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Tanzimat is the name given to the programs designed to reform the Ottoman Empire. Tanzimat is the Turkish word for reform or reorganization. Educted Ottomans realized after the Napoleonic Wars in Europe and a series of defeats at the hands of the Russians that the Empire was falling behind its European rivals. Sultan
Mahmud II began the first important series of reforms. Sultan Abdülmecid I began the actual Tanzimat reforms.
Abülaziz undermined and corupted them. There was considerable resistace to the reforms, especially from conservative Islamcists who rejected the European nature of the reforms. The reforms focused on several areas, including adminisration, taxation, conscription, education, and individual rights. One area addressed under individual rights was slavery. This proved a very sensitive issue because of the Koranic foundation of slavery. As a result, This resistance was pronounced in Arb-populated areas of the Empire, especially the Hejaz. The Great European Powers pushed the Ottomans to end slavery. there was considerable resistance resistance from conservative Islamic elements.
Tanzimat is the name given to the programs designed to reform the Ottoman Empire. Tanzimat is the Turkish word for reform or reorganization. Educted Ottomans realized after the Napoleonic Wars in Europe and a series of defeats at the hands of the Russians that the Empire was falling behind its European rivals. Sultan
Mahmud II began the first important series of reforms. Sultan Abdülmecid I began the actual Tanzimat reforms.
Abülaziz undermined and ended them. The reforms focused on several areas, including adminisration, taxation, conscription, education, and individual rights. One area addressed under individual rights was slavery. The failure or perhaps abandoment of the Tanzimat reforms would lead to the collapse of the Empire. Many would be implemented by the secular Turkish Republic that followed the Ottoman Enpire.
There was considerable resistace to the reforms, especially from conservative Islamcists who rejected the European nature of the reforms.
While the European Atlantic slave trade was conducted over four centuries, the Arab African slave trade was conducted over 14 centuries, and has not finally ended even in the 21st century. A factor here is that slavery is clearly scationed in the Koran and many Arabs and othet Muslims believe that the Koran is the literal word of God which can not be questioned by our more enlightened modern attitudes on social values and human rights. There are many references to slavery in the Koran. Some authors desribe this as Mohammed's attitude toward slavery, but this is not how many Muslims view it. Remember that Mohammed was a prophet, God's messenger. More correctly, the Koranic verses to many Muslims provide a statement of God's views on slavery. The clear conclusion from all these passages is that God saw slavery as a natural aspect of human relations. This explains why there was been no abolitionist movement within Islam and why it was the Brirish Royal Navy that ended the slave trade in the Indian Ocean. The many passages in the Koran mentioning slavery are rather ambigious, not unlike the Bible. Often the point of the passage is not clear. We can offer some suggestions as to the meaning. But we certainly do not pretend to be Islamic scholars. Reader comments are invited to help us better understand these various passages. One interesting aspect here is the number of references to which a Muslim might free a slave as the consequence for violating a Koranic injuction. This would make holding slaves a useful practice beyond the actual services they might render. It is notable the number of the 114 surah/sura (chapters) of the Koran that have refences to slavery.
The Great European Powers pushed the Ottomans to end slavery.
Slavery proved a very sensitive issue within the Ottoman Empire because of the Koranic foundation of slavery. As a result, there was considerable resistance resistance from conservative Islamic elements. This resistance was pronounced in Arb-populated areas of the Empire, especially the Hejaz.
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