خلع السلطان عبد الحميد الثاني

The deposition of Sultan Abdulhamid II took place in 1909 CE, after the events of 31 March in Istanbul, and the decision to depose him was issued on 27 April 1909 CE. ²

Demonstrations by the Committee of Union and Progress in Salonica, Monastir, Uskub and Sousse forced the sultan to proclaim the constitution and revive parliament on 24 July 1908 CE. ³

The events of 31 March 1909 CE were plotted in Istanbul, and some of the Union soldiers were killed in them. The Union army moved from Salonica and entered Istanbul. ⁴

The Committee addressed the sultan with charges of plotting the incident of 31 March, burning the copies of the Qur'an, extravagance, injustice and the shedding of blood. Pressure was put on the Shaykh al-Islam Muhammad Diya' al-Din to issue the fatwa of deposition, and his deputy Hamdi Efendi al-Mali wrote the draft of it, and its final part was amended so that the chamber of deputies would put to the sultan the choice between abdication and deposition. ⁵

On Tuesday, 27 April 1909 CE, 240 members of the chamber of notables gathered, the fatwa was read, and they approved the deposition. The decision was communicated to the sultan through a committee including Emmanuel Qarasu, Aram, Asaad Tobtani and Arif Hikmet. ⁶

al-Sallabi holds that the charges do not survive examination. The evidence showed that the sultan had no knowledge of the incident of 31 March, and that it was impossible to accuse the pious man known for burning the copies of the Qur'an. ⁷

• This entry rests on al-Sallabi's summary of his book, which absolves the sultan of the charges. That is the author's view, and the other accounts of the incident still need checking.
• The primary sources for the incident of 31 March, and the minutes of the chamber of notables, have not yet been checked.