Sultan Selim Al-Awwal “The Destroyer of the Safavid State”
A brief biography of Sultan Selim Al-Awwal from the book ‘Mi’atu min ‘uzamā’i ummati al-Islām ghayyarū majra at-tārīkh’ by At-Turbani. (Slightly adapted)
“Wa Ba’ad (And after)… Indeed, our scholars and men of law have sentenced you, Ismā‘īl As-Safawi[1], to execution, as an apostate from Islam. They have obligated every Muslim to defend his religion and to crush the heretics embodied in your person and your foolish followers!”
-by Selim Al-Awwal[2]
We are on the cusp of encountering a new knightly figure, a heroic personality[3]. Unfortunately, most of us have never even heard of him. Truthfully, I find some excuse for these people (and I used to be one of them), given that school curricula overlook the mention of our Ummah’s great figures due to the ignorance of those who designed these curricula, or for other reasons—though I personally lean towards the latter!
If you wish to grasp the extent of this man’s greatness and what he offered to the Muslims, ask yourself a simple question, and I have no doubt your answer will be in the affirmative: Do you love the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?!
If so, then know that this Messenger of yours, whom you love, was on the verge of having his grave exhumed after his city was occupied. And this would have indeed happened had Allah not destined for Islam this mighty falcon: the Ottoman Sultan Selim Al-Awwal (Selim 1, may Allah have mercy upon him), the hero of the immortal Battle of Chaldiran[4]. Before we delve into the sea of our great Sultan’s heroic feats, we must first establish the context of the issue, for judging a matter is contingent upon its proper understanding. Thus, we must first comprehend the magnitude of the grave danger this Sultan confronted, namely, the danger of the malevolent Safavid state!
So, who are the Safavid Shi‘a? And why do they harbor this deep-seated animosity towards Islam and Muslims, to the extent that they would permit the desecration of the grave of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)? What is the secret behind the current Iranian leaders’ cursing of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah and his wives? And why does Iran, to this day, celebrate the killing of Al-Fārūq ‘Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (may Allah be pleased with him)? And why, in 2003 CE, did Iran erect a shrine in the Persian city of Kashan for Abū Lu’lu’ah al-Majūsī, the assassin of ‘Umar?
I acknowledge that this topic is somewhat thorny and may cause a degree of unease for some Muslims who sympathize with Iran and its leaders—leaders who leave no media outlet unused to affirm their support for just Muslim causes and their enmity towards Israel, even their intention to eradicate it. However, with these lines, I intend only the countenance of Allah, writing what is true. I myself, until a few years ago, used to defend the Iranian (Islamic) Republic to the extent that I accused anyone who doubted the intentions of this regime (which defends the cause of my homeland, Palestine) of treason and collaboration. Yet, I often wondered in the depths of my soul: Why do we hear threats against Iran every day, but see no war waged upon it? My confusion was further compounded by what I heard from its Foreign Minister (Manouchehr Mottaki) about Iran assisting the invaders in the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq. What is truly astonishing is hearing (Nejad’s) daily declarations of support for Al-Aqṣā, while at the same time we see him honoring the Shi‘a scholar (Ja‘far Murtaḍā al-‘Āmilī) for authoring the book “Where is Al-Aqṣā Mosque?” This book states that the location of Al-Aqṣā Mosque, to which the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was taken on the Night Journey, is not in Jerusalem, and that Jerusalem has no religious significance, so there is no need to defend it, as Al-Aqṣā is not there! However, the news that made me certain that there was something mysterious afoot was a report I read in English in the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, dated October 3, 2009. This report revealed, through a close-up photograph of the Iranian President’s passport, which he was carrying during an election campaign, that the family name of the President of Iran is not (Ahmadinejad) as is commonly known, but rather (Sabourjian), as is clear in the passport photo[5]. And Sabourjian, ladies and gentlemen, is the name of a Jewish family from among the Jews of Persia!!! All of this compelled me to delve into bygone pages of history, hoping to find an explanation for the enigmas surrounding us!
The beginning was in the city of Tabriz in the year 907 AH, when a Persian Safavid man named Ismā‘īl ibn Ḥaydar as-Ṣafawī converted to the Rāfiḍī Twelver Shi‘a madhhab (and here it is worth noting that heretical Sufis are the people most prone to being drawn into what is even more dangerous than that!). The important point is that as-Ṣafawī mixed Persian Zoroastrian beliefs with deviant Shi‘a beliefs. He then subsequently changed the madhhab of most Persians and Arabs whose regions he occupied from the madhhab of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jamā‘ah, which they followed, to the Rāfiḍī Shi‘a madhhab. He was able to achieve this after killing more than a million Muslims in Baghdad and other areas he occupied (and this explains the Shi‘itization of many people in Iraq, Persia, Azerbaijan, and the Al-Aḥsā region in the Arabian Peninsula to this day!). At the same time, the Crusading Portuguese, led by Afonso de Albuquerque, intended to occupy Madinah, exhume the grave of the Messenger (peace be upon him), and trade it for Jerusalem. As is the custom of the Rāfiḍī Shi‘a throughout history and to this day, the Safavids volunteered freely to assist the Crusaders in executing this despicable plan. They allied with Albuquerque to strike the Mamluk state and draw it eastward, so that the way would be open for the Crusading Portuguese in the Red Sea to exhume the grave of Muḥammad (peace and blessings be upon him) in Madinah.
At that moment, from among the peaks of the Anatolian plateau in Asia Minor, a formidable Ottoman falcon named Selim I (Selim Al-Awwal) emerged. After this Ottoman Sultan realized the gravity of the situation, he decided to defend the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in death, just as the Companions had defended him in life. So, this Turkish falcon swiftly launched a counter-attack. Did the Sultan mobilize his army to fight the Crusaders and leave the treacherous Shi‘a, based on the principle that one should first focus on the external enemies of the Ummah and that we are all Muslims? The truth is that Sultan Selim I had received a purely Qur’anic upbringing, so it did not take him long to identify the real enemy towards whom efforts should be directed. The Sultan remembered what was stated in the fourth verse of Sūrat al-Munāfiqūn: {They are the enemy, so beware of them} (Quran 63:4). He understood why Allah defined the word “enemy” with the definite article “al-” when describing the hypocrites. Allah did not say “they are an enemy, so beware of them,” because the hypocrites are the foremost real danger to Muslims in every era, until the Day of Resurrection!
Indeed… the Sultan headed east towards the Persian Safavid Shi‘a, who falsely and dissimulatively (by taqiyyah) claimed Islam in order to strike it from within. On the 2nd of Rajab, 920 AH, Sultan Selim I triumphed in the immortal Battle of Chaldiran against the Safavid Shi‘a, and (may Allah have mercy upon him) he razed Tabriz, their fortified capital. He utterly decimated their armies, and the filthy Safavid Shi‘a (Ismail as-Safawi)—who had plotted to exhume the grave of the greatest of creation (i.e. Prophet Muhammad), leaving his wife and honor behind him due to the intensity of his (i.e. Ismail as-Safawi’s) moral depravity and the baseness of his Zoroastrian origins—fled. The Sultan captured her (Ismā‘īl’s wife) and married her off to one of his common soldiers. He thus saved the Muslims from the evil of the old Safavids before the new Safavids emerged at the hands of Khomeini, who wrote about how it is permissible for a Shi‘ite to kill Sunni Muslims and plunder their wealth, as stated in his book Taḥrīr al-Wasīlah (Vol. 1, p. 352), in the addendum to Al-Ẓāhir (The Apparent [Rulings]): “the permissibility of taking his wealth wherever it is found, and in whatever manner!!”
Thus, the matter has become clear, the enigma of the Safavid Shi‘a has been solved, and Iran’s contradictory actions have been clarified—all thanks to the study of history. That is why we study it. The purpose of studying history is not merely to narrate stories and enjoy them; rather, the primary goal of studying history is to understand the present, for the events of history explain the enigmas of our current reality!
It is worth mentioning that during the reign of the heroic Sultan Selim I, the Crusading Spanish were killing and torturing the Andalusian Muslims who remained in their lands. The zealous Ottoman Sultan became extremely enraged at the shedding of Muslim blood and decided to change [the status of] all Christians and Jews whom the lands of the Ottoman Caliphate had hosted between Islam and expulsion (i.e. asking them to convert to Islam or leave Ottoman lands). However, Zenbilli Ali Cemali (Jamali) Efendi, who was Shaykh al-Islām and the Mufti of the Ottoman state, rejected this matter and informed the Sultan that it was impermissible (to force Islam upon their Christian subjects), even if Muslims were being slaughtered in Crusader lands, for there is no compulsion in the Islamic religion, ever. The Sultan agreed with the esteemed scholar’s opinion and allowed the Christians and Jews to live in safety in Muslim lands while Muslims were being slaughtered in Crusader lands. By Allah, how great is Islam! And by Allah, how great is that civilization which the Muslims built! By Allah, if there were nothing else in the history of Muslims but this stance of Selim I (may Allah have mercy upon him), it would be enough for us to raise our heads to the highest heavens and respond with all force to anyone who tries to accuse Islam of terrorism. This is our history, so show us what your history is!!
Do you now understand the value of the Ottoman Caliphate, which we were taught about in schools under the name of “Turkish occupation”!? If you still have not grasped the immense favor the Ottomans did for the Muslims, then look at what our hero Selim I did to save the Andalusian Muslims who were being tortured and killed by the Spanish Crusaders in Andalusia. Caliph Selim I summoned an Albanian man to his palace to entrust him with a secret mission, the least that can be said about which is that it was an impossible mission!!!
So, what is the story of that impossible mission? And who is that enigmatic Albanian man who graduated from the school of Islam with distinction and Ottoman honors to become a living legend, about whom Hollywood studios in America continue to produce films to this day, the profits of which have exceeded hundreds of millions of dollars?!
To be continued… (End of the write-up.)[6]
(From the book- ‘Mi’atu min ‘uzamā’i ummati al-Islām ghayyarū majra at-tārīkh’ by At-Turbani, page 47-51. Translated by Mohammed bin Thajammul Hussain Manna.)
[1] Shah Ismail I (1487-1524) was the founder of the Safavid Empire in Persia, reigning from 1501 CE to 1524 CE. He united various Turkmen tribes and established Twelver Shia Islam as the state religion, transforming Persia into a major Shia power. Ismail’s military campaigns expanded Safavid territories, conquering much of modern-day Iran, Azerbaijan, and parts of Turkey and Iraq. However, his defeat at the Battle of Chaldiran in 1514 by the Ottoman Sultan Selim I marked a significant turning point. The loss damaged Ismail’s reputation and weakened his authority, though he continued to rule until his death in 1524.
[2] Selim I (1470-1520), was the ninth Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, reigning from 1512 to 1520. He expanded Ottoman territories through military conquests, defeating the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt and the Safavid Empire in Persia. His victory over the Safavids at the Battle of Chaldiran in 1514 solidified Ottoman control in Eastern Anatolia. Selim’s military campaigns extended Ottoman influence in the Middle East and North Africa, laying the groundwork for further expansion under his successors. His reign marked a significant turning point in Ottoman history, establishing the empire as a dominant force in the region. Known for his military prowess and strategic leadership, Selim I left a lasting legacy in Ottoman history. His conquests and policies had a profound impact on the empire’s growth and development.
[3] The actual line as written by brother At-Turbani, if translated would mean ‘one of the same caliber as the Companions (Ṣaḥābah)’, but I changed it to ‘a heroic personality’, because it is inappropriate to say that Sultan Selim Al-Awwal was like the Sahabah, may Allah forgive us and brother At-Turbani.
[4] The Battle of Chaldiran (August 23, 1514) was a decisive conflict between the Ottoman Empire, led by Sultan Selim I, and the Safavid Empire, led by Shah Ismail I. The Ottomans’ superior artillery and tactics secured a crushing victory, inflicting heavy casualties on the Safavids. Estimates suggest that the Safavids suffered between 5,000 to 20,000 casualties, while Ottoman losses were significantly lower. The battle marked a significant turning point in the region’s history, as the Ottomans gained control over Eastern Anatolia and the Safavids’ expansion was halted. The defeat weakened Shah Ismail’s authority, while Selim’s victory solidified Ottoman dominance in the Middle East. The battle’s outcome had lasting implications for the region’s politics, culture, and religious dynamics.
[5] See https://www.rferl.org/a/Ahmadinejads_Jewish_Family_Part_II/1845713.html.
[6] The next chapters of the book discuss about the heroes of Naval Warfare in Islam, which we will translate, if Allah wills.
Saheehus-Seerah 