The Dominance Of Islam In The Ottoman Empire And Its Effects To Ottoman Orientalism

The Dominance of Islam in the Ottoman Empire and its effects to Ottoman Orientalism
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November 6, 2017
Introduction
The Ottoman empire is one of the largest and longest lasting empires that has ever existed in history. It spanned most of Southeastern Europe to parts of Italy and the African continent CITATION Sha17 \l 1033 (Shaw & Yapp, 2017). Aside from its size it has also reigned for about 600 years during the 15th and 16th centuries. Reaching its heights during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent in the years 1520 to 1566 CITATION BBC091 \l 1033 (bbc.co.uk, 2009). While the Ottoman empire is very well-known for its military capabilities that has led to an almost unstoppable expansion, it has also contributed a lot for the development of the social and technological circumstances in the region as well as those around it. According to Ayduz (n.d.), this inclination is mainly due to the Ottoman’s inclination to achieve new traditions in the development of arts and scientific knowledge, all while mixing it with the foundations of their older islamic centers. One of the greatest contributions during that time was usually in terms of astronomy, industrial science, and even the development of different early forms of knowledge such as biology, history, geography, physics, and theology among others CITATION MBTnd \l 1033 (MBT.com, n.d.). Even this day, history records name Taqi al-Din, regarded as “the greatest scientist on Earth” during that time, as the inventor of the very first practical steam engine and first spring alarm clock, which was said to be more precise than those existing during those days.
However, while history records emphasizes on these technological and cultural achievements of the Ottoman empire, researchers today also focuses their studies on the orientalist perspective of these development. As according to Makdisi (2002), Ottoman Imperialism could be described as the “Ottoman’s representation of their own Arab periphery as an integral part of their engagement with… Western representations of the Indolent Ottoman East”. In other words, Ottoman orientalism could be seen as how do Ottoman’s during those time represent themselves and deal with the prejudice by the West and aim towards progress without compromising their own values and principles. In line with this, the author of this article believes that the reason as to why the Ottoman empire has continued to excel in almost every field of scinece and arts, despite prejudice towards them, is because of their steadfast commitment to Islam. More particularly, because of the explicit statement in the Qur’an that self sufficency, hardwork, and responsibility should always be observed by anyone and everyone who believes in the same fate. In retrospect to the Protestant Work Ethic, it could be said that this explicit statement is much more older, even before Calvinism existed, and thus presents itself more deeply than the other concept.
Following from the argument above, this article would try to discuss the effects of Islam and its beliefs towards the development of the scientific and cultural inquiry during those times. This study would be focused on ...