Originally posted by antiobl@Nov 20 2005, 04:25 PM
Wow! Nasim Hijazi is still alive. Many readers may not know about him. He is the great fiction writer blaming "others" for the end of Muslim rule in different parts of the world. Who are "others"? They are traitors, or foreign powers.
The realty however is different. Societies die when they quit progressing intellectually. Intellectual demise shows up in their lack of advances in art, literature, science, and above all technology. They lose their will to innovate and change in the face of changing environment.
Let's see what Ottomans were doing when Europeans challenged them in the 1500s'.
1. Ottoman schools were backwards compared to the colleges in UK, France, and Germany (Prussia).
2. They had to hire Europeans to come teach Maths in Istanbul. However it turned out to be a short term measure.
3. Ottomans were dependent on Europeans for their needs of steel.
4. Mullahs had stranglehold on the court.
5. Mullahs had killed Turks to stay in Europe (so the Ottomans couldn't keep up with European changes).
and many other reasons.
Ottomans had become so weak that they couldn't stop Portuguese, followed by Dutch, then French, and then Brits. The new European powers used their own trade routes through deep sea lanes. They were no longer dependent on land routes in Ottoman control so they quit paying taxes to them. This resulted in the utter decline in Ottoman economy.
Ottomans tried desperately to bring trade in their territory. They were the first modern power who tried to dig Suez canal but they failed due to lack of funds, and technology.
Ottomans first major defeat came at the hands of Russians in the 1850s war of Crimea. It was so humiliating that Ottomans decline reached a warp speed. WWI was largely symbolic and final nail in the Ottoman coffin. Blaming Jews or Lawrence of Arabia is simply a myopic view of a very complex and tragic decline and death of Ottoman Empire.
i totaly agree but not with the mullah part..the mullahs in 1500s where quite intelegent and sophisticated folk..what we know now as mullah is a new breed which became popular 50s onwards. before that mullahs where not at all ignorant and lazy folk. they where quite intelegent and knowledgable. how ever they where declining rapidly in numbers.
we can confirm this by having a look at some punjabi sufis.
Shah Hussain: 1539-1599
Sultan Bahu: 1629-1690
Bulleh Shah: 1680-1758
Waris Shah: 1722-1798
Mian Mohammed Baksh: 1830-1904
Khawaja Farid: 1841-1901