pjmedia.com BY MILT HARRIS
The latest Islamic attack conducted by Hamas was not about the politics surrounding the Gaza Strip. It wasn’t even about Israel; those are just the two most recent excuses for a bloodletting that, in the eyes of extremists, is not only justified but obligatory.
Islam was established in Anatolia, but, between the 14th and 16th centuries, the religion spread via Ottoman conquest to the Balkan Peninsula and central Hungary. The Ottoman state based its authority on religion. The first warrior-sultans expanded the empire in the name of Islam. Sultans claimed the title of caliph, or successor to the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. Alongside the sultans, religious scholars, called ulama, played a significant role in running the state.
The Siege of Vienna in 1529 was the first attempt by the Ottoman Empire to capture the capital city of Vienna, Austria. Suleiman the Magnificent, sultan of the Ottomans, attacked the city with over 100,000 men while the defenders, led by Niklas Graf Salm, numbered no more than 21,000. Nevertheless, Vienna was able to survive the siege, which ultimately lasted just over two weeks from September 27 to October 15, 1529…
