the Ottoman Empire would’ve collapsed 30 years before it did.
Through your political and diplomatic genius, you maintained our dignity, land, and honor despite our losses.
How were you able to do so?
When you ascended the throne in 1876, the Eyalets of Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, and Bosnia were in full revolt. Britain was caving in on complete control of the Khedivate of Egypt and Sudan, Russia was eying on the last Vilayets of the Caucasus, and France was planning on the takeover of the Eyalet of Tunisia, all of which you had to inherent although you didn’t create those problems.
With your might and power in such a precarious position during the beginning of your reign, you unified the Balkan Eyalets even after the enemies of our nation brought us to our knees. You maintained as much of the Caucasus as possible, although we gave some land to Russia. You maintained Tunisia and Egypt and Sudan and Cyprus under our jurisdiction even though they became militarily occupied by the French and the British.
After witnessing a series of events which almost brought our dismantlement, you saw the need for our unity. Our Islamic Unity.
From the Muslims in China and Japan to the United States, you had them feel the power of your Caliphate and let them truly know that you are standing by their side.
A Muslim from anywhere in the world knew that they could send a letter to your palace and you would personally send a letter back to them with whatever they asked from you.
For verily, the extent of the Ottoman borders did not matter to you.
You sent the Republic of China, the United States of America, France, Great Britain, and Russia all Ottoman scholars to teach what we Muslims had to say about universal justice, peace, ethics, and morality. And while each of these nations were plotting against us, by the teachings of our beautiful religion, and the Sunnah of our Beloved Prophet (Peace and Blessings be Upon Him), you returned a gesture of evil with a gesture of goodwill.
You always averted the option of war for as long as possible.
And to the nations who saw our precarious situation at the hands of the greedy Great Powers and were willing to help us modernize such as Meiji Japan and Germany, you gave them even more of our gifts, such as scholars, schools, and mutual economic opportunities and respect.
Dear Sultan, where did you go? Why did you leave us? We are in a more precarious situation than at your time.
We yearn for another Hejaz Railway. We yearn to feel a sense of Islamic Unity once more.
Dear beloved Sultan, dear unifying Sultan, when will we witness the Muslims from Japan to India, and from the United States to Egypt, all directly unified in the effort of unification?
Even the poorest of the poor wanted to be a part of this blessed project, for verily it would unite us all as we seek to travel to the blessed lands of the Hejaz, the birthplace of the final Abrahamic continuation.
Dear Sultan, where are our efforts at maintaining the Holy Land of Palestine? Where is the modern AbdulHamid? Where is the leader who will proclaim again that “This land is not my land. Verily, it is for my people and the whole Nation of the Prophet (Peace and Blessings be Upon Him)”?
Dear Sultan, where is our modern Sultan who will pardon treasonous people again and again? Where is the Sultan who had so much mercy in his heart that even after assasination attempts on your life, you were still merciful to those who wanted to kill you?
Dear Sultan, why did you leave us? Couldn’t you have asked God Almighty for a longer reign and a longer life so we wouldn’t be in this mess we currently are in? While all Muslim countries are fighting against each other, accusing each other of heinous crimes, and threatening to declare war on each other, why don’t we have another leader like you?
Where is our modern-day AbdulHamid?
Where is our modern Sultan?
Dear Sultan, as I previously said, this is the very least I can do. As a Muslim who knows of your reign, the least I can do to repay for what you did for the sake of the Ottomans and Muslims in general, is to write about you.
May God Almighty accept your efforts in unifying our nation.
The article ends here, but below is a short prayer for AbdulHamid.
Ya Allah, you know of your servant AbdulHamid son of AbdulMajid better than anyone. You know of his sleepless night as he pondered on the dire situation of the Ummah of your Blessed Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be Upon Him). You saw how he defended our rights to his utmost ability. You saw his political genius. You saw his efforts to unite us. Ya Allah, as a member of the Ummah, I implore you to have mercy on your servant AbdulHamid, for even though he inherited the Ottoman Empire and Muslim Ummah in a state of debt, turmoil, and disunity, he took it as his life mission to bring prosperity, harmony, and unity to us all. Bless him with a bountiful place in your 7th Heaven. Amen.