On 11 November 1914, Ottoman Sultan Mehmed V proclaimed holy war against the Entente powers and appealed for support from Muslims in Entente-controlled countries. The declaration, which called for Muslims to support the Ottomans in Entente-controlled areas and for jihad against "all enemies of the Ottoman Empire, except the Central Powers", was initially presented on 11 November and published in Takvim-i Vekayi the following day. The proclamation included five fatwa or legal opinions endorsed by 29 religious authorities. Several days later, on 14 November, it was read out to large crowd outside the Fatih Mosque by Ali Haydar Efendi, the fetva emini ('custodian of the fatwa', the Ottoman official in charge of dictating tafsir on behalf of the Shaykh al-Islām).
Effects of Jihad in the war
- Farish A. Noor points to the 1915 Singapore Mutiny, arguing that the call did have a considerable impact on Muslims around the world.
- The proclamation was also a factor in the Battle of Broken Hill in Australia.
- Most of the Revolts of the North West frontier theatre of WWI were influenced by Ottoman declaration of Jihad
- The Senussi Campaign started due to Ottoman pressure for the Senussi to follow them in their declaration of Jihad
- Darfur was influenced to side with the Central Powers due to Ottomans Jihad
- Jabbal Shammar sided with the Ottomans following its declaration of Jihad.
Notes
- Using the Rumi calendar, the declaration was dated 29 Teşrin-i Evvel 1330.
References
- ^ "World War I: Declarations of War from Around the Globe". Law Library of Congress. 2017. Retrieved 2024-07-29.
- ^ Lüdke 2018.
- Aksakal 2016, p. 56.
- A. Noor, Farish (2011). "Racial Profiling' Revisited: The 1915 Indian Sepoy Mutiny in Singapore and the Impact of Profiling on Religious and Ethnic Minorities". Politics, Religion & Ideology. 1 (12): 89–100. doi:10.1080/21567689.2011.564404. S2CID 144958370.
- Christine Stevens (1989), Tin Mosques and Ghantowns: A History of Afghan Cameldrivers in Australia, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, page 163; ISBN 0-19-554976-7
Sources
- Aksakal, Mustafa (2011). "'Holy War Made in Germany'? Ottoman Origins of the 1914 Jihad". War in History. 18 (2): 184–199. doi:10.1177/0968344510393596. S2CID 159652479.
- Aksakal, Mustafa (2016). "The Ottoman Proclamation of Jihad". In Zürcher, Erik Jan (ed.). Jihad and Islam in World War I: studies on the Ottoman Jihad at the centenary of Snouck Hurgronje's "Holy war made in Germany". Debates on Islam and Society. Leiden University Press. Retrieved 2024-07-29.
- Gaunt, David (2006). Massacres, Resistance, Protectors: Muslim-Christian Relations in Eastern Anatolia During World War I. Gorgias Press. pp. 62–64. ISBN 978-1-59333-301-0.
- Slight, John (2019-01-30). "Reactions to the Ottoman jihad fatwa in the British Empire, 1914–18". The Great War in the Middle East. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-315-18904-8.
- Zürcher, Erik Jan, ed. (2016). Jihad and Islam in World War I. Leiden University Press. doi:10.26530/OAPEN_605452. ISBN 978-94-006-0234-2.
- Lüdke, Tilman (17 December 2018). "Jihad, Holy War (Ottoman Empire)". International Encyclopedia of the First World War (WW1). Retrieved 19 June 2021.