Suleman - the Kanuni
By Mohammad Ashraf Chaudhry
Pittsburg , CA
Behold the turtle: He only makes progress when he sticks his neck out –
James Bryant Conant- (1893-1978),
President, Harvard University
This article has reference to Dr. Syed Amir’s insightful article titled “The Last Heir to the Ottoman Throne” published in the Pakistan Link on February 12, 2010. The death of the last heir to the Great Ottoman Empire in September, 2009 at a mature age of 97 leaves behind for the thinking minds a clear message: Rulers of the land eventually vanquish: Rulers of the heart and soul perennially stay.
If the demise of Prince Ertugrul Osman marked the end of the Ottoman Dynasy, Suleman-the Lawgiver, then marks the zenith and pinnacle of it. What happened to the powerful Kings and Sultans and Caesars of yesteryear who once played with the life and property of their fellow human beings, amassed infinite riches and demeaned one over the other, and finally like Prince Ertugrul Osman, once hailed as “His Imperial Highness”, died, and perhaps not lamented or missed by many? The Qur’an presents their picture in the words of the Queen of Sheba in Sura 27:34, “Lo! Kings, when they enter a township, ruin it and make the honor of its people shame”.
In the dynasty of the Othoman Empire, one name that outshines all, is that of Suleman, the Kanuni, (1520-1566). The Europeans fondly call him “The Magnificent”, the Muslims remember him as “The Lawgiver”, the Ottomans hail him as “The Kanuni” and regard him as the perfect Islamic ruler of their history. Among the 23 greatest lawgivers in the entire human history, Suleman-the Kanuni is counted as one among them. In the Halls of the US House of Representatives are placed 23 marble medallions of the greatest law-givers of all times. Included in them are such personalities as Moses and Thomas Jefferson. Suleman-the Kanuni is perched right in between them.
The astonishing part is the presence of a Muslim Sultan (a Turk) in the House of Representatives, and that too when he had been the conqueror of a good portion of Europe. The Americans did not place him there because he was a superb military leader, or because he had conquered Belgrade, the Isles of Rhodes, Tripoli, Austria and Hungary, the Middle East, Iran and what not. They remember him for the fair and just laws that he made in the light of the Islamic Shariah - laws that were even acceptable to the people of Europe then, and are valid even now. He even introduced situational ‘Kanuns’ that did not fall within the main body of the Islamic law or that were not covered by it, by resorting extensively to the process of ‘analogy’ and ‘Ijtihad’, by adhering strictly to their universal appeal and application.
In was a strange coincidence that he appeared on the firmament of history in the backdrop of a very favorable and ominous setting. It was the beginning of the new millennium in the Islamic chronology. He also found himself in the galaxy of some the greatest rulers of the world, which being, Charles V, Francis I, and Henry VIII/Queen Elizabeth I in Europe and Akbar the Great, in India. Like Akbar and Queen Elizabeth I, Suleman too ruled over four decades, 46 years to be precise, and left a bigger mark on world history than the two combined.
Europe was also at the peak of the Renaissance at that time. Man and the Universe were becoming the center of man’s attention, but at the expense of his belief in God. Suleman-the Kanuni proved that all the three, namely God, Man, and the Universe, could live together if humans could make justice, merit, and tolerance an integral part of their lives, and if they could be made to remain uncorrupt through an effective system of checks and balances. The gory memories of the Crusades faded, and a spirit of pluralism prevailed under his rule as Christians, Jews and Muslims lived together with complete religious and economic freedom. America remembers Suleman for this characteristic of his alone.
Suleman made laws that related to matters of inheritance, salary, rank, ceremony of officers of the Ruling Institution. He modified market and guild regulations; he especially introduced criminal laws and codified them. In order to remove confusion and chaos that often becomes the hallmark of a vast empire, he introduced the greatest collection of laws in 1530 for the feudal class, by setting firm rules for the grant of fiefs. This can rightly be called the formal Constitution of his vast empire.
Suleman’s revenue collections were greater than those of any of his contemporary monarchs in Europe, and he wisely exempted the foreigners of taxes. He ordained such visionary and modern laws as freedom of worship to all other religious communities, particularly to the Christians and Jews, and declared them as Millets, or Nations, subjecting them to their own religious laws and practices. This in one stroke minimized the conflicts among people of various religions. He appointed as head of the same religion as its representative, making him answerable on behalf of his community directly to the Sultan or his designated staff.
We know the sixteenth century is known for its architectural achievements, and Suleman’s rule stands most outstanding in this regard. He employed one of the finest architects from Albania, Sinan, to construct his masterpiece, the Mosque of Suleman, as a huge complex, topping it with domes and half domes. This complex included four schools of Islamic Fiqh, a library, a bath and a hospital. Besides, he also built bridges, palaces and mosques.
Suleman was a patronizer of arts and literature. In fact, he was the cultivator of the arts. Istanbul became the center of visual arts, music, writing, and philosophy. He was himself a great poet. He dispelled the narrow minded prejudice of some Muslims who believed that any union or transaction with the unbelievers was sinful. He made a political alliance with France against Charles V, and even stands accused of secretly helping the Protestants.
It would be fair to say that Suleman’s claim to be remembered in history as Kanuni, is also partially due to his ability to control the religious leaders or the Ulemas. Europe then was witnessing the onslaught of religious friction and the movement of Reformation, led by Martin Luther was also in full swing. He organized the clerical class in its hierarchical order. He practically ameliorated the lot of his Christian subjects. The most modern, important, universal and cardinal principle of his administration was his patronage of knowledge and arts. He made sure that poetry, history, geography, astronomy, mathematics and architecture flourished.
He selected people only and only on merit, without caring for their race or religion; he in the back ground of Crusades, introduced religious tolerance, which fact was almost unheard of; he championed the cause of the weak and of the poor by making sure that they received equal treatment and felt secure.
But then, Suleman, The Magnificent, also have had his feet of clay. “Harem and Heir”, both damaged him and became a cause of destruction and fall for his grand progeny. In one way he went back on his own principle of merit. He killed his ablest son, Mustafa, drove another into exile and left behind an incompetent son, Salem II as the inheritor of the throne by listening too much to his wife, Roxelana. Mustafa’s death led to his brother, Jihangir’s - the hunchback - suicidal death, leaving the throne as a bone of contention between the remaining two brothers, namely Selim and Bayezid. Selim was a drunkard, and Bayezid could have been a better choice. Even soldiers liked him as he resembled his father. Selim succeeded through connivance; Bayezid escaped but was extradited from the court of Shah Tahmasp for an amount of 40,000 ducats and was executed. As with the Mughals in India, forgiveness in such cases remained an extinct virtue.
Interestingly, the same pattern also became a standard practice in India as well, with Jahangir dancing to the tune of his beloved wife, Noor Jahan. The fight among brothers/step-brothers from different wives ensued, and finally Shah Jahan succeeded as the emperor of India. Shah Jahan was then left to rot in prison as his very pious son, Aurangzeb, deemed no better place than this for him, not tolerating him even in the modest role of a teacher. Religious fanaticism, intolerance, corruption and absence of merit is what finally destroyed Mughals too.
How to eliminate the rivals by poisoning them also became a standard practice, initiated by Suleman. The Othoman Empire, like the Tudors and Stewards of England, or like the Mughals of India, began following a set pattern for preserving the right to stay in power through this cruel technique. This was to strangle the brothers and sons as far as possible, or keep them as prisoners in their vast Harems. And in this effort they engrossed themselves so thoroughly that eventually they cut themselves off from the outside world; stopped paying attention to the spread of education in the masses, and ignored other trade norms. During the days of their success they followed the diverse and multiple tactics of a fox; now they started following the sole and sterling technique of a hedgehog, which being to just curl up in order to protect itself. The result is obvious.
The tale of the Othoman Empire (1290-1924) that reached its climax with Suleman, the Kanuni, (1520-1566), and which stayed in its splendor for about 150 years, finally ended with the death of Prince Ertugrul Osman in 2009. Like the Berbers of Spain, hailing from North Africa, and Janissaries of the Othoman Empire, brought to Muslims victories as well as disasters. Good, fighting soldiers do not always make good rulers. For the progeny what matters is this. What have the Alexanders and Caesars of yesterdays left for them - the tales of their conquests and plunder, or the laws of justice and equality and of tolerance? The Abu Jahls of Mecca, the Chosroes of Iran and the Caesars of Rome are all dead now. It is the Moses, and Muhammad (s) and other Prophets who still rule over the hearts and souls of people. And they all were not conquerors of lands, but of hearts. Suleman, the Kanuni is remembered today more for the laws he codified, for the generous patronage of scholarship and of men of letters, for constructing magnificent religious edifices; and not for his conquests and the number of women he kept in his vast harems.
