Conversion in the Late Ottoman Empire: a case study on the legal status of Greek Orthodox converted to Islam, 1856-1908

Abstract

This paper discusses the legal status of the Greek Orthodox converted to Islam in the Ottoman Empire for the period extending between the enhancement of the Tanzimat with the Islahat fermanı of 1856 until the end of the Hamidian period (1856-1908). This research was based primarily on court records from the “Basbakanlık Osmanlı Arsivleri” (Prime-minister Ottoman Archives) and on documents from the “Ιστορικά Αρχεία Μακεδονίας” (Historical Archives of Macedonia) with key figures of the era under examination. The conclusions reached were that, except for reasons of true faith in the righteousness of Islam, a Greek Orthodox would convert to improve his conditions of life in every aspect where the proclamation of equality was not or was partially applied. Conversion appears as a tool of social flexibility;its social consequences are obvious in the family, hereditary, property, penal and public law in general. Also conversion to Islam must have been considereds as a declaration of loyalty to the Porte. The Muslim community was always willing to embrace the new members and help them start a new life away from their former community, whereas the reaction of the convert’s former community to the act of the conversion was strong. Many cases of conversion ended in the apostasy of the Greek Orthodox convert. Apostasy took place because of the intervention of the local metropolitans or the convert’s changing his mind by himself/herself.