Author(s): Hasan BARLAK
The political and economic depressions in the 19th century that Islamic societies experienced led some of the prominent Muslim intellectuals to the idea of Ittihad-? ?slam, in other words Islamic Unity. One of the first studies made on Islamic Unity is Esad Efendi’s pamphlet, Ittihad-? Islam. To Esad Efendi, Islamic Unity is a religious duty for Muslims as being an obligation for the Islamic World to be independent and stronger. Esad Efendi, who associated the obedience to the head of the state and Islamic Unity gave some verses of Koran as evidence and some examples from the Islamic and Western History to explain his ideas. He also mentioned the importance of duty of pilgrimage for the Islamic Unity. Another significant point in the pamphlet of Ittihad-? Islam is the connection between the Islamic Unity and civilisation. Esad Efendi is of the opinion that Islamic Unity will contribute to the development of Muslim societies in all respects. He thought that the recognition of Islamic Unity would be possible under the roof of the Ottoman State. For this reason, on one hand while the necessity of obedience to the caliphate was being taught to the Muslims especially the ones who were living as Bedouins, on the other hand he emphasized the necessity of making those Muslims civilized. He argued that the Ottoman caliphate exerted great effort to enhance the welfare level of Muslims and Muslims were obliged to obey him because of his role. We primarily made a text analysis of Esad Efendi’s pamphlet of Ittihad-? Islam and tried to present his ideas. Secondly, we made an evaluation in terms of property of the information, consistency of the inferences and practice of the claims.
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