Question to Shaykh Uthman Al-Khamees (Hafidhahullah): Was the Ottoman State upon the truth?
Answer: The Ottoman State was like any other of the states, such as the Umayyad State, the Abbasid State, and the Ayyubid State. In them, there was good and there was evil; there was error and there was correctness. However, there is no doubt that it was an Islamic state and an Islamic caliphate.
And through it, Allah gave victory to the religion, and through it, Allah gave honor to the Muslims.
And mistakes were present. Among some of the rulers, there was Sufism, just as in the Abbasid State there was Mu’tazilism—the doctrine of the createdness of the Qur’an—like with [Caliphs] al-Ma’mun, al-Wathiq, and al-Mu’tasim.
And there were some governors who had an element of immorality (fisq), whether in the Umayyad State or the Abbasid State, or in the state of al-Andalus, or among the Mamluks. These states were not devoid of the existence of some rulers from whom occurred oppression, or from whom occurred immorality (fisq), or from whom occurred sins and other such things.
But in general, through the Ottoman State, Allah honored Islam, and through them, Allah disciplined the Jews, the Christians, and the Magians. And through them, Allah honored Islam, and Islam had its era of influence and its strength.
There is no doubt that it was a blessed state, but mistakes did occur from it—there is no doubt in this.
And Allah knows best. (End of the Shaykh’s words.)
(Translated by Mohammed bin Thajammul Hussain Manna.)
Saheehus-Seerah 