TNT History Archives: Russian Moslem POWs in Germany & Turkey (1915-1918)/Part II

//Ed. note:  Abdürreşid İbrahim concludes his letter about
the celebration of Kurban Bayramı at the Russian Moslem 
POW camp at Zossen.//



POWs at the Zossen prison camp near Berlin that included
the 'Halbmondlager' (Wünsdorf ) camp:

Moslem POW Camp click here for a good Wikipedia page
on the camp. 


Next, Alimcan (İdrisî) Efendi gave a speech:

"Friends! Greetings.  For centuries we have been ordered by the 
Prophet to make the pilgrimage to Mecca but, except for a few of us,
we have not been able to accomplish this duty.  For those who have
unfortunately not seen 'Arafat' and 'Mına' in person, here is some
very important guidance:

Be careful not to form into separate groups like the infidels and then 
turn your swords on each other, as our Prophet said to us in his final
sermon at Mecca.  And yet, today what are we doing? We are in the 
battlefields, with some of us under Russian, English and French 
commanders, trying to seize the capital of İslam that the Prophet 
established and spilling the blood of our fellow Moslems in the process.  

The Prophet decreed that giving your blood, belongings and other

possessions to others is forbidden.  Have we followed this order of the

Prophet?   

Treat your women kindly and adhere to the laws of matrimony!  But

our performance in this regard is quite poor.  As was explained in a 

'hadis' (saying or action of the Prophet), women are our life-partners

who will raise and nourish our future generations.  So we must behave

well toward our sisters and daughters but must confess that we have 

not lived up to this command and have neglected the training of those

beings we have created.  We must never forget our mothers nor our

sacred religion, its history, founding, our great nation and our warrior

forefathers Cengiz, Timur, Fatih, Babur, Süleyman, Selim."


Ottoman Ambassador to Germany İbrahim Hakkı Paşa

Then, a sacrifice was butchered in the name of the Sultan and the meat 

distributed to the weak and infirm.  The Moslem community present 

was quite pleased and repeatedly offered prayers for the Ottoman royal

family and the Ottoman army, ending with a resounding "Amin!".  One

of the Russian prisoners gave a heartfelt speech in honor of the Sultan

and the honored guests.  This speech was answered in kind by

Ambassador Hakkı Paşa:

"Gentlemen! The Sultan is not only the caliph of the Moslem Turks and 
Kurds in Turkey, he is also the caliph and tender father of the Turks in 
Russia, the Indians in India, the Arabs of Egypt and Africa, etc.  He 
sees you all as his children and extends his kind hand to you, but given
the dispersed nature of the world of Islam he cannot help you as much as
he would like to.  

What can I say?  As the young imam just said to us, the world of Islam
has fallen into this state.  We only hope that God will see fit in a few 
years to free the many Moslem nations currently in slavery and give 
them Islamic governments that will thrive happily and in freedom 
under the protection of their great and compassionate father, the Sultan."  

These words, spoken in Turkish, were first rendered in the dialect of
the Northern Turks by Alimcan Efendi and then translated into Arabic
for the Arabs by Abdülaziz Çavuş Efendi.  The ceremony ended with
cries of "Long Live the Sultan!" and "Victory to the Brave Army!".

Abdülreşşid İbrahim.

//END of PART TWO//

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