Sultan Abdul Hamid II - The Last Great Ottoman Sultan

by Muhammad Harb, Farid Patel (Translator)

There are various and number of significant and yet controversial personalities throughout Islamic history that have been greatly misunderstood and misrepresented by Western historians. Sultan Abdul Hamid II is one such personality, and unfortunately, there is very little unbiased and authentic information about him in English. Most of the information on his life has been written from a Western perspective that does not draw from accurate Islamic and Ottoman sources.

Sultan Abdul Hamid II was the last of the great sultans. He came on the stage of history at a time when the empire was bankrupt and could not defend itself against its many enemies. In the face of aggression from without and sabotage from within, hammered by forces of nationalism and weakened by internal sabotage from some of the millets, he waged a valiant battle to preserve what was left of the once mighty empire. In this effort, he was partially successful, preserving its Islamic core for forty years and keeping the empire out of a major war for as long. But his methods and the internal tensions built up by the very modernization processes he had fostered, finally did him in.

Genres: History, Islam

304 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2022

Reviews

[Fatima · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you know about Sultan Abdul Hamid II Han, you will surely want to know more about him.

A great personality for our ummah, severely defamed through the colonial powers of the time, who sought to bring down the unity of the ummah and create discord to weaken the Muslim brotherhood, with the aim of ending the Ottoman caliphate. For a man like Sultan Abdul Hamid II to hold on to the seat of the caliphate amongst the continuous treacherous plots from all sides, solely with the aim of preserving the caliphate for the sake of the ummah and to make the ummah reach its golden heights again says something about the calibre of this man. May Allah be pleased with Him and shower His blessings on him for all of his efforts for every inch of the ummah that he reigned over.

A great statesman, with an aptitude to have the foresight that was needed to tackle all of the challenges he faced from both internal and external forces, from the very moment he ascended the throne. The day he was ousted, was a sad day for the entire ummah; for he truly was the last great Ottoman sultan and caliph.

A very insightful book, written by the very knowledgeable Muhammad Harb. So very grateful that Farid Patel has taken such effort to translate this book for English readers.

Would have liked to have seen the story continue after Hunkar was deposed, however the book doesn't describe the latter part of his life after he was ousted. It also would have been interesting to learn about his close family members/his harem, but this is not mentioned in the book.

There are references to Sultan Abdul Hamid II's memoirs (which have been translated by the same author in to Arabic) - would love to see this being translated in to English, as well as his daughter's memoirs, which are mentioned in the bibliography.

So much more to say on this, but do read the book to gain an insight yourself.

All in all, a book I've been wanting to read for a while, and it didn't disappoint. Much more literature in to this great personality needs to be made available to the English-speaking readers to learn about this part of our Islamic history, as so much that happened in the Sultan's era, we still see the ramifications of in our present-day era (Palestine, the Balkans etc etc).

May Allah forgive him, may He let Sultan Abdul Hamid's legacies continue, and may He continue to raise his ranks for all that he did for the ummah, aameen.

[James Kirk · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good overview of the era, the movements, and the man himself. It doesn't go into heavy details about his personal life.

[Damijan]

Good