A Dialogue of Flowers
The wind gently touched my soft petals. They slightly swayed back and forth to the beat of the…
Ottoman
24 articles
Culture of Coexistence: Exemplary Cases of Relationship between Muslims and Non-Muslims
Imam Sarahsi narrates an incident which is exemplary of Islam’s policy with respect to non-Muslims. Imam Abu Yusuf,…
Significance of Philanthropic Institutions in Ottoman Social Life
“Waqf 1 is a social, legal and religious institution which played an important role in social, cultural and…
The “Turkish Letters” of Ogier G. de Busbecq (1520-1592)
The Ottomans had a strong cultural and political presence over the Middle East, North Africa and South Eastern…
Belief and Our Treatment of the Environment
I see… Everywhere I look, I see citizens polluting, communities mistreating and nations exploiting the earth. I watch…
The Spread of Islam
There are several historical reasons for the astounding spread of Islam throughout Arabia and abroad after Muhammad’s death…
The Dancing Pen
No one knows dancing like him. Swirl, lift, dip. The routine continues. Swirl, lift, dip. This is what…
A Journey of Discovery
I first became interested in Ottoman women in the early 1990s when I read a newly published book…
Ottoman Women: Myth and Reality
Asli Sancar, born and raised in the United States of America, has been living in Istanbul for over…
Sheikh Galib and His Definition of Divine Love
Galib’s master work Hüsn ü Ask (“Beauty and Love”) is viewed as one of the most distinguished works…
Gratitude to the Ottomans
The Treaty of Lausanne, signed in 1923 between the allied powers and the Turks in the aftermath of…
Key to the Secret Codes
In all of existence the human being stands out with one major quality: free will. Together with many…
The Ottomans and Sacred Places in Jerusalem
THE AQSA MOSQUE WAS THE FIRST OF THE TWO QIBLAHS TO WHICH MUSLIMS DIRECTED THEMSELVES IN PRAYER. There…
The Myth of Ottoman Despotism
The concept of Chinese script operated as a kind of a European hallucination. Jacques Derrida1 For over two…
Montaigne and the Ottomans
Essays are like flexible rhapsodies.”1 They are freer, arbitrary, and subjective as compared to a more rigid, systematic,…