Honored by the Glory of Islam : Conversion and Conquest in Ottoman Empire

Abstract

Examining the historical record of Islamic conversions during the Ottoman age in a novel way, this book gathers fresh insights concerning the nature of religious conversion. Rejecting any attempt to explain Ottoman Islamization in terms of the converts' motives, the book concentrates on the proselytizers. In this case, none other than the sultan himself Mehmed IV (1648-87) is remembered as an aloof ruler whose ineffectual governing led to the disastrous siege of Vienna. Looking at previously unexamined Ottoman archival and literary texts, the book analyzes Mehmed IV's failings as a ruler by underscoring the sultan's zeal for bringing converts to Islam. As an expression of his rededication to Islam, Mehmed IV actively sought to establish his reputation as a convert-maker, convincing or coercing Christian and Jewish subjects to be “honored by the glory of Islam,” and Muslim subjects to turn to Islamic piety. Revising the conventional portrayal of a ruler so distracted by his passion for hunting that he neglected affairs of state, this book shows that Mehmed IV saw his religious involvement as central to his role as sultan. The book traces an ever-widening range of reform, conversion, and conquest expanding outward from the heart of Mehmed IV's empire.