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7/23/2019 Conquest of Istanbul (Qustuntunia)

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Muhammad Al-Fatih: The Conqueror of Constantinople(29 May 145 C!"

For eight centuries, the conquest of Constantinople (now Istanbul in Turkey) was a

dream for the Muslim commanders

!"er since the era of the re"ered companion, Mu#awiyah ibn $bu %ufyan, there had been

many attempts to conquer it, but none had succeeded

!"ery Muslim commander wanted to be the conqueror praised in the narration in which

&rophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said'

ou will conquer Constantinople Its

commander is the best and its army (that

will conquer it) is the best ($l*+ukhari)

ho was then the person about whom

&rophet Muhammad ga"e glad tidings-

It was Muhammad $l*Fatih son of the

.ttoman %ultan Murad II

Muhammad Al-Fatih As A Child and #is !$%ellent &reparation

Muhammad $l*Fatih was born on /0th1a2ab, 345 $6, 47th March, 894/ 6e was

brought up under the super"ision of his father, %ultan Murad II, the se"enth .ttoman

%ultan 6is father prepared and trained him to shoulder the responsibilities of the

position of a %ultan Muhammad $l*Fatih memori:ed all the ;uran, learnt the &rophetic

narrations, Islamic 2urisprudence, mathematics, astronomy and the skills required for

war

6e also learnt $rabic, &ersian, een, one of the scholars who super"ised the upbringing andeducation of Muhammad $l*Fatih, managed to inculcate in his heart the spirit of ?ihad

and the desire to be a person with high ambition

The %heikh also told Muhammad $l*Fatih that he may be the one referred to in the

&rophetic narration mentioned abo"e $ll this shaped the character of Muhammad $l*

Fatih 6e was de"oted to ?ihad, highly ambitious, widely cultured, and had deep

knowledge of the skills of war and combat

Ta'in &o)er and #is !fforts to A%hie*e the +lad Tidin

$fter the death of his father, %ultan Murad II on 0th February, 8958 $C, Muhammad

$l*Fatih took o"er and became the %ultan of the .ttoman !mpire 6e was a strong young

man, only twenty years old, "ery enthusiastic and ambitious 6e was thinking of the

Muslim ,eaders &ioneers-Caliph #arun Al-.ashid !ra-/0n haldun /nno*atin o%ioloy- The ultan of %holars: Al-l33 i0n A0dus-alam

-mar i0n A0del A3i3: The .ihtly +uidedCaliph-aladin: A ene*olent Man .espe%ted yChristians
http://www.onislam.net/english/reading-islam/research-studies/islamic-history/453791-harun-al-rashid-era-the-zenith-of-islamic-civiliz.htmlhttp://www.onislam.net/english/reading-islam/research-studies/islamic-history/453791-harun-al-rashid-era-the-zenith-of-islamic-civiliz.htmlhttp://www.onislam.net/english/reading-islam/research-studies/islamic-history/457272-ibn-khaldun-innovating-sociology.htmlhttp://www.onislam.net/english/reading-islam/research-studies/islamic-history/457272-ibn-khaldun-innovating-sociology.htmlhttp://www.onislam.net/english/reading-islam/research-studies/islamic-history/454323-al-lzz-ibn-abdus-salam-the-sultan-of-scholars.htmlhttp://www.onislam.net/english/reading-islam/research-studies/islamic-history/454323-al-lzz-ibn-abdus-salam-the-sultan-of-scholars.htmlhttp://www.onislam.net/english/reading-islam/research-studies/islamic-history/453654-umar-ibn-abdul-aziz-the-rightly-guided-caliph.htmlhttp://www.onislam.net/english/reading-islam/research-studies/islamic-history/453654-umar-ibn-abdul-aziz-the-rightly-guided-caliph.htmlhttp://www.onislam.net/english/reading-islam/research-studies/islamic-history/453654-umar-ibn-abdul-aziz-the-rightly-guided-caliph.htmlhttp://www.onislam.net/english/reading-islam/research-studies/islamic-history/453955-saladin-a-benevolent-man.htmlhttp://www.onislam.net/english/reading-islam/research-studies/islamic-history/453955-saladin-a-benevolent-man.htmlhttp://www.onislam.net/english/reading-islam/research-studies/islamic-history/453955-saladin-a-benevolent-man.htmlhttp://www.onislam.net/english/reading-islam/research-studies/islamic-history/453791-harun-al-rashid-era-the-zenith-of-islamic-civiliz.htmlhttp://www.onislam.net/english/reading-islam/research-studies/islamic-history/457272-ibn-khaldun-innovating-sociology.htmlhttp://www.onislam.net/english/reading-islam/research-studies/islamic-history/454323-al-lzz-ibn-abdus-salam-the-sultan-of-scholars.htmlhttp://www.onislam.net/english/reading-islam/research-studies/islamic-history/454323-al-lzz-ibn-abdus-salam-the-sultan-of-scholars.htmlhttp://www.onislam.net/english/reading-islam/research-studies/islamic-history/453654-umar-ibn-abdul-aziz-the-rightly-guided-caliph.htmlhttp://www.onislam.net/english/reading-islam/research-studies/islamic-history/453654-umar-ibn-abdul-aziz-the-rightly-guided-caliph.htmlhttp://www.onislam.net/english/reading-islam/research-studies/islamic-history/453955-saladin-a-benevolent-man.htmlhttp://www.onislam.net/english/reading-islam/research-studies/islamic-history/453955-saladin-a-benevolent-man.html


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conquest of Constantinople, the capital of the +y:antine !mpire This dream

o"erwhelmed him to the e@tent that he would not talk about any sub2ect e@cept for the

conquest of Constantinople 6e would not e"en allow anyone who was sitting with him to

talk, e@cept about the e@pected conquest

The first step in achie"ing his dream was to take control of the %trait of +osporus so thathe could pre"ent any support or supplies that might come to Constantinople from

!urope %o he built a huge castle on the !uropean seashore of the %trait of +osporus

$long with top senior officials, he personally participated in building the castle It took

three months to build this castle that came to be known as the 1oman Castle .n the

other bank of the %trait of +osporus, there was the Castle of $natolia It then became

impossible for any ship to cross unless it obtained permission from the .ttoman forces

$t that time, a talented engineer managed to make a number of cannons for the %ultan,

Muhammad $l*Fatih .ne of these cannons, ne"er known before that time, was 077 tons

and its pro2ectile weighed 8,577 kilograms

The sound of its shell could be heard from a long distance away It was pulled by one

hundred o@en aided by one hundred strong men This giant cannon was called the

%ultanic Cannon

The Conquest of Constantinople and the .eali3ation of the +lad Tidins

$fter completing his preparations, %ultan Muhammad $l*Fatih marched to Constantinople

with an army of two hundred and si@ty*fi"e thousand fighters This army had infantry

forces as well as horsemen 6uge cannons supported this army The army besieged

Constantinople and the .ttoman cannons started to fire their missiles at the fortified

walls of the city day and night From time to time, the %ultan surprised the enemy with a

new war plan until the city defenders lost control and their

forces ga"e up

$t dawn of Tuesday, /7th ?umada $l*$wwal, 3/0 $6,

/Ath May, 8954 $C, the .ttoman forces managed to

penetrate the walls and dri"e away the defenders who

fled The people of Constantinople were taken by surprise

when they saw the .ttoman flags wa"ing on their walls and the soldiers flooding into the

city

$fter the .ttoman forces conquered the city, %ultan Muhammad arri"ed on his horse in a

great procession that included his ministers and army commanders !"er since that time,

the %ultan was known as Muhammad $l*Fatih (the Conqueror) The soldiers were

shouting'

Mash-AllahB Mash-AllahB


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hen the %ultan arri"ed, he dismounted from his horse and prayed two 1ak#ahs

thanking =od who had blessed him with this conquest Then the %ultan addressed the

people of the city who were still bowing and prostrating in tears'

%tand upB I am %ultan Muhammad and I would like to tell you, your brothers, and all

the people present that your li"es and freedoms are protected

The %ultan ordered that the church be turned into a mosque and for the first time, the

call for prayer was heard from this place Entil now, this mosque is still known as the

Mosque of 6agia %ophia 6e also decided to take Constantinople as a capital of his

country It was called Islambul, meaning the 6ouse of Islam uring the reign of Muhammad $l*Fatih and because of his wise leadership and well*

planned policy, the .ttoman %tate reached boundaries

that it had ne"er done before

$ll these conquests were not the only achie"ements of

Muhammad $l*Fatih Through the help of some of his loyalmen, he managed to establish a constitution based on the

Muhammad Al-Fatih

manaed to reali3e his

dreams throuh hard6

%ontinuous )or'6 and

)ell-orani3ed plannin7


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+ook of =od and the %unnah of 6is &rophet and the .ttoman state adhered to this

constitution for about four centuries

$lthough he was "ery busy, he managed to establish more than 477 mosques, 8A/ of

which were in Istanbul alone 6e also built 50 schools $mong his most famous

architectural monuments are the Mosque of %ultan Muhammad, the mosque of $bu$yyub $l*$nsari, and %arai Tub*;abu &alace

Muhammad $l*Fatih was known for his lo"e for literature 6e was a good poet and a

regular reader 6e liked the company of scholars and poets and made some of them

ministers hene"er he heard about a great scholar in any field, he would help and

support him or ask him to come to Istanbul in order to benefit of his knowledge

The Chara%ter of Muhammad Al-Fatih

Muhammad $l*Fatih was a committed Muslim who abode by the rulings of Islamic

2urisprudence +ecause of the way he was brought up, he was a pious man $s for his

military conduct, it was "ery ci"ili:ed and it was unfamiliar to !urope in its Medie"al

$ges

.wing to his ambition fostered by his teachers who always encouraged him to be the

conqueror of Constantinople, he managed to make the greatest of his achie"ements by

conquering this city

Muhammad $l*Fatih managed to reali:e his dreams through hard, continuous work, and

well*organi:ed planning For e@ample, before besieging Constantinople, he prepared for

the war by making cannons, preparing his fleet, and making use of all the factors that

might render him "ictoriousThrough high ambition, determination, and the effort to achie"e his goals, he managed

to materiali:e his dream, make his hope an e@isting reality which made him one of the

great Muslim heroes and conquerors

conquest of istanbul (qustuntunia)

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