Abdul Hamid II (1842-1918) was the son of Sultan Abdul Majid and his 2nd wife Tirimujgan. He was elected Khalifa in 1876 at the age of 34, when his brother Murad V was ousted. He ruled the Ottoman Empire at a time when the Muslim world was falling into the hands of non-Muslims. By his efforts, he delayed it for 30 years.
Abdul Hamid II was the last Ottoman Sultan to rule with absolut powers and effectively the last Muslim Khalifa in a line going back 1300 years to Hazrat Abu Bakr radhiallahu anhu. He took over an empty treasury and a huge debt which he managed to cut. He established fax lines between Arabia and Turkey and connected it to fax lines in Iran and India. The Ottoman Navy ranked the world's 3rd most powerful fleet. Industries such as weapons manufacturing, weaving and sugar appeared. The road system was updated,and seaports expanded. Many newsprints were established. He built public works like Musjids, baths, markets and hospitals in Cairo, Damascus, Sana, Baghdad and other Islamic cities. He also built the Istanbul-Madinah Railway making the Hajj easier. Abdul Hamid II refused Jewish and Zionist offers to pay the Ottoman debt in exchange for Palestine. He spoke Turkish, Arabic and Persian and engaged in Jihad against many countries like Russia, Serbia and Greece. With Arab and Turkish help, the Ottoman Empire was brought down; Arabia and Palestine fell. Abdul Hamid II was the last Muslim ruler to hold Makkah, Madinah and Jerusalem at once.
Abdul Hamid was a skilled carpenter and crafted much of his own furniture. In 1909 he was deposed in favor of his brother, Mohammed V. In Istanbul, he spent his last days studying, carpentering and writing his memoirs imprisoned at Beylerbeyi Palace, where he died in 1918. The Khilafa was officially ended in 1924 by Kemal Attaturk who deposed the last Khalif in name: Abdul Majid II, a fatal blow to Muslims of the world.
THE LAST KHALIF
