Ep.62 The Ottoman Ulema 2: The Printing Press, Coffee and Secularisation with Dr Yakoob Ahmed
Ottoman history and its story has been until recent times the sole endeavour of western orientalists and academics. This has changed, as many more Turkish and Muslim historians have recaptured the narrative through meticulous archival work and retrieval of sources that have recalibrated how we view the last Islamic caliphate.
In this second part of an extended interview with one such Ottoman historian, Dr Yakoob Ahmed from Istanbul University, we take a look at some of the challenges and controversies that are associated with the ulema (scholars) during the latter period of the Ottoman empire. We ask Dr Ahmed to explain why it is said that the ulema were an obstruction to the progress of the Caliphate. We scrutinise the claims that the ulema outlawed the printing press and coffee. I also ask him about the ulema’s role in the deposition of Abdul Hamid II, a revivalist of the caliphate.
We continue the discussion by looking broadly at the latter period of the Ottoman’s right up to the changes brought about by post ottoman secular turkey and how that impacted the ulema.
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