Muslim Journeys

Hajji Ahmed, Kemal ile Nakış Olınmış Cümle-yi Cihan Nemünesi(“Perfect Representation of the World in Its Entirety”)Venice, 1559

Europe: This is the part of the world that they also call “Frengistan”...This continent is special in that it is small compared to the others but at the same time more densely populated and intensively cultivated. The arts and sciences flourish here, and the fighting spirit of its people has served as a constant source of illumination, such that it is more beautiful and secure than other renowned and famous provinces. And furthermore it should be known that the greatest rulers of all ages have compared this land to the sun, and most of them have ruled from here. These include the magnificent sultan Alexander the Great, who ruled nine hundred and eighteen years before the Prophet Muhammed Mustafa, and 284 years after him the Empire of the Romans was founded here, and today in the year 967 of the Muslim calendar (1559 C.E.) Europe is ruled by His Majesty Suleyman of the House of Osman, Sultan of Sultans and Refuge of the Rulers of the World, who is an even greater source for the illumination of humanity.

The Ottoman Empire

Mustafa Ali, Künhü’l-Ahbar (“The Essence of Histories”)Topkapi Palace, Istabulcirca 1585

Shared Origins

Journeys of Becoming

Between Old and New

Embracing the Contradictions

"I, Hasan the son of Muhammad the weigh-master, I, Giovanni Leone de Medici, circumcised at the hand of a barber and baptized at the hand of a pope, I am now called the African, but I am not from Africa, nor from Europe, nor from Arabia. I am also called the Granadan, the Fassi, the Zayyati, but I come from no country, from no city, no tribe. I am the son of the road, my country is the caravan, my life the most unexpected of voyages."

Embracing the Contradictions