DISPUTING RELIGION, EMPIRE, AND MODERNITY: CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM POLEMICS IN THE OTTOMAN PRINT SPHERE, 1861-1915 Scott Rank A DISSERTATION in History Presented to the Faculties of the Central European University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Budapest, Hungary 2015 Supervisor of Dissertation: Tolga Esmer CEU eTD Collection Copyright Notice and Statement of Responsibility Copyright in the text of this dissertation rests with the Author. Copies by any process, either in full or part, may be made only in accordance with the instructions given by the Author and lodged in the Central European Library. Details may be obtained from the librarian. This page must form a part of any such copies made. Further copies made in accordance with such instructions may not be made without the written permission of the Author. I hereby declare that this dissertation contains no materials accepted for any other degrees in any other institutions and no materials previously written and/or published by another person unless otherwise noted. CEU eTD Collection Abstract This study is about religion and the politics of engagement between Muslim and Christian literati in the late Ottoman Empire. It uses archival sources and periodicals to examine the Christian and Muslim literary responses to the nineteenth and twentieth- century intellectual developments in Europe and the Middle East such as positivism and biblical criticism that challenged traditional religious discourses. This study ties in several historical fields, beginning with the highly limited historiography of Ottoman religious polemics, and moving to studies on religion in the modern era, Protestant missionaries in the Ottoman Empire, imperial governance in the age of New Imperialism (1870-1914), and the global Muslim print sphere that developed in response to these challenges facing the Muslim world. Furthermore, it examines these phenomena across the early modern and modern eras, noting the lines of continuity that are often ignored due to the periodization of Ottoman history that sharply segments its chronology. This dissertation approaches the history of relations among Muslim literati, Protestant missionaries, and Ottoman Christian literati through the prism of religious polemics. These writers included journalists, ulema members, government administrators, American, British, and German missionaries, and religious converts. This dissertation builds on new studies in late Ottoman historiography that explore the zones of contact between Ottoman confessional groups in the economic, political, and legal arenas by CEU eTD Collection historicizing religious debates in the broader context of the Ottoman literati's encounter with the intellectual traditions of the Enlightenment, but also the changing Muslim- iii Christian power relations within and outside the Empire. It challenges the idea in Ottoman historiography that inter-religious relations irreversibly declined throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, culminating in the Empire's ruin. This dissertation's focus is not on the spiritual dimensions or theological contents of these polemics, but on this genre as a means of expressing and engaging this period's social and intellectual challenges. It is the first to examine Ottoman religious polemics as more than manifestations of inter-religious tension – they had the purpose of stabilizing society by clearly defining the positions of each religion to the other. These disputes were more than the construction of difference. They made space for different groups within a multi-confessional empire. CEU eTD Collection iv Acknowledgements I arrive at the finish line of this project in not too dissimilar of a state in which I completed my first (and, hopefully, only) half marathon: tired, disheveled, and fighting fatigue in the final stretch. Yet while both races were largely run alone, this one's preparation, duration, and completion would have been impossible without the support of many individuals. They even supported me in their absence. All of these individuals were there in my mental conference room during the writing of this thesis. I heard their immaterial selves make interjections – recommending changes here, deleting parts there, or calling a whole chapter's analysis into question. Needless to say, it was a lively bull session. I would first like to thank my advisor Tolga Esmer. Almost no part of my doctoral education was left untouched by his influence and guidance, whether through historical methodology, approach to sources, accessing certain individuals in the archives, or the use of Ottoman Turkish itself. If this dissertation approaches in a small degree his ability to describe in accessible terms the overwhelming complexity of Ottoman society, it is due to his direction. Over and above his scholarly credentials is his kindness and generosity, for he made himself available in multiple stages during the doctoral project. This dissertation is much better for his input and efforts. To Tijana Krstić, who has equal parts generosity and scholarly acumen. She CEU eTD Collection offered a true model of intellectual engagement and professional advice over the years. She help develop these ideas on religious identity and imperial power in her coursework v and many helpful conversations. Through her input this project reached a level that would have been impossible by my own efforts, particularly in linking the early modern and modern eras. To Nadia al-Baghdadi, who has provided critical feedback during this project. She went above and beyond through chairing my conference panels at MESA, braving the possibility of a Denver snowstorm. I am also grateful to Hans-Lukas Kieser for his feedback on this project on the politics of missionary engagement to Ottoman Muslims and non-Muslims. His expansive knowledge on this topic helped frame many of the research questions within this study. I would also like to thank Ussama Makdisi for his insightful feedback in this project, particularly in the early stages during my qualification exams. His scholarship has done much to shape my thinking of late Ottoman sectarianism as a modern construct. Finishing this dissertation would not have been possible without the financial support of CEU, which provided me with a three-year fellowship; the Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies, which offered numerous travel grants and made last-minute trips to the archives a possibility; and the Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations (RCAC), which provided academic and financial support for a nine-month period. The final stages of writing of this dissertation were supported by a write-up grant by CEU for which I am grateful. The colleagues, friends, and other professors at CEU made the early years of my CEU eTD Collection program a truly pleasurable place to study. I thank the members of our cohort Adrian Grama, Liliana Iuga, Zsuzsa Sido, and Alexandr Voronovici for being great work friends, vi particularly in the run up to the qualification exams, when they helped sand off the rough edges of my proposal. I'm also grateful for the Ottoman PhD student cohort, including Eda Güçlü and Tamas Kiss. I was fortunate to meet many other remarkable people in this period, such as Alfred Rieber, Marsha Siefert, Karl Hall, Constantin Iordachi, Alexei Miller, and Susan Zimmerman. I would like to thank the friends at the RCAC for creating an intellectually stimulating environment during the 2013-2014 fellowship. Thanks to Erica Hughes, Fatih Onur, Lilian Dogiama, Edip Gölbaşı, Steven Karacic, Jon Stanfill, Emin Lelic, Melis Taner, and everyone else who made the year so memorable. Whether having the experience of historically illiterate tour guides in Sinop, walking the pits of Göbeklitepe, or hashing out imperial issues in the grotto, it was memorable all around. Foreign language study is the most intellectual stimulating part of being an Ottomanist, and the most masochistic, particularly in the process of writing the dissertation and untangling a three-page-long sentence with more clauses than U.S. federal tax code. Completing this section would have been impossible without the generous support of many people, primary Abdullah Uğur, Cumali Baylu, Hasan Hacak, Erdal Kılıç, Sevim Yilmaz, and Ferenc Csirkes, an extraordinary scholar who has been enormously charitable in his help. To my friends at the Yildiz Technical University 2011 text seminar, it was a pleasure working through Ottoman documentation with you, as much as the pleasure of seeing a hedgehog lumbering by while working outdoors one CEU eTD Collection day, all of us hoping it was a descendant of a member of Sultan Abdülhamit II's menagerie. vii My final thanks go to my family, who have followed my across the globe. Eleanor and Sophia were born during the project, and their growth was a reminder of how long this project has truly gone on. They make me smile more than anyone else and have also done more than anyone else to put the important things in life into perspective. Their 3 a.m. wake-up calls also kept me alert. To my mother, Maureen, and my father, Michael, while not following me across the globe, I consider myself blessed to have such wonderful parents, who instilled a work ethic in me to finish such a project, and a natural curiosity to find such an odd research field interesting. Lastly, to my wife Melissa, who provided endless encouragement and support. I dedicate this project to her. Being married to a Ph.D. student is likely a far worse trial than actually finishing one. Not only do you hear of complaints about work life all day long, but you hear them from somebody who frames them in the overstuffed language of cultural theory, talking of “exploitation” and “otherization.” Your confidence in me, patience, and ability to work jobs in three different countries while giving birth in two inspire me in ways that nobody else has. I am the sole responsible party for any mistakes in this dissertation. Although after reading thousands of pages of religious polemics, it would be tempting to blame another person or group for my errors or troubles, since I see what a powerful and effective rhetorical weapon it is to pin one's problems on another.