Imam Mujahid Ramadan’s Interfaith and Intercultural Dialogue Radio Show aired its newest episode on March 5th, 2022. The topic was titled ‘The Ottoman Empire and Tolerance in Society.’ As always, the show was aired on KCEP 88.1 FM and sponsored by Silver Sage Foundation.
This month’s esteemed guests were John Curry (Historian and Associate Professor at UNLV) and Bojan Petrovic (Author of multiple academic books, Lecturer at University of California).
Imam Ramadan opened the show by sparing some thoughts on the conflict in Ukraine. He condemned Vladimir Putin’s cruel invasion and stated that the dialog should be the primary way of interaction between the countries. He expressed his sentiments for the Ukrainian people by quoting Martin Luther King Jr.: ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’
Curry talked about the Ukrainian invasion and the issue of that geography and how the conflict dates back to the Mongolian invasion in early 13th century. It shifted the gravity of power towards Moscow from Kiev. Then he gave a brief summary on how the conflict between Ukraine and Russia formulated.
After these short discussions on the issue of Ukraine, Ramadan shifted the topic back to the Ottoman Empire. Petrovic described the origins of the Empire by tracing it back to the Turks in the Central Asia. He stated that the expansion of Islam was positively affected by the Turks’ early adoption to Islam.
The discussion then moved on from the tolerance in the Ottoman Empire and the problems arose in the nations which were separated from the Ottoman Empire after World War 1 as they specifically talked about the issues in Afghanistan and the Middle Eastern countries.
They also talked about how much the Ottoman (Turkish) culture influenced the rise of Mysticism in Islam (Sufism). The status of women in the Ottoman Empire was another discussion point as the show went on.
It was remarkable to hear that the Ottoman women were allowed to own businesses and were actively involved in the social structure even though the man was the primary power-holder in general. It was a 1-hour show filled with historical knowledge and interesting facts. As the two guests were experts on their fields, Ramadan’s striking questions were responded with invaluable historical information.
We would like to thank Imam Ramadan for yet another great discussion. Special thanks to the honorable guests for their invaluable contributions. To get the latest updates on the future episodes, please follow our social media channels.
