What was the cause for the decline and collapse of the Turkish Ottoman Empire[1]?
The answer, seeking Allāh’s aid is:
1. Weakness in Tawhīd and rise in shirk (idolatry acts of worship).
2. Increase in bid’ah (innovations) and weakness in safeguarding the Sunnah.
3. Attraction of their latter ones towards the worldly life and it’s adornments along with weakness in courage towards the struggle (Jihād) in the path of Allāh.
4. Expansiveness of the Mamluks[2] along with incompetence of the armies in controlling the widening borders.
5. Increase in diversity of the communities of the Mamluks coupled with weakness in regulation upon the pure Sharī’ah.
6. Activities of the hypocrites and the secularists to spread their ideologies through organizations and associations (from within).
7. Freedom of the Masons and the Jewish Organizations in their activities and aggressiveness in the lands ruled by the Ottoman Empire.
8. Host of secret organisations directed by bishops and patriarchs in some states of Europe to liberate themselves from the force of the Ottomans.
9. Plot of the Sultan Hāmid-II[3] with Jamāluddīn al-Afghānī[4] in opposition to the clear Salafi call from an-Najd and al-Hijāz[5]. So when they plotted against it, they were rebuked by a ploy likewise (with the permission of Allāh) until the Turkish Ottoman Empire was destroyed.
10. Excessive sinning and imitation of the disbelievers while showing least concern towards obedience and distinction.
Reference: “The Ottoman Empire, the Factors of Advancement and Reasons for its Downfall” and other sources
Allāh knows best with regards to the truth.
All praises are due to the Lord of the Universe.
– Answered by Shaykh Abū Fayrūz ‘Abdur-Rahmān al-Indūnīsī -May Allāh preserve him-
– Posted on 23 Dhul Hijjah 1439H [04/09/2018]
– Translated by Abū Āsiyah Muzaffar bin Hussain -one in need of Allāh’s pardon-
Source: https://t.me/s/ShAbuFayrooz/217
Translator’s Footnotes:
1. State and Caliphate founded at the end of the 13th century in northwestern Anatolia in the town of Söğüt (modern-day Bilecik Province) by the Oghuz Turkish tribal leader Osman I. The Caliphate prevailed from 1299 until it’s dissolution in 1922 which would come to be formally declared as Republic of Turkey in late 1923.
2. The word Mamluk means ‘owned’ and the Mamluks were not native to Egypt but were always slave soldiers, mainly Qipchak Turks from Central Asia. Under the Ayyūbid sultanate, they established rule over Egypt and Syria from 1250 until 1517, when their dynasty was extinguished by the Ottomans. But Mamluks had first appeared in the Abbasid caliphate in the ninth century and even after their overthrow by the Ottomans they continued to form an important part of Egyptian Islamic society
3. Abdul Hamid-II (1842-1918) was the son of Sultan Abdul Majid (1823-1861) and a Circassian mother. As a child, he received an education under the tutelage of Sufi scholars of Istanbul in the Qur’an, the Sunnah and in the Hanafi school of Fiqh. He was trained in Sufi practices, particularly the Naqshbandi and Helveti orders, which had a significant following in the empire.
4. Jamāluddīn al-Afghānī (1838 – 1897) called for the “modernisation” of Islamic thought attempting to reconcile Islamic faith with modern Western and European values such as nationalism, democracy, enlightenment and rationality. He with his student, Muhammad Abduh and his followers would adopt ideologies foreign to Islam as a rational path to revival – which is in line with Mu’atazilite teachings. It was this doctrine that came to shape Hasan Al-Banna and the Ikhwān movement.
5. The Āl Sa’ūd family established the second Saudi state in 1824 (1240H) under the leadership of Turki bin ‘Abdullāh Āl-Sa’ūd thereby liberating the entire Najd region from the armies of Mohammed Ali Pasha. The calm was shattered in 1865 by a renewed Ottoman campaign to extend its Middle Eastern empire into the Arabian Peninsula. After a span of 75 years under the rule of 9 princes, faced with a much larger and better equipped army, Abdulrahman bin Faisal Āl-Sa’ūd was forced to abandon his struggle in 1891.
سؤال: ما سبب انهيار الدولة العثمانية التركية وسقوطها؟
الجواب مستعينا بالله:
السبب الأول: ضعف التوحيد وانتشار الشرك.
والثاني: كثرة البدع ضعف الاهتمام بالسنة.
والثالث: إقبال متأخريهم على الدنيا وزخارفها مع ضعف الهمة إلى الجهاد في سبيل الله.
الرابع: سعة المماليك مع عدم كفاءة الجيوش لضبط الحدود المتسعة.
الخامس: كثرة تنوع مجمتعات المماليك مع ضعف ضبطهم على الالتزام بالشريعة المطهرة.
السادسة: تحركات أهل النفاق والعلمنة لنشر أفكارهم عبر المنظمات والجمعيات.
السابعة: حرية المصونيين وجمعيات اليهود في حركاتهم وأنشطتهم في مماليك الدولة العثمانية.
الثامنة: كثرة الحركات السرية من قبل الأساقيف والبطارق في بعض ولايات الأروبا ليتخلصوا من قهر العثماني.
التاسعة: مكر السلطان حامد الثاني مع جمال الدين الأفغاني في ضد الدعوة السلفية الناصعة مم النجد والحجاز، فلما مكروا بها عاقبهم الله بمثل مكرهم حتى تنهدم الدولة التركية العثمانية.
العاشر: كثرة المعاصي والتشبهات بالكفار مع ضعف الاهتمام بالطاعة والتميز.
راجع كتاب: الدولة العثمانية، عوامل النضود إلى أسباب السقوط، وغيره من المصادر.
والله أعلم بالصواب.
والحمد لله رب العالمين.
𝔻𝕒𝕣𝕦𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕙𝕝𝕒𝕒𝕤 | دار الإخلاص 