In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
A summary of the book:
Ramadan: Events and Lessons.
The arrival of the Ottomans at the outskirts of the island of Rhodes,
for the purpose of conquering it.
The time was the month of Ramadan,
in the year 928 AH.
The location of the island of Rhodes:
Rhodes is an island situated in the far east of the Mediterranean Sea,
located 12 miles from the coast of Asia Minor.
It is a Greek island in the Mediterranean Sea,
lying near the southern coast of Turkey,
halfway between the main Greek islands and Cyprus.
It is approximately 18 kilometers from Turkey.
It was annexed to the Ottoman Empire upon its conquest
in the year 929 AH,
and remained under the authority of the Ottoman Sultan
until it was joined to Italy
in the year 1918 AD,
and then annexed to Greece
in the year 1946 AD,
after the Second World War.
The importance of the island of Rhodes and the reasons for its conquest:
The island of Rhodes was the fortified stronghold of the Knights of Saint John,
the same knights who had been expelled from the Levant
following the Crusades against it.
Furthermore, they were under the authority of the Pope in Rome,
and were known for their intense fanaticism and hatred toward Muslims.
For a long period of time, they had been
raiding Muslim ships bound for the Hijaz,
killing the men, taking the children captive,
violating the honor of the women,
and plundering the wealth of the Muslims.
They also used to waylay Turkish Muslim pilgrims,
burn Muslim ships,
and exploit their impregnable fortresses on the island,
feeling secure in the knowledge that the Muslims could not reach them,
in addition to their aggressive actions directed at Ottoman maritime communication lines.
The first and last conquest of the island:
The conquest of this island during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent
was not its first conquest,
but rather its final one.
As for the first conquest of this island,
it took place in the year 53 AH
at the hands of Junadah Ibn Abi Umayyah.
A group of Muslims settled there,
and they were the most formidable force against the disbelievers.
They remained in a state of high alert against the Franks,
spending their nights in a great fortress nearby,
which contained their supplies, livestock, and provisions.
They had lookouts stationed by the sea
to warn them if an enemy approached or plotted against them.
In the year 708 AH,
the Byzantines managed to seize the island
during the reign of Sultan Khalil Ibn Qalawun,
the Sultan of Egypt.
The Byzantine knights joined forces with the knights of Rhodes
to raid the Muslim coasts in Asia and Egypt,
and these raids became notorious for acts of piracy.
From the fifteenth century AD onwards,
attempts to conquer Rhodes continued
by the Mamluk Sultans in Egypt,
at a time when Rhodes had become
an important base for the gathering of Crusader fleets
that attacked Muslims in Egypt, the Levant, and Turkey.
Then came an attempt by Mehmed the Conqueror to take it,
but that did not come to pass
until it was finally conquered during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent.
Factors that assisted Suleiman the Magnificent in conquering the island:
The island remained in the hands of those knights,
who posed a maritime threat to the Muslims,
until the opportunity arose during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent to conquer it.
Along with the strong resolve and extensive preparations
that the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman possessed,
there were external factors
that helped in achieving the desired goal.
Among those contributing factors were:
First, Europe’s preoccupation with the Great War
between Charles V,
Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire,
(Spain and Germany),
and Francis, King of France.
Second, the preoccupation of Pope Leo X
with debating and resisting the German monk Luther,
the founder of the Protestant sect.
Third, the internal instability of Hungary
due to the lack of consensus among its princes and nobles,
and the young age of its king, Louis II.
Fourth, the conclusion of a peace treaty between the Ottoman Empire and Venice.
Fifth, the growth of the Ottoman navy
during the reign of Selim I.
The road to Rhodes:
The Ottoman Sultan prepared
a massive military campaign
under the command of Mustafa Pasha,
consisting of seven hundred ships,
and equipped them with giant cannons.
When they arrived,
the island resisted them,
so Suleiman the Magnificent set out himself in its wake.
His journey there began on the twentieth of Rajab,
in the year 928 AH.
His arrival at Rhodes and his landing there
took place in the month of Ramadan of the aforementioned year.
The Sultan traveled by land
to the Marmara region,
opposite the island from the side of Asia.
Siege cannons, provisions, and ammunition
were sent by land.
Upon his arrival,
the siege began with extreme intensity.
The tightening of the siege
and the attempt to conquer the island by force:
The total siege of the island began,
as they surrounded it by land and sea.
Those on land were unable
to approach the wall of its fortress
due to the great trench surrounding it,
which was defended by massive cannons.
Those at sea were unable to approach
and enter the harbor
because of the chain stretched
across the sea,
and the fire directed at anyone approaching it
from large cannons.
They were striking the Muslims with their cannons,
while the Muslims' cannons could not reach them.
Even if something did reach them,
it would not penetrate the wall
due to its thickness and height.
So the land troops delayed slightly,
and ordered earth to be brought.
They brought it until it became like mountains,
and they took cover behind these earthworks.
They began moving those barricades forward
little by little,
until the earth reached the trench.
They threw it in,
and it filled up, coming close to the fortress wall
and rising above it.
The wicked disbelievers were now beneath the Muslims,
being struck while unable to strike back,
the opposite of their previous situation.
The Muslims fired upon them with cannon fire
until they were exhausted and weakened,
and realized they were captured.
They requested safe passage from Sultan Suleiman,
and surrendered the land to him
on the condition that they take their women, children, and wealth,
and head wherever they wished,
and that none of the soldiers would molest them.
The Sultan granted their request.
It is worth noting
that those who were on the island
had defended it with great desperation,
and fought for it like heroes,
especially the monks.
It is said that the women helped
the men in the defense by throwing stones
at the besiegers,
and pouring hot oil on their heads.
But all of that was of no avail
against the Ottoman cannons,
some pieces of which still exist today,
and the viewer is overwhelmed by their sheer size.
But when all strategies failed
the head of this order,
whose name was Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam,
of French origin,
and his provisions and ammunition ran out,
he sent two of his monks to the Sultan
on the second of Safar,
in the year 929 AH,
asking him for permission
to evacuate the island
within a period of 12 days,
on the condition that the Ottoman armies move away
from the besieged city
a distance of one mile from all sides,
so that no harm would come to the besieged
upon their departure.
The Sultan accepted that.
A siege of six continuous months,
despite the poor weather conditions,
as rain was falling heavily.
Nevertheless, those
Ottoman soldiers remained steadfast with great resolve.
The results of the conquest:
First, the conquest of this island
and the entry of the Muslims into it after great hardship
and long years
of the harm its people had caused the Muslims,
and the attempts at conquest that had ended
in failure every time,
unlike this time.
Second, the Sultan ordered the construction of a great fortress
on this island,
and left behind those among the Muslims who would defend
Regarding the island and the maritime routes connected to it.
Third:
The Islamization of this island after its conquest.
It served as a base from which they launched
expeditions to conquer many other islands,
and subsequently, to seize the capital
of the Byzantines.
Imprinting the island with an Islamic character,
and teaching the people there the matters of their religion.
Fifth:
The event of the island's conquest was a bitter one.
Third:
Permitting those who were on the island,
from the Knights of Saint John,
to depart from it to Malta,
along with their men, women, and children,
as well as their provisions and equipment.
This was a grave historical error
committed by Suleiman the Magnificent,
due to the consequences that followed,
the dire consequences.
Mahmud Maqdish said:
They requested safety from Sultan Suleiman,
and surrendered the territory to him,
on the condition that they take their women, children,
and wealth, and head wherever they wished,
and that none of the soldiers would interfere with them.
The Sultan granted their request,
even though his ministers had warned him against granting them safety,
because they were a formidable force of disbelief,
and because if they escaped with these treasures,
they would be able to strengthen themselves with them,
and gather armies of Christians, the enemies of the faith,
and return to harm the Muslims.
Yet the Sultan did not heed their warnings,
and granted them safety.
They departed with all their wealth and families,
and everything they held dear, and set off.
Then they returned to harm the Muslims,
and began raiding the roads just as they used to do in Rhodes.
Sultan Suleiman regretted
having granted them safety,
and sent a great fleet against them,
and many soldiers to capture them
and eradicate them late in his life,
under the command of the vizier Mustafa Pasha.
However, a disagreement occurred between him and the admiral,
which led to a dispute, and they failed,
just as Allah had warned would happen.
“And obey Allah and His messenger, and dispute not one with another lest ye falter and your strength depart from you; but be steadfast! Lo! Allah is with the steadfast.” (8:46)
They returned without achieving their goal,
due to a matter Allah had willed.
People to this day—meaning in the author's era—
are still defending against their harm
and enduring their terrors,
especially the people of Sfax,
because they are engaged in intense warfare with them,
with fighting and killing occurring on both sides,
for war is a seesaw.
Perhaps there is goodness in that, and more goodness,
because practicing the war against the enemy
breeds courage and vigor,
unlike growing up in peace and comfort,
which causes weakness in character
and cowardice in the soul.
Allah chooses for His servant
what he would not choose for himself,
and in it are the greatest benefits,
which is the persistence in raiding, jihad, and guarding the frontiers,
and returning with one of the two best outcomes:
wealth or martyrdom,
and the reward is attained in any case.
In this event, there are lessons:
First: The importance of securing the Muslims' routes
and protecting them from every threat,
in order to preserve lives and wealth,
and to facilitate the means of travel
for religious and worldly interests without fear.
Second:
The enemy of Islam who fights its people
cannot be deterred from his evil except by force,
and without it, he will commit whatever corruption he desires.
Suleiman the Magnificent had begun
at the start of the conquest of this island [well],
but he was lenient at the end of it,
and that leniency led to widespread corruption,
as became clear.
Had he remained as he was at first,
and dealt with the enemies of Islam
as Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi used to deal with them,
that evil would not have occurred.
Third: Ideological disbelievers
display a level of stubbornness and hatred
that other disbelievers do not display.
Fourth:
Developing military power, both in equipment and strategy,
is among the essential tasks that honor the Muslims
and repel evil from them.
Fifth: Patience and steadfastness
are the path to achieving goals.
Ramadan: Events and Lessons.