Tag: ottoman empire

Society & Culture

Vampires, Witches and the Walking Dead in Ottoman Lands

“’On the Night of Karakoncolos, the obur would awaken to feast on human blood. Relatives of the victim would urgently seek out a village elder with expertise in finding the creatures. They then would go to the grave from whence the obur had emerged and exhume the body…’ [reported] Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi, on one of his expeditions around the empire in the 17th century.” Continue reading Vampires, Witches and the Walking Dead in Ottoman Lands

Liam MurrayLeave a comment
Society & Culture

Forgotten History: The Hamidiye Hijaz Railway – A Trans-Ottoman Railway

We always learn lessons from history; it acts as a guiding light whereby we make decisions based on our past mistakes and success. Therefore, it is important to learn history — especially one’s own. The collective amnesia of Islamic history has lead us to a stage where we are looking for answers on social media, lured in by orientalists and academics and believing in false … Continue reading Forgotten History: The Hamidiye Hijaz Railway – A Trans-Ottoman Railway

Ahmed5 Comments
Shorts

Colonialism, Islamic Reformers, and the Late Ottoman Period

The first half of the twentieth century was a dark time for Muslims. The scientific and technical dominance of the Europeans allowed them to strengthen their already tight stranglehold over Muslims lands. This was especially true in North Africa and the Levant, where Britain and France, and to a lesser extent, Italy, competed for influence…There were men and women, as there always are, who resisted this occupation of their lands with whatever means they had at their disposal. Among these was a certain Druze Prince named Shakib Arslan, an eminent Islamic thinker and reformer.  Continue reading Colonialism, Islamic Reformers, and the Late Ottoman Period

Traversing TraditionLeave a comment
Society & Culture

Can European Muslims Resist Assimilation?

The Charter of Principles of French Islam declares the religion to be compatible with France’s particular brand of secularism, laïcité, and its attendant values; in other words, it represents the subjugated and heavily privatised form of the religion that President Macron wishes to see. In January, a close advisor to Macron warned that Muslim organizations which refused to sign the charter would “see their operations inspected very, very closely by our services.”[1] The French Republic cannot tolerate Muslim difference: it aims only to homogenize and assimilate. Continue reading Can European Muslims Resist Assimilation?

Traversing Tradition1 Comment