In The Name of Allah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy.

Sultan Abdul Hamid viewed the idea of the Islamic University as a strategy to fulfill specific goals, such as:

Tackling the adversaries of Islam who are influenced by Western education, especially those occupying critical administrative and political positions in Islamic nations overall, and more specifically within the Ottoman Empire, and to assert their limits when they come to understand that a formidable and robust Islamic barrier is obstructing their path.

Efforts to curb the ambitions of European colonial powers and Russia emerge when they recognize that Muslims have come together as one, becoming aware of their colonial intentions and opposing them through Islamic unity. This demonstrates that Muslims can form a formidable political and military force in response to the cultural, intellectual, and doctrinal encroachments from Russian and European Christianity.

The new Islamic unity plays a crucial role in shaping global politics. The Ottoman Empire regains its strength as a caliphate, facilitating its revitalization and equipping it with modern scientific advancements across various fields. In this manner, it can reclaim its identity and serve as a historical lesson. It is asserted: “Indeed, working to fortify the Islamic political and social entity is preferable to neglecting it and establishing a foreign entity both intellectually and socially on the same land. Reviving the caliphate position should serve as a powerful instrument rather than a mere formality as it was for a period, ensuring that the sultan is not the sole figure confronting the ambitions of the West and its internal agents, but rather nurturing a collective awareness among all Muslim communities. He will be the symbol, the guide, and the unifier.

The British historian Arnold Toynbee highlighted this when he remarked: “Sultan Abdul Hamid sought, through his Islamic policy, to bring Muslims around the globe together under one banner, representing nothing short of a counter-offensive by Muslims against the Western world’s attack on the Muslim domain.”

Consequently, Sultan Abdul Hamid made full use of all the resources available during his reign by enlisting advocates from diverse nationalities across the Islamic world. This included scholars, influential political figures, and missionaries who traveled to various regions to engage with Muslim communities, comprehend their needs, and communicate the Sultan’s views and directives. His goal was to spread Islamic knowledge, set up Islamic study centers both at home and abroad, publish vital Islamic texts, and for the first time in Ottoman history, implement Arabic as the state language, a process now referred to as the Arabization of the Ottoman state. He also prioritised the renovation and construction of mosques and places of worship, launched fundraising initiatives to restore mosques globally, enhanced transportation to link different areas of the Ottoman Empire, aimed to win the allegiance of Arab tribal leaders, and founded a school in the capital of the caliphate to educate the children of tribal chiefs and prepare them for administrative roles. Furthermore, he sought to secure the backing of Sufi leaders, utilised the Islamic press to promote unity among Muslims, employed certain newspapers to advocate for this cause, and focused on fostering scientific and technological advancements within the Ottoman state, modernising it as needed.

A group of advocates, including Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (footnote a), Mustafa Kamal from Egypt, Abu al-Huda al-Sayyadi from Syria, Abdul Rashid Ibrahim from Siberia, and the Sanusi movement in Libya, among others, came together to champion the cause of Islamic unity.

Firstly, Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Sultan Abdul Hamid: Jamal al-Din al-Afghani endorsed Sultan Abdul Hamid’s vision for Islamic unity and suggested initiatives that went beyond the Sultan’s aspirations. The Sultan envisioned a unified purpose among Islamic nations and a cohesive movement, which would represent a practical emotional unity, while the caliphate would embody dignity and strength. In contrast, al-Afghani offered the Sultan a strategy aimed at uniting both Sunni and Shia Muslims. (footnote b) In this context, Sultan Abdul Hamid’s perspective was confined to merging the political efforts of the two factions to combat global colonialism. He significantly gained from Afghani’s advocacy for Islamic unity, despite their differing ideologies. Several factors contribute to this divergence, including:

Afghani’s belief in the unity of Muslims, while simultaneously supporting the revolutionaries against Sultan Abdul Hamid from the Turkish nationalists and the Ottomans in general.

Afghan’s call for the unity of Islamic peoples, aiming for a cohesive structure like a single building, stands firm against European nations intent on dividing the Ottoman Empire and contributing to its downfall. Simultaneously, he did not address French colonialism, not even with a word of condemnation, at a time when Sultan Abdul Hamid needed to resist the French in North Africa.

His condemnation of British colonialism, even though Sultan Abdul Hamid mentions: that the Ottoman intelligence obtained a plan prepared in the British Foreign Office, in which Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Blunt participated. This plan aimed to remove the caliphate from Sultan Abdul Hamid and from the Ottomans in general. Blunt is a British politician working in the British Foreign Office and the author of the book “The Future of Islam,” in which he explicitly called for efforts to strip the caliphate from the Ottomans and bestow it upon the Arabs. Mustafa Kamal Pasha, the leader of the national movement in Egypt, responded to Blunt in his famous book “The Eastern Question.”

He stated: In summary, the distinguished author of “The Future of Islam” posits – reflecting the hopes of his community – that it would be most appropriate for Islam to designate England as its state, with the caliph being English. In light of Russian ambitions and the conflicts waged by Russia against the Ottoman Empire, along with their annexation of Ottoman lands, al-Afghani’s perspective on Russian expansion was unique in relation to the idea of Islamic unity; he recognized the crucial and strategic interests that Russia held in India, which necessitated their occupation. He did not contest this potential occupation; instead, he recommended that the Russians adopt the most sensible and practical strategy to achieve it, proposing that they collaborate with Persia and Afghanistan to facilitate access to India, on the condition that these nations would partake in the gains and advantages. The theological disagreement that emerged among scholars in Istanbul and al-Afghani, coupled with the release of Shaikh (Khalil Fawzi’s) book titled: “The Cutting Swords” which sought to challenge al-Afghani’s views, and al-Afghani’s reticence regarding this issue, as well as his lack of self-defense. The book was originally in Arabic and subsequently translated into Turkish during that period.

The Sultan sought to centralise power in his own hands after facing challenges from his ministers, military leaders, and influential figures swayed by Western ideologies. These individuals aimed to create a European-style democracy featuring an elected council that would represent all the diverse peoples of the Ottoman Empire. However, Sultan Abdul Hamid was against this idea, contending that Muslim representatives would only make up about half of the parliament’s total members. On the other hand, Jamal al-Din al-Afghani was a proponent of democracy and opposed the concentration of authority in one person, championing the cause of free speech. In his memoirs, the Sultan  described Jamal al-Din al-Afghani as a fraud with connections to British intelligence:

“I discovered a scheme devised in the British Foreign Office by a fraud named Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and an Englishman named Blunt, which proposed to strip the caliphate from the Turks. They suggested to the British that Sharif Hussein, the Emir of Mecca, should be declared the caliph for Muslims. I had known Jamal al-Din al-Afghani personally. He was in Egypt and was quite an imposing figure. At one point, he claimed to be the Mahdi and proposed that he should incite all the Muslims in Central Asia. I recognized that he was not capable of such an undertaking, and he was aligned with the English. It seemed very likely that the English had groomed him to test my resolve, so I promptly declined, leading him to form an alliance with Blunt. I called him to Istanbul with the help of my father, Al-Huda Al-Sayyadi Al-Halabi, a man esteemed across the Arab world. Both Munif Pasha, the former guardian of the Afghans, and the poet Abdul Haq Hamid played a role in this situation, leading to Jamal al-Din al-Afghani’s arrival in Istanbul, from which I ensured he would not depart again”.

Concerning Jamal al-Din al-Afghani’s perspective on Sultan Abdul Hamid, he remarked: “If Sultan Abdul Hamid were measured against four of the most exceptional men of his time, his intellect, shrewdness, and political skill would surpass theirs. This is particularly evident in his ability to manage his associates. It is not surprising that he successfully navigates the challenges to his rule posed by Western powers, leaving his opponents content with his presence, behavior, and reasoning, whether they are kings, princes, ministers, or ambassadors.”

He continued: “I observed him mastering the complexities of political matters and the motives of Western nations, always ready with a contingency plan for any crisis that could arise for the king. What impressed me the most was the covert strategies and formidable tools he created to thwart Europe from orchestrating any perilous actions against the Ottoman Empire, making it clear to them that the disintegration of the Ottoman sultanate would only result in widespread devastation across all European lands”. He remarked, “Regarding my observations on the Sultan’s vigilance, his wisdom, caution, and preparedness to counter the schemes of Europe, along with his noble intentions and commitment to uplift the state, which would, in turn, elevate the Muslims collectively, it inspired me to reach out to him, and I pledged my allegiance to him for the caliphate and kingship. I was fully aware that the Islamic territories in the East cannot evade the traps set by Europe, nor the efforts to weaken, divide, and ultimately diminish them one by one, except through a united awakening, awareness, and solidarity under the banner of the supreme caliph.”

The mystery surrounding Jamal al-Din al-Afghani is intriguing; some support him while others cast accusations. For example, Mustafa Fawzi Abdul Latif Ghazal’s book, “The Call of Jamal al-Din al-Afghani in the Balance of Islam,” argues that he played a role in the nation’s decline in modern history. In contrast, Dr. Mohsen Abdul Hamid’s work, “Jamal al-Din al-Afghani: The Misunderstood Reformer,” depicts him as a reformer, despite claims of his involvement with Masonic lodges. [An Excerpt from Ad-Dawla Al-Uthmaniyyah Awamil An-Nuhud Wa Asbab As-Suqut 6/462-468]

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Footnote a: Jamal al-Din al-Afghani: 

https://abukhadeejah.com/jamal-aldin-afghani-muhammad-abduh-rashid-rida-hasan-albanna-radicals-modernists/

http://www.ikhwanis.com/articles/oqqxcoo-the-baatinee-movements-secret-organizations-freemasonry-al-ikhwaan-al-qaidah-and-isis-part-3.cfm

Footnote b: Unity between Sunni and Shia:

https://abukhadeejah.com/understanding-the-differences-between-ahlus-sunnah-and-the-shiah-free-leaflet-download-print-share/

http://www.shia.bs/index.cfm