Throughout the world history, there was a stronghold that was believed as one of

the greatest creation of human kind back in hundreds years ago. It was named as
Constantinople which was founded by the Roman emperor, Constantine 1 on the site of
already existing city, Byzantium, settled in the early days of Greek colonial expansion.
He knew that he needed a tremendous place where emperor could sit, readily defended,
with easy access to the Danube or the Euphrates frontiers. The site lay astride the land
route from Europe to Asia and the seaway from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean was
just perfect and it was one of the main reasons why the famous, excellent and spacious
harbor so-called Golden Horn had been developed. From the history, it also was stated
that Constantinople was built over six years and consecrated on 11 May 1330. The
expanded city was divided into 14 regions, like Rome and was ornamented with public
work worthy of an imperials metropolis. The first known Prefect of the City of
Constantinople was Honoratus who took office on 11 December 1359 and held it until
1361. After the construction of the Theodosian Walls in the early 5th century, it would be
extended to the new Golden Gate, reaching a total length of seven Roman miles. There
were some interesting facts about Theodosian Walls that make them the strongest fortress
ever built. It was consisted of the main Inner Wall separated from the lower Outer Wall
by a 1520 m wide terrace, the peribolos. Between the outer wall and the moat there
stretched an outer terrace, the parateichion, while a low breastwork crowned the moat's
eastern escarpment.
Prophet Muhammad narrated You will conquer Constantinople. Its commander is the
best and its army is the best. He was Sultan Muhammad Al Fatih and in the west he
was known as Mehmet The Conqueror for his achievement of conquer the
Constantinople. He was born on 29th March 1432 corresponding to 27th Rejab in Edirn
which was the capital city of Ottoman Empire. He was the son of Sultan Murad, the
seventh Ottoman Sultan .He was known as The Conqueror because of his successful siege
over Constantinople in the year of 1453.His mother was Huma Hatun, a princess
descended from the Christians which is Abdullah daughter of Hum.
Muhammad Al Fatih loved literature, monumental architecture, philosophy and science.
He knew seven languages and he could speak fluently in Turkish, Arabic, Greek, Latin,
Persian and Hebrew. His father handed over his throne for two years to Muhammad in
order to prepare Muhammad for his future as the Sultan of Ottoman Empire. Muhammad
claimed himself as the Caesar of the Rome as he has the blood lineage to the Byzantine
royal family but the Pope of the Rome denied his title. Sultan Murad prepared
Muhammad to shoulder responsibilities as he knew that great power comes with great
responsibilities. Muhammad Al - Fatih was guided by the greatest scholar during that
time, Sheikh Syamsudin al Wali. Muhammad was a sultan who coveted the strength of
internal and external forces. He memorized the Al-Quran and learned more about Islam

through hadith by the Prophet. Sheikh Syamsudin taught him more about Jihad especially
to fight against the infidels and his teaching brought him to have a high ambition which
was to conquer Constantinople. He was often accompanied by the scholars and scientists
as guidance to him to become the best king. He learned on how to ride the horses and
exposed himself to the archery and learnt how to use the sword in which all of these are
the skills of the war. When Al Fatihs father was the king at that time, he became the
governor in Magnesia. During his reign period when he was acting as the Sultan, he faced
a war and he asked his father to lead the Turkish armies. He wrote to his father who was
at Magnesia Island If you are the Sultan, come and lead your armies. If I am the Sultan, I
hereby order you to come and lead my armies and He managed to defeat the Christian
armies by using his janissaries force and this elite team manage to win over the battle in
1446.This matter created a true character of the Turkish prince who could rule his country
with full of wisdom and justice.
He had a strong and unquestionable faith and confidence that the hadith of
Rasulullah that Constantinople will be conquered by the greatest of the leaders, with his
greatest of armies, who had the greatest of his people, will come true. This is not to say
that the previous Muslim leaders after Muhammad pbuh's death ,take Saidina Umar r.a.
for example, who had also once tried to make this hadith true, was not the greatest leader.
In this matter, Allah knows best. Muhammad Al-Fatih made that hadith as his source of
motivation to pursue his mission.
In fact, the ulama at that time, who had deeper knowledge and understanding on
Islam religion, had been given a special abilities by Allah to briefly predict the upcoming
situation (in other words, "intuition"),were confident that Muhammad Al-Fatih is the one
the world has been waiting for. Despite the confidence and the seemingly good news,
Muhammad Al-Fatih did not want to make any unplanned and indiscrete actions to
conquer the city. To make sure that the essence of the hadith becomes true, he first
assured that he himself was a great ruler, his armies were of the great armies, and his
people were also of the great people. Only then he managed to fulfill this requirement, he
was able realize the hadith.
A Hungarian prisoner from Constantinople itself, named Orban, was hired by the
sultan to make a canon that can shoot its ammo at very distant range. Orban, who was
once held captive by the king of Constantinople, was badly treated and was forced to
build one, but he was unwilling to do that. On the contrary, Orban was more than willing
to help the Turkish sultan to help him to build the cannon because of the sultan's friendly
and lovely hospitality as opposed of the king's cruel treatments. To make the best of the
armies, he ordered all his soldiers to never neglect their 5-time obligatory prayers, and at

the same time, trained hard in military practice.

His armies were among the strongest, the most pious, the most obedient, and the
most loyal of soldiers the history of the Ottoman Empire could ever have. As for his
people, he make also makes sure that they too will do the same, not to abandon their
obligatory prayers. Prayer or commonly known as 'salah', in Islam, is indeed, the source
of both inner and outer strength for Muslims. He sent troops of both land and sea armadas
to conquer the city. He sent troops of both land and sea armadas to conquer the city.
Briefly speaking, Constantinople is guarded by solid rock fortress that stretches around.
There are a few major epochs that happened before the sultan conquered Constantinople,
and after he succeeded in besieging the city.
1) The military plan that he used to besiege Constantinople.
2) Bringing the ships up the hill.
3) Land route-Muhammad al Fatih ordered his soldiers to bring up the ships outland pass
the hills
on, which was first disputed by his soldiers
First, the sea route taken by the Ottoman navy soldiers made several failures.
The robust, bulky, heavy, and extremely strong chain that was assembled at the opening
One of the first steps Muhammad took was to take control of the Bosporus Sea so that he
could take control of all the ships passing by bringing support and supplies from Europe
into the city.
The first step in achieving his dream was to take control of the Strait of Bosporus
so that he could prevent any support or supplies that might come to Constantinople from
Europe. So he built a huge castle on the European seashore of the Strait of Bosporus.
Along with top senior officials, he personally participated in building the castle. It took
three months to build this castle that came to be known as the Roman Castle. On the other
bank of the Strait of Bosporus, there was the Castle of Anatolia. It then became
impossible for any ship to cross unless it obtained permission from the Ottoman forces.
In order to block the entrance to the city, a long chain called The Golden Chain
was attached to the entrance of the city, where it is lowered only ships from Europe are
allowed to enter Constantinople. The Ottoman fleet tried many times to get into the city
through sea, but they face numerous failures. The soldiers even tried to secretly break the
chain which was 4 to 5 feet below sea level, but got killed in the process.
Muhammad al-Fatih was one of the great generals who used one of the most
outstanding military approaches and strategy in history. He ordered his armies to bring up
the naval ships on land and pulled them over the hills at the eastern side of

Constantinople. Over 70 ships were pulled on rails made by wood from the trees
surrounding the hills and animal grease was spread on the woods to ease the transport of
the ships. This intelligent and seemingly impossible task was completed by his soldiers
for a distance of over 16 kilometers in only one night.
The next morning, the people of Constantine were shocked to see the Ottoman
ships lined in front of their fortified fortress. The troops bombarded the stubborn walls for
many consecutive days, day and night. Every day, Constantinople was taken aback by the
different tactics he used to besiege the city until one part of the wall became weak enough
for the infantries to rush into the city. The people of Constantinople saw the Islam flag
being flagged for the first time.
This Turkish sultan had made a significant change not only in the Turkish history,
but in the whole Islamic history as well, as he was the man described by the Prophet, may
peace be upon him, as the greatest leader. His story is told from generation to generation
as an inspiration and motivation to have high determination yet realistic goals wellplanned organizations to realize dreams, and above all, the submission to Allah when all
preparations have been made.