John Ward : Also known as Yusuf Reis
John Ward : Also known as Yusuf Reis
Did anyone in Europe, the Balkans or even the Indian geography become a Muslim during the Ottoman period? They used to say that he "became a Turk". Especially religious circles make every effort to prevent people from emulating "Turkishness". They would try the way. In order to humiliate those who are "Turkish", they make pictures and statues about them, organize theaters, They wrote novels. In fact, these attitudes are not new.
Husayn bin Selam, who was originally a Jew and took the name Abdullah bin Selam during the period of the Sahabe-i Kiram, He was subjected to insults and slander by his co-religionists. Later, a young man named Anselmo Turmeda The Spanish priest was subjected to character assassination when he converted to Islam and took the name Abdullah Tercüman.
John Ward faced similar reactions when he took the name Yusuf Reis as a "Turk". Those who attacked him, mouth Together, they introduce him as a simple, poor, melancholic person. Well, such a simple person What harm could being a Muslim do to Christianity and the British world? On the contrary, The storms that arise show that he is not a simple person.
Queen Elizabeth requests urgent help from the Ottoman sultan against the Spanish. Sultan, Algeria He assigns his navy to this task and the British avoid the Spanish danger. Meanwhile, later A British sailor who becomes a Muslim attracts attention...
The Ottoman Derya Genius Aroused Admiration
British queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603), at a time when the Ottoman power was at its peak. He urgently requests help from Istanbul. The Spanish called Armada Invencible He informs them that they are preparing to invade the British island with their fleet. Everyone knows that this The British have no chance against the navy.
Murad III Khan first orders the Algerian navy and closes the Strait of Gibraltar. It keeps the Spaniards constantly busy. Then he secretly transports his most skillful sailors to England by land. They will prepare the islanders for defense.
The Spanish ships descend on England like a dark cloud, but on both sides of the English Channel They could do nothing against the redoubts and were defeated. The Spanish lost almost all of their ships. they lose. The British would not suffer a single loss. This incident made many people, especially the queen, upset. It makes him admire the Ottomans. In those days, someone's heroism attracts a lot of attention and this person John Ward.
Who is John Ward?
He was born in 1553 in the town of Faversham in Kent, southeast England. Youth He spends his years fishing. In another source, it refers to the county of Devonshire in the southwest of England. It is written that he belongs to. He is a member of the British Navy. Nationality and religion with a ship of its own Indiscriminately, it haunts ships going to and from America. European kingdoms whose trade was undermined They are very disturbed by this. King James I of England had bad relations with the European states as soon as he came to the throne. In order not to be, he does not accept John Ward and publishes an edict banning piracy. Even He looks for ways to make peace with Catholic Spain.
Faversham Town ( England)
On the other hand, John Ward is very loved by the people in England. Legends are created about him. To those years The British, who were always inferior to European sailors until now, liked it very much. Especially a merchant ship He became famous when he captured one of the large Venetian ships called argosy, which was camouflaged as a Qatar becomes almost a folk hero. Because the ship that was hit belonged to the Catholics and there were not many British behind it. There is the Papacy that they do not like. Britain's commercial activities with European countries were disrupted. stops by. It encounters a kind of embargo. Merchants put pressure on the king because of the money he lost. This Meanwhile, John Ward has become a lovable figure not only in England but also in Europe.
The real adventure begins after this. John Ward becomes a Muslim with his crew and Yusuf Reis takes its name. Turks call him Çakır (Chakour) because of his blue eyes. Meanwhile an Italian He marries a woman. The church is extremely disturbed by this. Islam among Christian people They are afraid of it spreading.
After a while, what they feared happens to them. The number of people converted one after another begins to increase. Quality When they lose their people to their enemies, they attack the religion of Islam in the person of John Ward. so that Our Prophet (pbuh), the Holy Quran, Muslim women and even religion's like the crescent and full moon. They even blacken their symbols. Inquisition courts put people under heavy pressure. from 1610 From now on, they follow around 20 British people. Ten of them are from London; six from Plymouth, They identify others as being from Lyme, Middlesbrough and the Channel region.
There were many Christian sailors who became Muslims. What the polytheists did to Muslims in the Age of Bliss They encountered similar ones, but they still did not compromise...
The British Followed and Their Fate Those under prosecution were:
- Sir Francis Verney (1584-1615) was taken as a galley slave when he confessed that he was a Turk while in Tunisia. He is punished. He was 31 when he died two years later.
- Zimen Danzeger (1579-1615), although originally Dutch, was a friend of the Englishman John Ward. When he became a Turk in 1613, he became known as Simon Reis. Operating together off the coast of North Africa They showed. He captured more than 40 Genoese and Venetian ships in a two-year period. These They were not innocent merchant ships, but military transport ships disguised as merchant ships. in 1615 He was executed when caught.
- In 1626, Robin Locar of Plymouth, also known as Abraham, was captured by Tuscan galleys. He was convicted of being a Muslim. His fate is unknown.
- In 1631, the Inquisition in the Spanish city of Murcia discovered that a sailor named Alexander Harris was a Turk. He determined that he took the name Murad Reis. This sailor, mentioned in the sources as Küçük Murad Reis, was born in 1627. He set out from the Port of Algiers in 15 years with a ship of 15 pieces, and hit the northernmost Iceland. He packed a manager named Olafur Egilsson and sent him to Algeria. They arrested and imprisoned him. Catholic They put him through severe torture to get him to agree to become one. Then he was punished as a galley slave. One There was no news from him yet.
- Another Englishman was Francis Barnes, who was captured by the Spanish and referred to the Inquisition. in Tunisia He was convicted because he admitted that he prayed and fasted while working as a pilot. fate Unknown.
- Captain Jonas of Dartmouth, whose name is mentioned in the sources as Mami el-Inglizi, was another member of the Inquisition. was a victim. His fate is also unknown.
A street in the town of Faversham in Kent, where Yusuf Reis was born
The Yusuf Reis Difference
John Ward's difference from the others was that he could not be captured. All they can do is mud was to throw. First, they declare him a perverted renegade. In the churches, he and his men were subjected to divine punishment. They give sermons and hold demonstrations that it is only a matter of time before he is sentenced to death. to your door They haunt the Jews because they cannot find a Muslim to rely on. However, the divine(!) punishment they were waiting for It never comes. John Ward, aka Yusuf Reis, settles in Tunisia and wreaks havoc.
This time, they start writing novels and staging plays to discredit the public. They portray Muslims as pagans. Those who choose Islam are also fond of women, money and position. They accuse him of being. One of these theater works has survived to this day. Written by an Englishman named Robert Daborne His book, A Christian Turn'd Turke, became very popular.
When we look at the characters in the story, we see that Turks are depicted with expressions that push the limits of imagination. we see. The main characters are: Vali (Governor of Tunisia), Crosman (captain of the janissaries in Tunisia), Voada (Crosman's sister and Yusuf Reis's wife) Mufti (religious leader of the Tunisian Muslim community) leader), Mulli (A Tunisian Turk)… They also squeezed a few Jews in between; Benwash (A rich Jew merchant), Ruben Rabshake (Benwash's Jewish servant), Agar (Benwash's Turkish lady).
When you look at the work, you see what kind of complex they fell into, how they panicked. The "character assassination" of John Ward in the play continues in a way that we cannot describe here. expense. Finally he said that he was not English at all, that he had never believed in Christianity, that he was an atheist. They manipulate the audience by making it happen. Those who cannot stomach John Ward's honor with Islam, believe in Muslims and Muslims in his person. They did their best to make Islam look bad. They staged theaters and even made movies about them. they acquired…
Character executions don't stop there, they continue in other media as well. John Ward in 1608 A British sailor who saw him in Tunisia said he was short and bearded, with his head shaved and his face covered with warts. seen as. He spoke very little, and when he did speak he cursed. From morning to evening He was walking around so drunk. They spread these words among the people, but how skilled is such a man? They couldn't answer that he was a sailor and gave his enemies no respite. And actually visit him. Those who did so were bringing news that was different and encouraged to be Turkish. Scotsman who visited Tunisia in 1616 novelist William Lithgow wrote that he lived a magnificent life in a magnificent palace, He says that he met fifteen other British people who were also Turkish. Another visitor, Edward Coxere, said that John Ward had become completely Turkish, never drinking wine but drinking water. tells. John Ward left sailing after 1612. He spends time sharing his experiences with young levents. He died in 1622 at the age of 70. If you look at his enemies, his death was not normal either; “He probably died from the plague.” They note:
