Muslims’ Collective Amnesia of the Ottoman Past | Dr. Yakoob Ahmed

Why do so many Muslims recognize the Ottoman past, yet feel strangely disconnected from it? In this CIK Talk, Dr. Yakoob Ahmed explores what he calls “collective amnesia”—a loss of historical memory that leaves major gaps in how Muslims understand 600 years of Ottoman history. He examines how colonial-era scholarship, modern nation-state narratives, and repeated “decline” storylines have shaped popular perceptions—often pushing Muslims into a defensive posture when engaging Ottoman history. Dr. Ahmed argues that ideology, narrative, and language deeply influence how history is written and remembered, and he calls for greater Muslim intellectual confidence: moving beyond scandal-focused apologetics toward serious engagement with institutions, society, law, governance, and lived religious life across the Ottoman centuries. He also reflects on why the Qur’an matters for writing Islamic history—cultivating precision, remembrance, sincerity, and meaning in how Muslims recover and transmit their past. ----------- Dr. Yakoob Ahmed is a graduate from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, where he completed his Ph.D. in Late Ottoman history with a focus on Ottoman Constitutionalism and the role of the Ottoman ulema. He is currently a staff member at Istanbul University’s ilahiyat (theology) faculty, where he specializes in teaching Islamic history, Ottoman history, Islamic civilization and modern Islamic thought. Dr. Yakoob is a regular columnist for TRT World and has also appeared as a guest on numerous podcasts and written for various academic and Muslim intellectual platforms. His interests include late Ottoman history, the history of nationalism and the nation-state in the Muslim world, collective memory construction, Islamic studies and Turkish politics ----------- Disclaimer: All views expressed in CIK Talks are those of the speaker and do not necessarily represent the teachings, views, and opinions of the Centre for Islamic Knowledge.