Was there in fact a central authority in the form of Khalifah in Ottoman Empire who used to command all Muslims then ?
There never was an ummah it is funny when the ottoman turks took over turkey they massacred and killed all the arab muslims but tolerated the jews and christans. People who think there was a united ummah live in a fools paradise. The ceremonial title of the caliph was first used by the ottoman turks in 1774 which was 250 years after they took over. The only thing came about through an accident and some quickthinking. It had, however, become a common practice among medieval Muslims rulers to be addressed as Caliph, but only informally so, along with other honorific titles, on ceremonial occasions. In Turkey such a practice also grew, imperceptibly and gradually. The title of Caliph came to be added to the many honorific titles attached to the Ottoman Sultan. But, formally and officially, the title of Caliph was not used by the Ottomans until 1774, or over 250 years after Selim’s famous victory over the Mamluks. In that year formal use of the title of Caliph for an Ottoman Sultan came about purely by coincidence. During negotiations with the victorious Russians of the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca, the Russian negotiators described their Empress, Catherine the Great, as ‘the Head of the entire Christian Orthodox Church’, thus laying a theoretical claim to the loyalties of Christian subjects of the Ottomans. Not to be out done, a quick-witted negotiator of the Sultannamed his master as the Caliph of all Muslims, thus laying a counter claim, to the loyalties of Muslim subjects of the Russian Empress. There was no more to it than that.
Posted 2 years ago on 03 Mar 2010 8:38
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