WHEN A TRUE ISLAMIC STATE CAME TO IRELAND’S AID In 1845, the Great Irish Famine resulted in the deaths of over a million people. Ottoman Sultan Caliph Abdulmajid declared his intention to send 10,000 sterling to Irish farmers but the Queen of England requested that the Sultan send only 1,000 sterling, because she had sent only 2,000 sterling herself. The Sultan sent the 1,000 sterling but also secretly sent 3 ships full of food. The English courts was said to have prevented the Islamic state’s ships from entering the harbors of Cork City and Belfast, but they finally succeeded to dock secretly at the small port of Drogheda and deliver the food. The Irish sent the following letter in gratitude to the Caliph of the Ottoman Islamic state: We the noblemen, gentlemen and inhabitants of Ireland want to express our thanks and gratitude for the Ottoman Sultan’s munificent assistance due to the disaster of dearth. It is unavoidable for us to appeal the assistance of other countries in order to be saved from the enduring threat of death and famine. The Ottoman Sultan’s munificent response to this aid call displays an example to European States. Numbers were relieved and saved from perishing through this timely act. We express our gratitude on their behalf and hope that the Ottoman Sultan and his dominions will be saved from the afflictions which have befallen us. In 1853, Christian priest Rev. Henry Christmas wrote the following about the incident and about Sultan Abdulmajid, the Caliph of the Islamic state: One or two anecdotes will put his character in its true light. During the year of famine in Ireland, the Sultan heard of the distress existing in that unhappy country; he immediately conveyed to the British ambassador his desire to aid in its relief, and tendered for that purpose a large sum of money. It was intimated to him that it was thought right to limit the sum subscribed by the Queen, and a larger amount could not therefore be received from his highness. He at once acquiesced in the propriety of his resolution, and with many expressions of benevolent sympathy, sent the greatest admissible subscription. On a visit by former Irish president, Mary McAleese to Turkey, she made a statement during a meeting with her Turkish counterpart expressing words of gratitude from the people of Ireland for humanitarian aid provided by the Ottoman Caliphate. The Ottoman Empire which lasted more than 600 years (1299-1923) and controlled a vast geographical area including Palestine, Iraq and Syria was the last of a succession of Islamic states from the time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and history bears witness to the justice and humanity found within the caliphates. The caliphate would cater to the economical and social needs of the people – that of both Muslims and non Muslims – and allowed education, science and arts to flourish. Though empires like the Ottomans had their shortcomings, the narrative of a caliphate or an Islamic state being about violence, death and terrorism is dishonest to its legacy and we mustn’t let a small group of warped minded individuals hi-jack a part of Islam which in essence is an aspiration and symbol of Muslim unity throughout the world.
Posted on: Thu, 21 Aug 2014 03:03:09 +0000
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