RUDN Journal of World HistoryRUDN Journal of World HistoryВестник Российского университета дружбы народов. Серия: Всеобщая история2312-81272312-833XPeoples’ Friendship University of Russia named after Patrice Lumumba (RUDN University)2941810.22363/2312-8127-2021-13-4-347-362Religion and Politics in the Middle EastРелигия и политика в странах Ближнего ВостокаResearch ArticleReligious policy of Sultan Abdul-Hamid II in the Syrian vilayets of the Ottoman Empire (1876-1909): methods and symbolsРелигиозная политика султана Абдул-Хамида II в сирийских вилайетах Османской империи (1876-1909): методы и символыZhantievDmitry RustemovichЖантиевДмитрий Рустемович

candidate of sciences (history), associate professor department of Middle and Near East History, Institute of Asian and African Studies

кандидат исторических наук, доцент кафедры истории стран Ближнего и Среднего Востока Института стран Азии и Африки

zdimitry@yandex.ruLomonosov Moscow State UniversityМосковский государственный университет имени М.В. Ломоносова12112021134History of the East: religion, politics, international relationsИстория Востока: религия, политика, международные связи34736212112021Copyright ©; 2021, Zhantiev D.R.Copyright ©; 2021, Жантиев Д.Р.2021Zhantiev D.R.Жантиев Д.Р.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0https://journals.rudn.ru/world-history/article/view/29418

The author examines the religious and political course of the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II (1876-1909), aimed at strengthening the unity of the Ottoman state and society based on the principles of Islam, and the implementation of this strategy in the Syrian provinces of the Ottoman Empire. The research is based on reports of contemporaries, as well as research works in Russian and English. Particular attention is paid to the strategic role of Ottoman Syria (including Lebanon and Palestine) in the context of strengthening the religious authority of the Sultan as the caliph of all Muslims and recruiting prominent ideologues and supporters of Islamic traditionalism from the Syrian vilayets to serve the Sultan. The author especially examines the role of wo representatives of the Muslim intellectual elite: the Sufi sheikh Abu-l-Huda al-Sayyadi as a close associate of the Sultan who provided patronage to the conservative ulama, as well as Ahmad Izzet Pasha al-Abid, who became the main inspirer of the Hejaz Railway. The article also reveals the features of the state policy towards religious minorities (both Muslim and non-Muslim) and migration processes in the Syrian provinces. With the weakening of the international positions of the Ottoman Empire and the strengthening of foreign interference, Syria set an example of relatively successful modernization based on Islamic tradition. At the same time, confessional identity continued to dominate over ethnicity, and the emerging feelings of Arab and Syrian patriotism did not conflict with the principle of Islamic unity of the subjects of the Sultan-Caliph.

Автор рассматривает религиозно-политический курс османского султана Абдул-Хамида II (1876-1909), направленный на укрепление единства османского государства и общества на основе принципов ислама и реализацию данной стратегии в сирийских провинциях Османской империи. Исследование опирается на сообщения современников, а также научные работы на русском и английском языках. Особое внимание уделяется стратегической роли османской Сирии (включая Ливан и Палестину) в контексте стратегии укрепления религиозного авторитета султана как халифа всех мусульман и привлечению на службу султану видных идеологов и сторонников исламского традиционализма из сирийских вилайетов. Автор особо рассматривает роль личности и деятельности двух представителей мусульманской интеллектуальной элиты Сирии: суфийского шейха Абу-л-Худы ас-Сайяди как влиятельного приближенного султана, оказывавшего протекцию консервативно настроенным улама, а также Ахмада Иззет-паши ал-Абида, ставшего главным вдохновителем проекта строительства Хиджазской железной дороги. Также в статье выявлены особенности государственной политики османских сластей в отношении религиозных меньшинств (как мусульманских, таки немусульманских) и миграционных процессов в сирийских провинциях с учетом этноконфессионального фактора. В условиях ослабления международных позиций Османской империи и усиления иностранного вмешательства в ее внутренние дела Сирия давала пример относительно успешной модернизации с опорой на исламскую традицию. Конфессиональное самосознание при этом продолжало доминировать над этническим, а формировавшиеся чувства арабского и сирийского странового патриотизма не вступали в противоречие с принципом исламского единства подданных султана-халифа.

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