Abdul Hamid II, the 34th Ottoman Sultan, was born in 1842 in Istanbul, and took power at the age of 34, succeeding his uncle Sultan Abdul Aziz in 1876, at a time when the Ottoman Empire was considered its weakest, which made it a tempting aspiration of European colonialism, so his enemies from all over He was subjected to many assassination attempts until Parliament removed him to Thessaloniki in 1909 after staying in power for 33 years, and then died in Istanbul in 1918.

Birth and upbringing

Abd al-Hamid ibn Abd al-Majid I was born on September 22, 1842 (16 Shaban 1258 AH) in the Gorgan Palace, which overlooks the Sea of ​​Marmara in the Bosphorus Strait region from the European side in Istanbul.

Abdul Hamid was known since his childhood to be introverted, and this is attributed to the death of his mother, Sultana Termejkan, from tuberculosis, and he was 10 years old.

And he remained like this until his second wife, Bersto Qadin, took up his upbringing. , even Pant features of her character in it.

Abdul Hamid's father died in 1861 and he was at the time 18 years old, so his uncle Abdul Aziz I took over the rule after his father, and when his uncle died, his older brother Murad V succeeded him, but he did not last long in power, the Grand Vizier (Prime Minister) removed him after 3 months On the pretext of insanity, Abd al-Hamid took over the rule of the state in 1876.

Sultan Abdul Hamid was known since his childhood to be introverted, and this is attributed to the death of his mother, Sultana Termjakan, at the age of ten (Al-Jazeera)

Features of his personality

Abdul Hamid had a strong memory, and loved to learn languages, since he was young he learned Circassian and Albanian because they were circulating inside the palace, and he was known for his sparse personality, and he was good at listening to others even to his enemies, he respected his speakers even if they were young, and received any coming while standing.

Among his hobbies were running, horse riding and sword fencing, the most important of which was carpentry, which was his companion after his dismissal and until his death.

He inherited from his stepmother a huge inheritance, which he invested in raising and selling sheep, and trade in general. The affairs of his family himself, so he organizes their trips and checks on them daily in the morning.

Study and training

Sultan Abdul Hamid received a regular education at the hands of elite scholars in the Sultanate Palace, and at that time learned Arabic and Persian, studied literature and history, then deepened in Sufism, and began composing a number of poems in the Ottoman Turkish language, and was trained to use the sword and hit the target with a gun, and also studied Music, Military and Political Science.

Abdul Hamid was well-versed in politics because of the education he received during the reign of his father, Abdul Majeed I, and then his uncle Abdul Aziz I, who participated with him in a number of his travels, and this increased his great interest in world politics since his youth.

Although he was not the first heir to the government, he was able to stand up to the Grand Vizier Midhat Pasha (he was in control of the course of government) based on his political background.

political experience

The state of the country before he took over

Abdul Hamid assumed power in a critical period for the Ottoman state, the Grand Vizier dismissed his brother on the pretext of insanity, and his uncle died in mysterious circumstances after he was found covered in his blood, and it is not yet known whether it was a suicide, or a premeditated murder, which is what Sultan Abdul Hamid had, These conditions left in him fear and anxiety throughout his rule.

At its weakest, the Ottoman Empire was suffering from disintegration and from economic, social, political and military problems, until it was called the “legacy of the sick man.” in the Balkans.

As for the European scene in that period, it was changing and oriented towards enlightenment and science. Philosophy and thought movements developed during the French Revolution and nationalist currents grew, and the greedy eyes of Europe were heading towards the lands of the Turkish Empire with enormous wealth.

Abdul Hamid assumed power in a critical period for the Ottoman Empire, as it was indebted to Europe with huge sums (social networking sites)

The elite of the educated class influenced by the West at that time was in control of the country’s administration and the media, which was represented by members of the Masonic lodges, including the Grand Vizier Midhat and the most prominent media professionals such as Namek Kamta and Dia Pasha, and most of them were from the “Sir” lodge (affiliated with the Masonic lodge of France), which was established by the Armenians in 1861 in Istanbul.

The Freemasons were hostile to Sultan Abdul Hamid, so they planned a coup to end the Ottoman rule and transform it into the parliamentary system. They did not like that the rule be in the hands of the state, especially in the hands of its sultan, so they demanded the formation of parliament like in Europe. As for the sultan, the representative rule was not appropriate for the country at that period.

Abdul Hamid discussed (before he took power) with the Grand Vizier and his deputy in a preliminary meeting on this subject, so he stipulated that Abdul Hamid accept the "Basic Law" (counting the first legal constitution of the Ottoman Empire) before taking power, after which Medhat Pasha announced the constitution and formed a council on European style.

The rule of the constitution was announced in January 1876, and the Council of Representatives (Representatives) was formed and Sultan Abdul Hamid himself opened it.

Emergency Start of Judgment

Since Abdul Hamid assumed power, Europe's demands began to improve the state's Christian subjects, so the Sultan referred the request to the "Council of Envoys" (Parliament), but he responded to the demands by refusal, as he considered it an interference in the state's internal policies, and Russia considered the response as a pretext for declaring war, Bulgaria occupied (southeastern Europe) as far as Edirne (northwestern Turkey), which encouraged anti-state Serbs to rebel as well.

Subsequently, Abdul Hamid announced the dissolution of the Council for an indefinite period and decided to address the crisis under his authority. The West took these conditions as a fat substance to discredit him and accuse him of “tyranny and tyranny” and encourage his opponents to revolt. Abdul Hamid responded to this campaign by forming a secret security agency (Agency Agency intelligence).

During the first decade of his rule, most of the Balkan lands had come out of the hands of the Ottoman Empire and were distributed between Austria and Russia. As soon as the Russian-Ottoman war ended, the countries of Europe began studying and planning coveted the influence of the Ottoman Empire, so France occupied Tunisia, and Britain occupied Egypt.

A painting about the English occupation of Egypt in the 19th century depicts British forces marching through a gate to the city of Cairo (Getty Images)

Efforts to overthrow Sultan Abdul Hamid

Europe and the ambitions of the Arab region

Britain tried to incite the Kurds against the Ottoman Empire in the hope of their separation, and Britain's interest in the region increased after the establishment of the British India Company, so England sent delegates to unite the Kurdish clans against the Ottomans, and the matter reached the Sultan through his intelligence that he established, so he immediately prepared a counter plan.

The Sultan supported the Kurds militarily to protect them from the attacks of the Armenians, and then sent them some Muslim scholars to advise and guide and explain the importance of monotheism under the banner of Islam, which changed their orientation and increased their connection with the Ottoman Empire.

As for Yemen, he sent a military division of 8,000 soldiers in order to fight the British influence in it, and this division was led by a group of his leaders who indicated his interest in this particular region to bring it back under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, especially since the railway plan he wanted was supposed to extend from Hejaz to To whom.

Italy at the time dreamed of fully annexing North Africa, but France occupied Tunisia and Britain colonized Egypt, so it turned its attention to Libya and prepared a plan that begins by entering the country peacefully through the establishment of schools, banks and other charitable institutions that spread its influence, and then began to obtain international recognition to seize it, and finally the occupation Actual struggle against the influence of the Ottoman Empire.

Sultan Abdul Hamid sent 15,000 soldiers after he received news of the Italian moves, and he strengthened the military situation in it, and personally followed up the situation through his ambassador in Rome.

The Sultan and the Freemasons

Since Sultan Abdul Hamid assumed the helm of power, the Freemasons have been planning to overthrow him, especially after he confronted them, denying the Grand Vizier Medhat Pasha (a prominent member of the Masonic lodge), and the Macedonian Resorta and Freitas lodges in Thessaloniki, Greece, played the most prominent role in overthrowing the sultan’s rule, knowing that the prominent heads of union and promotion were Members of these Masonic lodges.

The Sultan says in his memoirs about the Freemasons, "England has been perpetually perpetuating sedition through Freemasonry," and adds that Freemasonry is a secular thought that contradicts the formation of the Islamic state, as it is based on "appointing governors from the minority in states where the majority are Muslims."

Young Turkey and the "Free Ottoman Congress"

The secular "Young Turkey" association is one of the most prominent enemies of Sultan Abdul Hamid, and one of the most important ones who worked to overthrow the Ottoman Empire. This association continued to spread its goals and movement in Europe, and its members began to launch slogans of freedom, justice and equality.

Young Turkey was known as an institution in 1889 and its members were working in secret, and they announced their names for the first time in 1895, and announcing the holding of a conference for them under the name “Free Ottoman Conference” in Paris in 1902, in order to reunite them, and invitations were sent to all opposition forces to meet under the roof Young Turks, and the bond that united them was the opposition of Sultan Abdul Hamid only.

A picture preserved in the British Library of the Ottoman Parliament in 1877 (social networking sites)

Ottoman youth students

Education during the Sultan’s era developed greatly. He established royal, financial and commercial schools, higher education, law, navy, vocational schools for girls, schools for the disabled, and laid the foundation stone for the University of Arts, but these schools were the cause of his downfall.

Following this revolution in the field of education, and the entry of translation, a new generation began to appear influenced by Western culture, especially the ideas of the French Revolution, and its adopters were university graduates and spoke several languages, especially French, and these students - who were called "Ottoman Youth" - established a movement that they called "" War of Independence” and established the Turkish Republic, and the modernization activities served as the bridge through which these people crossed and overthrew the Sultan later.

Union and Promotion Association

In his relationship with the Germans, the Sultan turned to the development of his army due to the large increase of the European army in general and his need for assistance in developing and modernizing his country’s army, but he suffered from revolutionary organizations within the ranks of the army, so he decided to establish protection forces from officers loyal to him, but this did not prevent students from the military and medical school from move.

These students were reading books by the "Ottoman Youth" that formed an oppositional thought, and formed a meeting of young people of Albanian and Azeri origins and announced the formation of the "Association of Union and Progress", whose goals were to eliminate "tyrannical rule and return to the golden ages of the Ottoman Empire", especially after stopping the Sultan Abdul Hamid work on the constitution.

The Society emerged after European countries invested and nourished the minds of military school students with Western thought within the Masonic lodges. In conjunction with the centenary of the French Revolution, the Society was formed in Paris in 1889, in order to isolate Abdel Hamid and implement secular rule on the French way.

At that time, Parliament was closed and the Senate was apparently open, and there was censorship of the press, and all of these things negatively affected those who studied Western sciences and opened up to the world, so they saw the regime as tyrannical and must be overthrown.

The supporters of Union and Progress could not carry out any activities and most of them fled to Paris, until they decided to hold a meeting there which they called the "Conference of the Free Ottomans".

The Society’s branches branched out within the Ottoman Empire, and many young officers of low ranks joined it, especially in the Balkans.

The association moved its activities to the Balkans, specifically to Macedonia, to become far from the eyes of the palace, and it was no longer limited to young officers, but also included military leaders in its ranks, which increased its ramifications within the army.

The Balkans became a center for opposition forces thanks to the activities of the opposition officers, and the Sultan could not intervene in Macedonia because of the international administration (a military force similar to peacekeeping forces) and Macedonia was officially in charge of the Balkan administration.

Theodor Herzl tried to persuade Sultan Abdul Hamid to sell land from Palestine to the Jews (social networking sites)

In 1906, the Association formed an armed force that began to be organized in cities such as Thessaloniki in Greece and to win over the Turkish army officers.

Western embassies had a great impact on the members of union and advancement. The agents of these embassies participated in their conferences and meetings, and incited them with the members of Young Turkey to go out to the streets against the Sultan, at a time when the state was suffering from divisions and weakness.

The Sultan was aware of Europe’s plans through the intelligence service that he established, so he tried to win over the opponents to his party, granting some of them positions, pursuing some and putting pressure on others, but the opponents were benefiting from the generous support from Europe more, and what worsened the situation was the defection of the Third Army in Thessaloniki, and the accession of Anwar Pasha and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (the first president of modern Turkey) of the opposition.

The Sultan sent some pashas in order to calm the situation, but the Unionists killed them immediately. He decided in July 1908 to resume the application of the constitution and the work of Parliament, so that Union and Promotion would take over the rule and announce the implementation of the principles of the French Revolution.

The Sultan and the Jews... Palestine is the red line

The Jews were persecuted in that period in Europe and Russia, and Europe was looking for any way to throw their burden away from it, so the idea of ​​establishing a national home for the Jews began, and it was adopted by the leader of the Zionist movement Theodor Herzl, who directed the Jews’ attention towards Palestine, and tried to mediate with the Sultan through a number of individuals close to him Like the Emperor of Germany for being the only European ally of the state, but he did not succeed, and he did not find a loophole that would enable him to persuade the Sultan.

The Jews decided to lure the Sultan with money in exchange for housing the Jews in Palestine, and their generous offers of money and mediation with Europe did not stop, despite the Sultan’s insistence on rejecting them, knowing that the Ottoman Empire was suffering from multiple financial and economic problems, one of which was that it was indebted to European countries that imposed a financial mission to supervise the The state's economic conditions as a guarantee of its debts, but Sultan Abdul Hamid replied to them, saying, "I do not sell even an inch of it.. This country is not mine, but for the people."

On June 28, 1890, Sultan Abdul Hamid responded to the Jewish attempts by issuing an order "not to accept the Zionists in the Shahan kingdoms (Ottoman lands), and to return them to the places from which they came."

After all the Zionist attempts to buy Palestine from the Ottoman Empire failed, the Jews decided to financially support the Armenian groups to try to get rid of the Sultan by planning an assassination inside and outside the territory of the Ottoman Empire in Switzerland, but it also failed.

Islamic monuments in Jerusalem.. The Ottomans were here (social networking sites)

After the Sultan's restriction on them, Herzl decided to announce the Zionist intentions at the First Basel Conference in Switzerland in 1897, but Sultan Abdul Hamid responded with more restrictions and prohibitions.

Sultan Abdul Hamid says in his letter to Mahmoud Abu al-Shamat, his sheikh al-Shazli some time before his death, “These unionists insisted that I endorse the establishment of a national home for the Jews in the Holy Land of Palestine, and despite their insistence, I did not definitively accept this assignment, and they promised to provide 150 million English pounds. I also refused definitively and answered them with this definitive answer as follows: If you paid the fullness of the world in gold, in addition to 150 million English pounds in gold, I would not accept this assignment to you definitively.”

And he added in his letter, "I have served the Islamic community and the Muhammadan nation for more than 30 years. My fathers and grandfathers from the Ottoman sultans and caliphs did not blacken the papers of the Muslims. That is why I will not accept your assignment in a definitive manner either. the last one".

March Revolution 1909

Austria declared its control of Bosnia and Herzegovina in October 1908. Almost simultaneously, Bulgaria declared complete independence, and the rest of Greece joined those who preceded it in the revolution, and the palace at that time was suffering from unrest due to the Unionists and the Young Turk Association.

Some officers and youth of some political organizations demonstrated and demanded reforms in the capital of the Ottoman Empire, but events developed at the beginning of 1909 into a comprehensive rebellion punctuated by bloody acts of violence fueled by the entry of a section of the dissident army on the line and its storming of Istanbul.

These events took place on March 31, 1909, and school students and some military units revolted under the name of the “Mohammedan Union Brigade” to demand the return of the provisions of Sharia, but it was suppressed by the Army of the Union and Progress Movement (called the Movement Army) coming from Thessaloniki, and it was rumored at the time The main goal of the army, which was under the command of Mahmud Shaukat Pasha, was to "help the Sultan." The movement's army entered Istanbul on April 25 and took control of it.

At the time, the Sultan rejected the proposal to confront the dissident army coming from Thessaloniki towards Istanbul, saying, "As the Caliph of the Muslims, I will not allow a trap among the Muslims."

Mahmoud Shawkat Pasha called the House of Representatives and the Senate for a joint council called the Joint National Council, and they issued a fatwa to depose the Sultan, citing his support for the revolution that demanded the restoration of legal rulings. The parliament, led by Said Pasha, announced on April 27, 1909 the termination of the rule of Abdul Hamid II.

Sultan Abdul Hamid dismissed

When the parliament delegation (who was revived by the Sultan) came to inform him of the decision to dismiss him, Abdul Hamid was sitting at his desk busy with his books, so they approached him saying, "The nation has isolated you." Someone must depose me, they are Muslims, but one of you is a Jew, the other threw me away, and the third of you is ungrateful.”

The delegation that came to him on April 27, 1909 included the Jew Emmanuel Karasu, the Armenian Aram Effendi, the Albanian Assad Tobitani, the Ottomans Aref Hikmat and Saad Al-Arnaouti, who decided to exile the Sultan and his family to the Thessaloniki region, the stronghold of Ottoman Freemasonry and Greek Jews.

Masonic lodges planned to overthrow Sultan Abdul Hamid since he took power (Reuters)

And when they forcibly deposed him and threatened to kill his people, he said, “I worked for 33 years for the sake of my state and my people.. God will judge me, and the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, is the one who has the right to judge me. I handed over this kingdom as I received it, and I did not sell an inch of land, and what should I do if My enemies have wanted to slander all my services, and they have succeeded in that.”

Abdul Hamid stayed for a few years, working in the carpentry craft that he mastered alongside blacksmithing, but the arrival of the rebel Greek forces in Thessaloniki led to the transfer of the Sultan after 3 years to Beylerbeki Palace in Istanbul, following the outbreak of the First Balkan War (Ottoman Balkan War) in November 1912.

political thought

judgment

Sultan Abdul Hamid believes that governance is based only on justice and not force. He says, "Justice is the basis of legality, and legality is the predicate of governance and strength supports legality, and governance is compelled to rely on justice. If someone rises to rule without justice and uses force without legitimacy, he must collapse."

As for the way this ruling is administered, the Sultan says that the ruler should not stand in front of the nation’s desires, even if they are wrong. In his opinion, “as long as she wants to do so, standing in front of the current will only result in harm,” and stressed that he could not stand in front of the nation’s desire to rule for itself. He decided to leave her what she wanted.

the war

Sultan Abdul Hamid believes that war is "the biggest scourge of nations", justifying the reason why he did not fight a war when the state collapsed. In his opinion, even the victors "wipe out their nations and exhaust them." verbal in exchange for the loss of real governance.

He also followed this strategy when the Bulgarians took control of the city of Philippe (north of the eastern Romali region), France occupied Tunisia, and England occupied Egypt. He said, "If I had rushed to the resistance in Tunisia, I would have caused the loss of Syria, and if I had stood stubbornly in Egypt, I would have undoubtedly lost Palestine and Iraq."

Western evolution

Sultan Abdul Hamid says that he was not against the application of Western sciences, industries and applications, but rather he wanted to enter the country gradually, and stipulated the need for this profession upon entering it, provided that it enters slowly, calmly and moderately, and he believed that “success cannot be written when it enters us if it is on form of grafting from the outside.

assassination attempts

Gragan incident

In 1877 Ali Saawi (one of the opponents of the rule of Sultan Abdul Aziz, uncle of Sultan Abdul Hamid) returned from his exile in Europe to Istanbul after an amnesty from Sultan Abdul Hamid, and took some positions in the state, and tried to get close to the Sultan, and succeeded in that, but some of his behaviors caused Exempting him from his official duties, to decide against the Sultan.

Saawi decided to attack the Gorgan Palace, where the deposed Sultan Murad V resides, in order to get him out of the palace and install him as a replacement for Abdul Hamid, and he benefited from Europe's interest in the conspiracy because Murad is an active member of the European Masonic circles.

في 18 مايو/أيار 1878 استطاع سعاوي الهجوم على قصر جراغان مع مجموعة مسلحة من 200 رجل من المهاجرين والوصول إلى جناح السلطان مراد الخامس، لكن حرس القصر تمكن من إيقافهم، فقتل سعاوي ومعه 20 رجلا، وأحبطت المؤامرة.

بعد هذه الحادثة حل مجلس النواب، وأحكم السلطان قبضته على الدولة، وأسس جهاز "يلدز" للاستخبارات، معللا ذلك بأنه للحفاظ على الدولة وحمايتها، بينما رآه المعارضون استبدادا، واستمر المجلس كمؤسسة، ولم يستطع أحد اتهامه بالخروج عن القانون، إنما ثاروا عليه باعتبارهم إياه مستبدا.

مؤامرة جمعية كلانتي الماسونية

بعد شهرين من فشل المؤامرة الأولى، قررت جمعية "كلانتي سكالييري" (جمعية كلانتي وعزيز بك الماسونية السرية) عمل مؤامرة شبيهة بمحاولة سعاوي، فقد كانت حريصة على تعقب أخبار السلطان مراد خوفا عليه من القتل أو الإصابة بأي ضرر.

وهدفت المؤامرة لإخراج السلطان مراد من قصره وإخفائه في قصر عزيز بك ثم تنصيبه سلطانا مكان السلطان عبد الحميد بعد تهيئة أنصار الجمعية لإعلان ذلك، ثم اغتيال عبد الحميد، لكنها عدلت عن الجزء الثاني.

حاولت الجمعية تنشيط عملها في الدعاية ضد السلطان عبد الحميد قبل تنفيذ مؤامرتها عن طريق نشر الملصقات في الشوارع، مستعينة بنساء يعملن داخل قصر جيراغان.

اختار "الأستاذ الأعظم" (لمحفل برودوس الماسوني) كلانتي أن يقوم بمؤامرته في اليوم الذي قام فيه السلطان عبد الحميد بعزل الصدر الأعظم أدهم باشا (من الشخصيات المهمة التي اعتمد عليها الماسونيون) لكن أحد أعضاء الجمعية أبلغ السلطات المسؤولة، مما أحبط مؤامرتها بعد القبض على أعضائها وهم في اجتماع.

المشاكل ببين السلطان والأرمن شكلت مادة ساخنة للإعلام الغربي الذي نعته بـ"السلطان الأحمر" (مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي)

مؤامرة الأرمن

تعرض السلطان عبد الحميد لمحاولة اغتيال ثالثة عن طريق قنبلة موقوتة في الخامس من يوليو/تموز 1905 من قبل بعض الأرمن المتمردين، حيث قرروا تفجيرها عقب خروجه من جامع يلدز بعد صلاة الجمعة، لكن القنبلة انفجرت قبل وصول السلطان، فلم يصب بأذى لكنها حولت ساحة الجامع لبركة من الدماء وتسببت بمقتل 27 شخصا، وجرح 58.

وعرف فيما بعد أن سفارة أجنبية تعاونت مع معارضي السلطان، فقد خرجت عربة من السفارة حاملة قنبلة تزن 80 كيلوغراما يقودها بعض الأرمن، ثم أوقفوها بجانب عربة السلطان وأشعلوا فتيل القنبلة، لكن عبد الحميد تأخر وهو يتحدث مع جمال الدين أفندي.

الوفاة

بقي عبد الحميد في قصر بيلار بايي، وزاد وضعه الصحي سوءا بعد إصابته بإنفلونزا شديدة، حتى توفي من مضاعفات المرض في فبراير/شباط 1918 عن عمر يناهز 76 عاما، أي قبل 9 أشهر من انتهاء الحرب العالمية الأولى، وقد دفن في مقبرة السلطان محمود الثاني بمراسم جنازة سلطانية.

أبرز الإنجازات

حاول السلطان عبد الحميد اتخاذ اللغة العربية لغة رسمية للدولة لأول مرة في تاريخ الدولة العثمانية، لكن آماله قوبلت بالرفض من سعيد باشا كبير أمناء القصر الذي قال "إذا عرّبنا الدولة فلن يبقى (للعنصر التركي) شيء بعد ذلك".

واهتم السلطان بالعرب العثمانيين حيث أنشأ "مدرسة العشائر العربية" من أجل تعليم وإعداد أولاد العشائر العربية، وهي مدرسة داخلية يدرس فيها الطالب 5 أعوام، تتكفل الدولة العثمانية بكل مصاريف الطلاب، ولكل طالب "إجازة صلة الرحم" وهي إجازة مرة كل سنتين، وسفر الطالب فيها على نفقة الدولة.

سكة الحجاز من الأحلام التي أراد السلطان تطبيقها لتوحيد الأقاليم العثمانية والاستغناء عن أوروبا (مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي)

الجامعة الإسلامية

ظهرت فكرة الجامعة الإسلامية في عهد السلطان عبد الحميد، حيث كان يرغب بتوحيد الأمة وربطها مع بعضها البعض من الصين إلى الهند حتى وسط أفريقيا، في وقت كانت الروابط ضعيفة بين المناطق الإسلامية.

وكان يهدف عبر فكرة الجامعة إلى مواجهة توغل الفكر الأوروبي وإيقاف التمدد الاستعماري بإنشاء وحدة إسلامية تشكل سدا أمامهما، وأخيرا كان يطمح لإثبات أن المسلمين يستطيعون أن يكونوا قوة سياسية عالمية عن طريق إعادة مجد الدولة العثمانية، فحاول الاستعانة بالصحف للدعاية من أجل مشروع الجامعة.

كان من أهم معالم الجامعة الإسلامية تطوير التعليم والاستعانة بالعلماء المسلمين (خاصة المتصوفة منهم) والسياسيين من مختلف جنسيات العالم الإسلامي، وإرسال الدعاة إلى مختلف أرجاء العالم للدعوة والالتقاء بالشعوب الإسلامية ونقل أخبارها إليه، مع نشر العلوم الإسلامية عبر مراكز الدراسات الإسلامية وطباعة الكتب الكافية من أجل ذلك.

دعم كثير من العلماء والدعاة فكرة الجامعة الإسلامية، منهم جمال الدين الأفغاني ومصطفى كامل من مصر وأبو الهدى الصيادي ورشيد رضا من سوريا وعبد الرشيد إبراهيم من سيبيريا، بالإضافة إلى شيوخ الحركة السنوسية في ليبيا.

سكة الحجاز.. حلم السلطان القديم

كانت سكة حديد الحجاز إحدى الخطط التي عمل السلطان على تطبيقها لتحقيق فكرة الجامعة الإسلامية، عن طريق ربط الأقاليم العثمانية بشكل أكبر بإسطنبول، وتوفير الحماية لها، وأيضا تسهيلا لحركة الحجاج الذي كانوا يتوجهون من إسطنبول إلى مكة عبر قوافل، في رحلة مرهقة تستغرق 40 يوما، تتخللها اعتداءات وسرقات كثيرة.

قُدرت التكلفة الإجمالية لمشروع "سكة حديد الحجاز" بـ4 ملايين ليرة عثمانية، لكن الدولة لم تستطع توفير المبلغ، فتم جمع الأموال بالتبرعات، بداية من السلطان نفسه، مرورا بالأسرة الحاكمة ورجال الدولة البارزين، وحتى عموم المواطنين، وبلغت تكلفته النهائية 3.5 ملايين ليرة.

تربط السكة إسطنبول بمكة المكرمة والمدينة المنورة واليمن عبر دمشق، مرورا بحيفا، وبدأ المشروع انطلاقا من دمشق عام 1900، وتم افتتاحها بحفل عام 1908، وبلغ طول الخط 1464 كيلومترا.

The first trip took place on August 27, 1908. The project included the construction of 2,666 bridges and water outlets, 7 iron bridges, 96 stations, 7 basins, 37 water tanks, two hospitals and 3 workshops, and took about 4 days.