Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih, the Conqueror of Constantinople

Muhammad al-Fatih was one of the most famous kings or sultans of the Ottoman Empire. He was the seventh sultan in the history of the Ottomans. Al-Fatih is a title that is always attached to his name because he was the one who ended or conquered the Eastern Roman Empire which had ruled for 11 centuries.

Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih ruled for 30 years. In addition to conquering Byzantium, he also succeeded in conquering territories in Asia, uniting the Anatolian kingdoms and European territories, and including his most important service was successfully adapting the management of the mature Byzantine Empire into the Ottoman Empire.

Leader Characters Instilled From Childhood

Muhammad al-Fatih was born on 27 Rajab 835 H/30 March 1432 AD in the city of Erdine, the capital of the Ottoman Empire at that time. He was the son of Sultan Murad II who was the sixth king of the Ottoman Empire.

Sultan Murad II had great concern for his son's education. He forges his heart to become a good and strong leader. This attention can be seen from the little Muhammad who has completed memorizing 30 juz of the Qur'an, studying hadith, understanding jurisprudence, studying mathematics, astronomy, and war strategies. In addition, Muhammad also studied various languages, such as: Arabic, Persian, Latin, and Greek. No wonder, at the age of 21 Muhammad was fluent in Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, amazing!

Even though he was only the age of corn, his father, Sultan Murad II, instructed Sultan Muhammad to lead an area with the guidance of the ulama. This was done by the father so that his son quickly realized that he had a big responsibility in the future. The guidance of the ulama is expected to be a compass that directs their children's thoughts to be in line with the correct understanding of Islam.

Becoming an Ottoman Ruler

Sultan Muhammad II was appointed Caliph of the Ottoman Empire on 5 Muharram 855 H along with February 7, 1451 AD. The big program he immediately launched when he served as caliph was to conquer Constantinople.

The first step that Sultan Muhammad took to realize his ideals was to carry out a strategic military and foreign policy policy. It renews the treaties and agreements it has entered into with neighboring countries and their military allies. The rearrangement of the treaty was aimed at eliminating the influence of the Roman Byzantine Empire in the territories neighboring the Ottomans both politically and militarily.

Conquering Byzantium

Sultan Muhammad II also prepared more than 4 million soldiers who would besiege Constantinople from the land. During the siege of the Byzantine fortress many Ottoman troops died because of the strong defense of the fort. The siege, which lasted no less than 50 days, really tested the patience of the Ottoman troops, draining their strength, mind, and supplies.

The formidable defense of this great Roman empire was evident from the very beginning. Before the enemy reached their fortress, the Byzantines had fenced off their sea with chains that stretched across the Golden Horn peninsula. It was impossible to touch the Byzantine fortress except by crossing the chain.

Finally Sultan Muhammad came up with an idea which he thought was the only way to get past the fence. This idea is similar to that of the Kiev princes who attacked Byzantium in the 10th century, the Kiev princes pulled their ships out of the Bosphorus, circled Galata, and relaunched them in the Golden Horn, but their troops were still defeated by the Byzantine Romans. . Sultan Muhammad did it in an even more ingenious way, he took 70 of his ships across Galata to the estuary after oiling the logs. It was done in a very short time, less than one night.

The View of the Golden Horn from Pierre Loti Hill Amazes Everyone

In the morning, the Byzantines were beyond surprised, they did not expect Sultan Muhammad and his troops to cross their ships by land. 70 ships were crossed by land that was still overgrown with big trees, felling the trees and crossing the ships in one night is an impossibility according to them, but that's what happened.

A terrible war ensued, the untouched fortress as a symbol of Byzantine power was finally attacked by people who were not afraid of death. Finally, the great empire of 11 centuries fell into the hands of the Muslims. The great war resulted in 265,000 Muslim troops being killed. On 20 Jumadil Awal 857 H along with 29 May 1453 AD, Sultan al-Ghazi Muhammad managed to enter the City of Constantinople. Since then he was known by the name of Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih, the conqueror of Constantinople.

Upon entering Constantinople, Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih got off his horse and bowed down as a sign of gratitude to Allah. After that, he headed for the Hagia Sophia Church and ordered it to be converted into a mosque. Constantinople was used as the capital, the center of the government of the Ottoman Empire and the city was renamed Islambul which means the land of Islam, then finally changed to Istanbul.

In addition, Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih also ordered to build a mosque at the grave of the noble friend Abu Ayyub al-Ansari radhiallahu 'anhu, one of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad who died while attacking Constantinople during the Caliph Muawiyah bin Abu Sufyan radhiallahu 'anhu.

What Sultan Muhammad did, of course, was against the Shari'a, as the Prophet said,

أَلاَ وَإِنَّ مَنْ كَانَ قَبْلَكُمْ كَانُوْا يَتَّخِذُوْنَ قُبُوْرَ أَنْبِيَائِهِمْ وَصَالِحِيْهِمْ مَسَاجِدَ، أَلاَ فَلاَ تَتَّخِذُوا الْقُبُوْرَ مَسَاجِدَ، إِنِّي أَنْهَاكُمْ عَنْ ذَلِكَ.

"... Know that indeed the peoples before you have made the graves of their Prophets as places of worship, but do not all of you make graves as places of worship, because I absolutely forbid you to do that." (HR. Muslim no. 532)

The mistakes made by Sultan Muhammad do not necessarily make us deny his enormous services. May Allah forgive his mistakes and mistakes wombahullah.

After that a series of strategic conquests was carried out by Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih, he brought his troops to conquer the Balkans, Greece, Romania, Albania, Asia Minor, etc. even he had prepared an army and set a strategy to conquer the Roman empire in Italy, but death had prevented him from realizing it.

Civilizations Built In Time

Besides being famous as a war general and successfully expanding the Ottoman power beyond other sultans, Muhammad al-Fatih was also known as a poet. He have diwan, a collection of poems that he composed himself.

Sultan Muhammad also built more than 300 mosques, 57 schools, and 59 baths in various Ottoman territories. Its most famous relics are the Sultan Muhammad II Mosque and Jami' Abu Ayyub al-Ansari

The Conqueror's Death

In the month of Rabiul Awal in 886 H/1481 AD, Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih left Istanbul for jihad, even though he was in an unhealthy condition. In the middle of the journey the pain he suffered got worse and heavier he felt. Doctors were also brought in to treat him, but doctors and medicine were no longer useful to the Sultan, he died in the midst of his troops on Thursday, 4 Rabiul Awal 886 H/3 May 1481 AD At that time Sultan Muhammad was 52 years old and ruled for 31 year. Some say the death of Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih because he was poisoned by his personal doctor Ya'qub Basya, Allahu a'lam.

There is no information that can be used as a basis for where Sultan Muhammad II wants to bring his troops. Some say he was going to Italy to conquer Rome, some say he was going to France or Spain.

Before his death, Muhammad al-Fatih willed his son and successor to the throne, Sultan Bayazid II to always be close to the scholars, do justice, not be deceived by wealth, and really guard religion both for the individual, the community, and the kingdom.

May Allah repay your services, O Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih...

Source : https://kisahmuslim.com