Abdülmecid Osmanoglu can be said to be many things. A lover of arts and poetry, a Great Reformer of the Empire, a Caliph who leads his flock - a fine example of what a Modern Ottoman Royal should be. He is not, however, an extraordinarily patient man.
Five years. Five years has the issue of the final abolishment of Slavery been laid before the Supreme Council of Judicial Ordinances – the principal (and essentially only) legislative advisement body of the Sultan. Abdülmecid has mostly taken his hands off the scales, attempting to emulate the reforms the Tanzimat has been encouraging for so long – those of Judicial independence, knowledgeable leadership, and fair governance.
It seems that his inaction has only led to gridlock, for though there have been many valid arguments that have gone on for long – debating topics such as repatriation to their home nations, reimbursement to the slaveowners for the loss of their laborers, the status of the formerly enslaved as new citizens, taxpayers, and laborers and more – the debate over this topic has ventured from the realm of ‘reasonably long’ to ‘obscenely delayed’.
Finally, after Five years - Abdülmecid has had enough. It appears that the legislative body has forgotten that they serve at the behest of the Sultan – an Autocratic Monarch whose word is Law, both as the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and as Caliph of Islam, Successor to the Prophet Muhammad.
To that extent, he has decided to leverage his considerable political weight behind the complete abolition of Slavery, and NOW.
In an except published to the Supreme Council and the Ottoman Empire – the Caliph and Sultan said thus -
“As Allah says in the Quran, “O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. And if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you should believe in Allah and the Last Day. That is the best way and best in result.”
And as Abu Hurayrah, the Great Companion of Muhammad also scribed “Whoever obeys me, he has indeed obeyed Allah, and whoever disobeys me, he has indeed disobeyed Allah, and whoever obeys my Emir, he has indeed obeyed me, and whoever disobey my Emir, he has indeed disobeyed me.”
It is as such that I find myself, in my God-Granted Authority as the chosen successor to Muhammad and as Supreme Sultan of the Ottoman Empire – to finish the work of my Father before me and complete the single most defining action of the Tanzimat reforms. The complete and total Abolition of Slavery. To disobey is to invite **Fitna**, the breaking the social contract and the sowing of discord.
It is as the 14th President of the United States once said. “A house divided against itself, cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.”
As they now barrel towards a bloody civil war twelve years after that proclamation - with the announcement of the secession of the Southern States – let us prove to the world that there is yet a peaceful method of abolition. Allah decreed that there is equality in all peoples, and that the only attribute that sets one human from another is their reverence of God.
“O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is All-Knowing and All-Aware.”
Manumission is considered in the Quran to be an act of worship, a way to attain Allah’s favor. Prove to the world that this can be done, and an everlasting peace will be upon you. Deny this to Allah, to me - and I will ensure Malak al-Mawt will be most torturous with your soul."
It remains to be seen if throwing his weight behind the reform will actually change the progress of such, or if it simply will inflame tensions enough to finally ignite the slaveowners in their own civil war.
