سلطان عبدالحمید ثانی کی قومی خدمات: اسلامی نشاۃ ثانیہ اور استعماری مزاحمت میں کردار

SULTAN ABDUL HAMID II'S NATIONAL SERVICES: ROLE IN THE ISLAMIC RENAISSANCE AND COLONIAL RESISTANCE

Abstract

Sultan Abdul Hamid II (r. 1876–1909) spearheaded transformative national services to fortify the Ottoman Empire against Western encroachment and internal fragmentation. His policies centered on Islamic revivalism, exemplified by educational reforms that replaced Western-oriented "General Literature/History" with compulsory Quranic exegesis, fiqh, and Ottoman-Islamic history in curricula. The founding of Madrasat-ul-Ashair in Istanbul trained Arab tribal youth in religious and military sciences, fostering pan-Islamic unity.Infrastructure development: The Hijaz Railway (Damascus-Medina) facilitated Hajj pilgrim mobility while strengthening military logistics.He rejected Theodor Herzl’s 1897 offer of 150 million pounds for Palestinian colonization, declaring:"Palestine is an Islamic trust... I will not surrender it while I live." This was enforced by banning Jewish land purchases and restricting visas.Diplomatic outreach: Establishing Dar al-Ulum al-Hamidiyya in Beijing and sending scholars to Kurdish regions promoted transnational Islamic solidarity. Administratively, he centralized power by dissolving Parliament (1878) and creating intelligence networks to suppress separatist movements. His pan-Islamism countered British influence in Yemen with 8,000 troops and thwarted Italian subversion in Libya by deploying 15,000 soldiers.

Despite his deposition by Young Turks (1909), Abdul Hamid’s legacy lies in preserving Ottoman sovereignty through religious legitimacy, anti-colonial defiance, and strategic modernization. His model offers lessons in leveraging cultural identity against hegemony—a relevant framework for postcolonial Muslim states.