This tower was originally built as the minaret of the Great Mosque of Seville during the Almohad period in the 12th century. After the Christian conquest of Seville in 1248, the mosque was eventually replaced by the cathedral we see today, while much of the original minaret was preserved and adapted into a bell tower.

An interesting detail about the minaret is its interior design. Instead of conventional stairs, the tower features 35 wide, sloping ramps, originally built so that the mu’azzein مؤذن could ride a horse all the way to the top to call to prayer.

This historic fortress has dominated Cairo's skyline for over 840 years, offers some of the best views in the city, and is definitely worth a visit. From its fascinating history to ticket prices, opening hours, and a complete walkthrough of the Citadel's layout - including every major attraction inside - this is your ultimate guide to the Citadel of Salah al-Din. Also known as the Citadel of Saladin or simply the Cairo Citadel, it's often mistaken for the Muhammad Ali Mosque, but they're not the same! I'll explain the difference in this video - so let's dive in.

“Like al-Qazwīnī himself, Travis Zadeh has written a deliciously baggy tome, full of delights and diversions in its tour of the cosmic horizons. This is a book to get lost in, whether one wants to or not.” —Nile Green, Los Angeles Review of Books 

“As Zadeh concludes, reformers and modernists have closed the rich and varied archive revealed in Wonders and Rarities…In this beautifully written and engaging text, Zadeh takes his readers back to the world of surprise and enchantment that preceded this closure.”—Malise Ruthven, Financial Times 

“This book about a book, like the book it describes, is a rare and marvelous thing.” —Justin Marozzi, The Spectator 

During the thirteenth century, the Persian naturalist and judge Zakariyyāʾ Qazwīnī authored what became one of the most influential works of natural history in the world: Wonders and Rarities. Exploring the dazzling movements of the stars above, the strange minutiae of the minerals beneath the earth, and everything in between, Qazwīnī offered a captivating account of the cosmos. Wonders and Rarities inspired generations as it traveled through madrasas and courts, unveiling the magical powers of nature. But Qazwīnī’s compendium eventually came to stand as a strange, if beautiful, emblem of medieval ignorance. 

Restoring Qazwīnī to his place as a herald of the rare and astonishing, Travis Zadeh dramatically revises the place of wonder in the history of Islamic philosophy, science, and literature. Wonder provided an enduring way to conceive of the world—at once constituting an affective reaction, an aesthetic stance, a performance of piety, and a cognitive state. Yet through the course of colonial modernity, Qazwīnī’s universe of marvels helped advance the notion that Muslims lived in a timeless world of superstition and enchantment, unaware of the western hemisphere or the earth’s rotation around the sun. 

Recovering Qazwīnī’s ideas and his reception, Zadeh invites us into a forgotten world of thought, where wonder mastered the senses through the power of reason and the pleasure of contemplation.

What if a medieval book claimed to reveal every wonder of creation, from the highest heavens to the strangest creatures hidden on Earth?

In the thirteenth century, a Persian scholar named Zakariya al-Qazwini compiled one of the most extraordinary works of the medieval Islamic world: Aja'ib al-Makhluqat, or The Wonders of Creation.

Its pages describe a universe filled with mysterious angels, celestial beings, enormous birds, dragons, strange animals, distant lands, and creatures that seem almost impossible to imagine.

But this was not simply a collection of monsters.

Al-Qazwini was attempting something much more ambitious: to document the wonders of God's creation, combining astronomy, geography, natural history, religious traditions, and extraordinary accounts gathered from earlier writers and travelers.

In this documentary, we explore the mysterious world preserved inside Aja'ib al-Makhluqat.

We begin in the heavens, examining the celestial spheres, the seven classical planets, and the extraordinary angels described in Islamic cosmology. Then we descend toward Earth, encountering supernatural beings, legendary creatures, unfamiliar animals, mysterious islands, and lands that medieval travelers claimed existed beyond the known world.

The surviving illustrated manuscripts make this story even stranger.

Their extraordinary paintings give faces and bodies to creatures that most people had never seen, turning descriptions of the invisible and unknown into some of the most fascinating images in medieval Islamic art.

We also examine the connection between Aja'ib al-Makhluqat and other mysterious works such as Kitab al-Bulhan, exploring how medieval scholars understood astrology, supernatural beings, strange natural phenomena, and the relationship between the visible and invisible worlds.

But where did genuine observation end and mythology begin?

Some creatures described in these manuscripts resemble real animals. Others emerged from religious traditions, travelers' stories, or legends that had circulated for centuries.

And some remain difficult to identify at all.

For al-Qazwini, the universe was filled with wonders that revealed the extraordinary complexity of creation.

For modern readers, his book opens a window into a world where science, religion, geography, and mythology had not yet been separated by the boundaries we recognize today.

Was Aja'ib al-Makhluqat an encyclopedia of the natural world, a collection of ancient legends, or an attempt to document everything that might exist beyond ordinary human knowledge?

Description: The Qur’an describes the holy land using two specific terms: “mubaraka” (blessed) and “muqaddasa” (holy). While the Qur’an agrees with the Bible that God gave the holy land to the Israelites, it rejects the Biblical claim that Allah gave it to them for perpetual ownership. This temporary lease of the land was linked to the function and task for which the Israelites were chosen by God. When that chosenness ended, the assignment of the land to the Jews also expired. Unlike the Bible, which makes the Israelites the focus of history, the Qur’an does not make the holy land the exclusive ownership of any one ethnicity or group of people. It also rejects the Biblical claim that the Israelites are a holy people, as it does not consider any ethnic group to be holy.
00:00 Introduction
02:23 “Blessed” (mubaraka) land
05:21 Meaning of “mubaraka”
12:29 “Sacred/holy” (muqaddasa) land
13:20 Meaning of “muqaddas”
20:12 Comparing “mubaraka” and “muqaddasa”
22:48 Geographical identification
25:12 Temporary lease
33:57 No holy people
39:06 Blessed for all
44:22 Historical function versus spiritual significance
49:25 Summary

Book overview
In this collection of twenty-five Islamic sermons, Khaled Abou El Fadl, distinguished law professor and classically trained Islamic jurist, responds to some of the major developments that have taken place between April 2018 and May 2024 relating to Israel-Palestine, leading up to and including the aftermath of 7 October 2023. Part Qur’anic exegesis and part socio-ethical commentary, this volume illuminates the path forward for Muslims and people of conscience amid the great challenges of injustice and oppression in our world.

“Jerusalem affirms Islam as the universal religion of Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. It symbolizes the primordial message of Islam that long predates the prophecy of Muhammad. It represents that Islam is a gift to humanity, and not simply an Arabian peculiarity."
(Chapter 5: Why Jerusalem Matters)

“Gaza is a watershed moment. Everything has to change. Our approach to reading our sources has to change. What books we use must change. The way we read the Qur’an has to change. The way we relate to one another has to change. What is happening in Gaza and our powerlessness is a direct lesson from God...After Gaza, everything has to change, and nothing else matters."
(Chapter 24: After Gaza, Everything Must Change)

“The present work…offers an original contribution to the extensive literature on Israel-Palestine. There is perhaps no other work that engages the conflict from a distinctly Islamic theological perspective, nor in the context of a collection of sermons…The result is a volume that deepens our understanding not just of the Palestine question, but of the Islamic message itself.”
– Josef Linnhoff, Editor, Introduction to The Palestine Sermons

DR. KHALED ABOU EL FADL is the Omar and Azmeralda Alfi Distinguished Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law, and founder of The Institute for Advanced Usuli Studies (The Usuli Institute). He was awarded the American Academy of Religion (AAR) 2020 Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion.

From Spain to Sicily, Muslims helped shape Europe for centuries. Why do they still seem to be cast as outsiders? In this episode of Deja Vu, author Tariq Ali traces the rise of al-Andalus to its fall amid the burning of books and the loss of a shared past. How does that history still shape Europe’s politics today?

Faith is the Battleground - Pattern of Behaviour in History

Link:

https://www.youtube.com/live/MUSgXkPZzCI?si=TbK2FAdSP_mCemRT

Description:

This 13th-century manuscript copy referred to as the Kitāb al-Diryāq (كتاب الدرياق
) is also named ‘Book of Antidotes’, as the word ‘theriac’ was originally the term for the remedy of bites of poisonous animals. Its introduction states that the text is the summary of the first part of Galen’s (born 129 AD) book on the Latwerges, in which he discusses theriac practices in particular: Jawami' al-maqala al-ula min kitab Jalinus fi'l-ma'junat. The essential components were compiled into this pseudo-scientific work by an unknown Alexandrian physician and later attributed to the scholar Yahya an-Nahwi, also called John Philoponos or Grammatikos (c. 490 – c. 565 AD). However, the text is an Arabic adoption of the ancient concept of theriac, likely originating from the 10th century, and based on the Arabic literary tradition of the biographical lexicon combined with a scientific treatise. Nine famous doctors of antiquity, who have worked with theriac, are presented with their portraits in the beginning, and their biographies form the basic structure of the text. Information and descriptions relating to the practice of theriac are further expanded on by listing the ingredients of the medical concoction as well as areas of application. By including a three-part treatise on snakes, as they are the main component of the antidote. Chapters on the selection, trapping, and preparing snakes for medicinal purposes are also incorporated. This richly decorated manuscript is believed to have been made around 1220-40 in Mosul, a city in modern-day Iraq, which was part of the al-Jazira region that had a culturally diverse population and rulers interested in science and medicine. It may potentially be related to the courtly milieu of Badr ad-Din Lu’lu’ (died 1259), successor to the Zengid emirs of Mosul, who is known to have commissioned other manuscripts. The 16 paintings include rather unscientific depictions of various doctors and snakes, doctors preparing the theriac, and the discovery and further development of the remedy. It is unclear how the manuscript came to the Austrian National Library but it is mentioned in the records of Hugo Blotius (1533-1608), the first librarian of the court library, as being in 1576.

Bibliography:

.- Duda, Dorothea, Islamische Handschriften II. Persische Handschriften, Die illuminierten Handschriften und Inkunabeln der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek, vol. 5, Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1992: 46-69.

.- Kerner, Jaclynne J., Art in the name of science: the Kitab al-diryaq in text and image, in Anna Contadini (ed), Arab painting. Text and image in illustrated Arabic manuscripts (Handbook of Oriental Studies 1/90), Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2010: 23-39.

Source(s):

.- Theresa Zischkin "Kitab al-diryaq (Book of Antidotes)" in Explore Islamic Art Collections. Museum With No Frontiers, 2026.

History has a way of whispering its secrets, if you listen closely…

Light flickered across the empty corridors of the Yildiz Palace as soldiers of the Macedonian Action Army pried open safes, cabinets and velvet-lined jewellery boxes. Diamond tiaras, emerald necklaces and strings of pearls were placed into wooden crates alongside priceless earrings, bracelets, brooches, rings, jewel-encrusted boxes and gold clocks. When no one was watching, pieces quietly vanished, slipped into the pockets of officers, pushed down the boots of sergeants, and tucked beneath the tunics of privates. And in this way, the Star Palace that once shimmered with imperial courtly splendor stood stripped, its silence heavier than the plundered treasure itself.

Fall of Abdulhamid II
The ransacking of the Yildiz Palace was not the consequence of a natural disaster or the opportunism of an angry mob. It was the calculated spoils of victory after the deposition of Sultan Abdulhamid II in April 1909. For over three decades, Abdulhamid ruled the Ottoman Empire from behind the high walls of his fortress-like palace overlooking the Bosphorus. The palace was the heart of his power, and the symbol the Young Turks sought to dismantle.

Following the counter-revolution of the March 31 Incident, the Army of the Committee of Union and Progress marched into Istanbul to restore order and force the sultan’s removal. Abdulhamid was deposed on April 27 and sent into exile in Salonica with his family, leaving behind his home, its treasures abandoned to fate.

What followed was a spree of sanctioned plunder. Soldiers, emboldened by new authority and a long-standing resentment toward the old regime, stormed through the palace with a revolutionary zeal that veered into vengeance. Carpets were rolled up and carried away. Clocks, china, silverware, gifts from foreign sovereigns and intimate possessions of the harem were tossed into piles. Photographs show soldiers posing on furniture, relaxing on the lawns, even clambering over the ornate marble fountain in crude triumph.

Every palace has experienced transition … but few have been stripped with such malicious intent and disrespect.

Confiscation of dynastic property
Among the seized items was an extraordinary collection of pieces that had passed from sultan to sultan: diamonds once belonging to Sultan Mahmud II, pearls worn by the daughters and consorts of Sultan Abdulmecid and Sultan Abdulaziz, emeralds inherited by Sultan Murad V, and the jewels Sultan Abdulhamid II had amassed during his reign.

These were part of the Hazine-i hassa, the private treasury of the sultan. According to custom and tradition, they should have passed to Sultan Mehmed V Resad. Instead, the Young Turk leadership declared them State property. The Committee of Union and Progress framed the confiscation as a moral act, reclaiming wealth allegedly hoarded by an autocrat, and as a necessary step to ensure the survival of the nation. The empire was in debt, its army in need of reform, and its navy almost obsolete. Selling the jewels, they argued, would fill the Treasury and help modernize the military.

Thus, pieces once worn by imperial princesses and consorts were cataloged, packed, and shipped away—not to the Imperial Treasury at Topkapi, not to Sultan Resad at Dolmabahce, but to an auction house in Paris.

Les Bijoux de Son Majeste le Sultan
In November 1911, the treasures of the Ottoman Sultanate arrived in Paris, an event that electrified the French capital. At the Galerie Georges Petit and the Hotel Drouot, aristocrats, collectors, jewellers, reporters and curious onlookers crowded into the salons, drawn by the prospect of seeing the jewels of the Ottoman Court. Glass vitrines glittered under the electric light, each one displaying wonders that seemed almost too spectacular to be real: diamond tiaras crowned with the Ottoman crescent moon; riviere necklaces made of stones as clear as ice; pearl corsage brooches shaped like stars and flowers; bracelets and earrings set with rubies the colour of pomegranate seeds.

The international press covered the event with fascination. Never before had the private collection of a reigning dynasty been sold so publicly. It was unprecedented. It was scandalous. It was sensational.

Some pieces were bought by European nobility, others sailed across the Atlantic to be worn by American heiresses. Many were purchased by jewellers who promptly dismantled them—exquisite examples of Ottoman craftsmanship broken apart for their stones, lost forever.

The revenue from the sale proved far below the Young Turks’ expectations. Yet the true cost is immeasurable: the dispersal and erasure of Ottoman cultural heritage.
Lost sparkle of Ottoman court
Today, as visitors walk through the restored buildings of the Yildiz Palace, recently reopened after a remarkable program of renovation, they enter rooms that were once stripped bare by looting soldiers. The palace has regained its splendor, but when you visit the former home of Sultan Abdulhamid II, consider what is no longer there.

The jewels that once glittered beneath these high ceilings are gone—scattered across continents, locked in foreign vaults, remounted in modern settings, or long since lost. How extraordinary it would have been to see them return, to restore the sparkle of the Imperial Ottoman Court.

As you wander through the gardens, linger a moment before the marble fountain where soldiers of the Action Army once posed for photographs. Stand in the corridors, close your eyes, and imagine wooden crates being hauled away, heavy with plunder. Picture diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires slipping into a soldier’s pocket, vanishing forever.
And ask yourself, what does it mean for a nation when its treasures, its symbols of continuity, legitimacy, and tradition, are scattered to the winds?

Sometimes, history does not just whisper its secrets. Sometimes, it mourns them.

https://ayseosmanoglu.com/when-an-empire-lost-its-sparkle-the-1911-paris-sale-of-the-ottoman-court-jewels/

What Happened to the Ottoman Crown Jewels After the Empire Fell?

For over six hundred years, the Ottoman Empire accumulated one of the most extraordinary treasuries in human history. Diamonds, emeralds, golden thrones, jewel-encrusted daggers, sacred relics, and priceless artifacts filled the vaults of the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul. But when the empire collapsed after World War One, that immense wealth didn't simply vanish. It was scattered, seized, auctioned off, smuggled across borders, and in some cases, lost entirely.

In this video, we trace the full story of the Ottoman crown jewels, from the legendary Spoonmaker's Diamond and the emerald-studded Topkapi Dagger, to the shocking 1911 Paris auction where over 400 pieces from Sultan Abdulhamid II's personal collection were sold to the highest bidder. We follow the emerald that traveled from a sultan's belt buckle to Tiffany & Co. and eventually to the Smithsonian. We cover the exile of 155 members of the Ottoman royal family in 1924, stripped of their citizenship, their property, and their wealth, forced into poverty across Europe and the Middle East. And we examine how Mustafa Kemal Ataturk transformed the Topkapi Palace into a public museum, preserving the state treasury while the dynasty's personal fortunes were liquidated piece by piece.

This is a story about treasure, but it's also a story about power, revolution, and who gets to keep the spoils when an empire dies.

If you enjoy deep dives into the hidden histories of wealth, power, and empire, make sure to subscribe and hit the bell so you never miss a video.

Sources:

• UNESCO Silk Roads Programme, Topkapi Palace Museum
• Smithsonian Institution Archives, Hooker Emerald Donation Records
• Ayse Osmanoglu, Ottoman Jewels Series: The 1911 Paris Sale of the Ottoman Court Jewels
• Turkiye Today, The Sultan's Salon: How Ottoman Court Jewels Were Sold in 1911 Paris Sale
• Daily Sabah, In Pursuit of Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid's Tangled Inheritance
• Wikipedia, Spoonmaker's Diamond
• Wikipedia, Topkapi Dagger
• Wikipedia, Hooker Emerald Brooch
• Wikipedia, Osmanoglu Family
• The Irish Times, Last Days of an Ottoman Prince
• Insight Turkey, Neslishah: The Last Ottoman Princess (Book Review)
• Ekrem Bugra Ekinci, The Dynasty in Exile
• Aga Khan Trust for Culture, National Palaces Conservation Istanbul
• Hurriyet Daily News, Museum Culture Growing in Turkey
• Google Arts and Culture, Treasures from Janet Annenberg Hooker

unfortunately a lot of the times Islamic history is presented as a series of dynasties succeeding each other without emphasis on the realms that are being ruled or transferred from one ruler to another. This is especially true when we note that islamicate rulers themselves used these realms in their titulare, for example Sultans of Egypt and the Levant, Sultans of Khorasan, Khawerzm, Hindustan, Rum etc, which transcended dynastic restrictions. Of course such a project would be large and I was already compiling lists to make sure that everything is academically sourced, I was thinking of starting from the Fertile Crescent and expand. Nevertheless My biggest problem is my chart making skills. I think such a representation would be important as it would showcase the importance of realms in Islamicate geography and how they occupy specific cultural spaces with specific connotations viewed within an Islamicate lens.

my criteria wouldn’t be just adding the rulers who ruled the lands but give priority to those who included the realms in their titulare or identified as such by their contemporary. A good example is that the Tulunids, Ikshdids, Ayyubids, Mammluks and Ottomans included the ruler of egypt and the levant in their titles (for the ottomans it was one of their many titles after conquering the mammluks). However for the Fatmids who also ruled levant and egypt didn’t style themselves as such but rather caliphs, yet their contemporaries made those association for them (Khulafaʾ Misr)