Printing Mushaf or Gaining Power and Authority over the Muslim World

Abstract

In this article*, Mushaf printings and their relation to international politics have been studied. Using historical materials like archive documents and newspapers, the article shows the role of Mushaf printings in the conflict among World powers, Europe and the Ottoman Empire. This study thereby focuses on three cases: The first case is the Mushaf-printings in Europe particularly in 1787 in Russia right after the Crimean War and in 1798 after the occupation of Egypt and in the 1830s during the invasions of Africa by France. Russia and France, as two European colonialist powers thereby tried to establish itself as the new patron for the colonised Muslims. The second case is the Mushaf-printing in Iran. Meanwhile printing of the Mushaf was printed by Iranians, Ottomans considers issue as that time must be defended the Qur'an from corruptions and changes by the hands of Non-Muslim and Non-Sunni communities. The most significant case is the third one: the British black propaganda against the Caliphate, Abdulhamid The Second, to trigger an uprising in British-colonised territories, like India. Ottomans made some policies against these printings by establishing print houses and control mechanism to make clear that they themselves are the real leaders of Muslims. As a conclusion, the article demonstrates how Mushaf printings were used to gain power and authority over Muslims during the clash among the Ottoman Empire, European powers and Iran.