The Economist has just published a nice piece aimed at dispelling some of the myths surrounding the original caliphate. Here's a taster:
For 1,300 years the caliphs, or “successors”, prided themselves on developing the Islamic community the Prophet Muhammad left behind. The Ottoman Empire, which rivalled the Roman one in longevity, came to include not only the Middle East, but north Africa, much of the north Black Sea coast, and south-eastern Europe all the way to the gates of Vienna. Ruling from Istanbul, the caliphs kept polyglot courts, reflecting the multiple religions and races represented there. French was a lingua franca at the Ottoman court; Persian, Armenian and Arabic were also spoken.
The caliphs were far from doctrinaire. Abdulhamid II, who ruled from 1876 to 1909, was one of the more Islamist, but he loved music (forbidden by IS) with a passion. He grew up in a court where the princesses played a piano coated in gold leaf given by Napoleon III, and Layla Hanoum taught the princes the cello. On Thursday evenings he would accompany Sufi masters in reciting the dhikr (rhythmic repetition of the name of God), and his imperial orchestra would play Offenbach on the way back from Friday prayers at the mosque. At state banquets the orchestra would match each course to a different concerto, including some by “Pasha” Giuseppe Donizetti, Gaetano’s older brother, who was the court composer. The last caliph, Abdulmecid II, played the violin, entertaining a mixed audience of men and women at concerts.
Far from reading only the Koran and the Muslim Sunnah, Abdulhamid II had a taste for spy novels and Sarah Bernhardt, the greatest actress of her age, whom he brought several times to his private theatre. “In politics Abdulhamid was conservative,” says Suraiya Farooqi, a professor of Ottoman history at Istanbul’s Bilgi University. “In private, his tastes were distinctly Verdi.” The Ottomans paraded in the latest fashions, often imported from Venice. Photographs in the vaults of the old Ottoman Bank show their clerks in pristine English frock-coats. In 1894 the governor of Smyrna, now Izmir, even banned the baggy trousers worn by mountain zeybeks (militias) because he found them uncouth.
Read the entire article here
Here's an update from our news desk on the Iraq friendly fire incident:
Iraq Says Nine Soldiers Killed In Coalition "Friendly Fire" Incident
Baghdad says 9 Iraqi soldiers were killed when U.S.-led coalition war planes mistakenly struck at troops near the city of Fallujah.
Iraq's Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi said the incident on December 18 "occurred as coalition air forces were covering the advance of army ground troops near Fallujah because the Iraqi Army helicopters were not able to fly due to the bad weather."
The U.S. earlier it is investigating the incident. It called the bombing the first case of friendly fire in Iraq involving the coalition during the course of Operation Inherent Resolve, which is aimed at combating the Islamic State extremist group.
The Pentagon said the air strikes were conducted at the request of Iraqi security forces and using information they provided.
Based on reporting by Reuters and AP
Our news desk has been getting reports of more migrant/refugee deaths in the Mediterranean:
Boat Capsizes Off Turkey, 18 Migrants Killed
Eighteen people have died and 14 have been rescued after a boat carrying migrants trying to sail to Greece sank off the southern Turkish town of Bodrum.
Dogan News Agency reports that the wooden boat capsized some 3.5 kilometers off the Turkish coast on December 18. It was carrying migrants from Iraq, Pakistan, and Syria.
Those rescued were taken to the hospital in Bodrum, many in serious condition, the agency said.
A record 500,000 refugees, often from Syria and Iraq, have travelled through Turkey and then risked their lives at sea to reach Greek islands this year.
Despite the winter conditions and rougher seas, the exodus has continued but at a slower pace.
Nearly 600 people have died this year on the so-called eastern Mediterranean Sea route for migrants, according to the International Organization for Migration.
(Reuters, Hurriyet Daily News)