The following letter (that you can read by clicking here), written by the Ottoman sultan Selim I to the founder of the Persian Safavid Empire, Ismail I, is an example of the enduring bitterness between Shia and Sunni Muslims. Selim, who in the Ottoman tradition was a Sunni, was deeply disturbed by the emergence of a Shia state in Persia under Ismail. Ismail, believed by his followers to have descended from Ali, the Prophet Muhammad’s son-in-law, had many supporters among the Turks of eastern Anatolia and had aided Selim’s brother and rival, Ahmed, in the succession conflict following Sultan Bayezid’s death in 1512. When Ismail invaded eastern Ottoman territory in 1513, war seemed inevitable. Nonetheless, Selim wrote the following letter to Ismail in early 1514 threatening to destroy him militarily unless he embraced Sunni Islam and relinquished his conquests. Ismail did neither, and later in the year, Selim’s armies defeated Ismail’s forces at the Battle of Chaldiran, on the border of the two empires. Despite this loss, Persia remained under Ismail’s control and thus committed to Shiism. The Battle of Chaldiran was only the first act in a long and bitter struggle between the two Islamic empires.After reading Selim’s letter, I would like you all to think about and discuss the following: Even though Selim’s letter is designed to malign Shiism, not define Islam, it contains many references to essential Muslim beliefs. Which ones can you find? What does Selim’s letter reveal about the differences between Sunnis and Shias? How does Selim perceive himself within the Islamic world? Selim must have realized that the deeply religious Ismail was unlikely to abandon Shiism. Why might he have written the letter, despite the likelihood that its appeal would fall on deaf ears? Your thoughts…
15 comments:
This is a very interesting document. Right off the bat, the ottoman ruler let's Ismail that he will be taken down if he tries to progress in his expanision and spread the shia fiath. He calls himself "the exterminator of
idolaters, destroyer of the enemies of the true
faith". He tries to strike fear into Ismail. He also accuses Ismail of almost disgracing the muslim community by practising a false form of islam. He says god does not want products of Folly or caprice. He blames ismail and his community for almost all the bad things brought upon people such as tyranny and opprression. It really showes how the Sunni's think they are better and how much they crtisize others for their forms of faith. Great Blog Mr prill
Like Alex said all i got out of this document is that he's trying to make Ismail fear him and make it clear how powerful the Ottomans are, and how they will destroy them with military force if they continur trying to expand. And the Battle of Chaldiran (sorry if i spelled that wrong) was proof and the effect of Ismail's efforts.
wow... this guy definatly wanted Ismail to fear him, and i thik that fear was exactly what came across, because they didn't respond or had no attack on them anyway. I mean this gut thinks that Ismail "deserted the path to salvation" and "denied the commandments!" That show how distant and how really separated the Sunni and Shia communities really are. I hadn't noticed it was that bad until now. It's sad how much they bash and are harsh to this other minority that is in fact still islamic. It is like they are foreign to The sunnis when they speak of the shias. That is what i got from this document.
the ottoman ruler is trying to intimidate ismail. he does this so that he is afraid of trying to conquer the ottoman empire
This sounds almost sounds like a girl who is threatening her sister, with her mistakes, to do something of her favor. Starting out by the consequences, in this case, basically saying that Ismail is a liar for saying that he is the 12th imam. He is supposed to go to "hell" for "denied the sanctity of the laws, deserted the path of salvation, impared the purity of dogmas of islam, and destroyed the altar of the lord." Selim considered the Shias to be a fake form of Islam. I don't know for sure why Selim sent this letter even though he knew that Ismail will not let go, but i think this may be like a mental/psychological challenge. Just to see if they are really scared of Ottomans.
Selim trys to show his power and authority. He tries to back it up with religious grounds, and he is threatening destruction in the name of God. I think he wrote this letter just to show that he isn't scared
It seems like the sunni's barely even look at the shia as having any of the same beliefs. I know they have their differences but they still share the same faith and the ottoman ruler is not acting that way at all. He definiting shows the he knows he is not the minority between the two.
Sapp.
well if i were to put myself in ismail's position i don't think i would be able to get to the end where it finally says that they will put down their swords if he renounces all of his 'errors' as they were seen by selim. i can't find a reason why someone would take the time to write a letter such as this to someone just telling them how wrong they are because no one likes to be told they're wrong, especially in their faith.
It seems that Ismail I was very confident in his beliefs. In my opinion, he truly was certain of his "bloodline", and was very certain that god was on his side. It really gives us an idea of how these people see themselves as they throw themselves into battle. They truly believe that God is with them, for them, and the most humorous part is when they lose. They seem almost too confident nearing the end when they insist they give up previously conquered lands before the wrath of their God is brought down on them through their swords and through their faith. Ismail seemed so very sure about their religious superiority. Also, amazing I remembered what ulama meant without the passage at the bottom, all the way back with our vocabulary quiz.
Yeah, this guy is so full of himself. He talks of all this divinity stuff but its not like he actually believes in it. He's just using it to make his words stand out.
Well, I can't blame him, anyways yeah he's trying to get people on his side.
This letter is being written to put fear into Ismail, saying that his beliefs are wrong and desgracful. He wrote this letter in order to instill his power and authority in the muslim world.
There are tons of references to muslim beleifs in this letter, right there in the begining he was mentioning the Quran and God and heaven. I'm surprised that Ismail and Selim still remember why there was the Suni and Shia split: "The repudiation of the Quran, the cursing of the legitimate caliph!". Stuff like that tends to be forgotten awfully fast. Selim seems to think of himself as most muslims rulers do: as the man sent to do God's will on earth. Selim probably wrote the letter knowing it wouldn't do any good but maybe thinking he might be able to get something out of it. Didn't the chinese used to pay the Churgens to not attack them? Perhaps he was hopeing for that sort of thing.
the ottoman ruler is just trying to scare iamail so that he doesnt try and conquer their empire, which is a very smart strategy i think.. this whole article shows how sunni think they are much better than others
I too found this document to be entertaining. I love the way he talks about himself. I can see how religion is used as a tool for selfishness.
In this letter to Ismail, Selim basically points out reasons to believe that Sunni belief was the way to go and why the Shia belief was "evil." He then goes on to threaten the existance of the Shia state by military action. Selim attempts to seem like he is giving the Ismail and the Shias of Persia an option. Of course, their options would both end with Selim "reclaiming" the Persian lands. He says: You give up your land peacefully, or we will take military action and take it over ourselves. Selim is trying to control Ismail with some sort of scare tactic that the Sunnis will attack and conquer.
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