'ERTUGRUL' IS ENTERTAINMENT, NOT HISTORY

My dear friend Y used to watch an obscure Turkish series about the father of all Ottoman kings back in olden days (post-2016 but pre-2018). Drillis Ertugrul revolved around the life of Ertugrul, a Turkish warrior who ascended the staircase of success to become a local sovereign. His son Ottoman (Uthman in Arabic) founded the Ottoman Empire that lasted until 1920s (when Ataturk abolished the Caliphate). In 2020 CE, people renewed their interest in Ertugrul when the series had already ended with its final season. Pakistani Prime Minister announced that the national television (PTV) would run the entire show in Urdu dubbing during the lunar month of Ramadan. Thus, the previously-unknown series suddenly became a nationwide success in the Islamic country and people started binge-watching Ertugrul on Netflix just to awaken their slumbering religious spirit. Some called it a Turkish Game of Thrones and abhorred glorifying a series filled with Turkish propaganda. But most Pakistanis still think that Ertugrul is based on real events and everything they've seen in the show happened back in the 13th century CE.

We know nothing about the father of Ottomans. Whatever there is to be known about Ertugrul's biography is just a part of legendary accounts that appeared long after the demise of the people involved in these events. History only tells us that Ertugrul was the father of Ottoman and that's what archaeologists have revealed from the coins minted during the time of Ertugrul's son. Legends narrate that Ertugrul's father was Suleyman Shah, who was the son of Kaya Alp, who was a descendant of Oguz. That's it! This is the definite information regarding the main protagonist of Ertugrul. And that's something even the writer of this fabulous series has to say.

Mehmet Bozdag, the man who wrote and produced Ertugrul, told in an interview:

There is very little information about the period we are presenting – not exceeding four [to] five pages. Even the names are different in every source. The first works written about the establishment of the Ottoman State were about 100-150 years later. There is no certainty in this historical data.

On the contrary, we know for a fact that Prophet Muhammad existed. The accounts of his adventures, achievements and proceedings were recorded by Muslims during his lifetime not just orally. His ahadith were textually preserved by his few loyal companions and then, less than a 100 years after his death, there were already historical manuscripts regarding the battles of the Prophet circulating among Muslims. The first sahifah of Muhammad's sayings - that was penned down on a piece of paper - was authored by Hammam b. Munibbah, a student of Abu Hurayrah. Abu Hurayrah narrated to Hammam a few hundred sayings of Prophet Muhammad directly told by Allah's Apostle to Abu Hurayrah. The first historical paper written on the military career of the Arabian Prophet was authored by Urwah b. Zubayr, a student of Prophet's young consort A'ishah. There is enough reliable material to make a lengthy series based upon the first Caliphate - the Rashidun Caliphate - but Turks are more invested in the idea of nationalism than pan-Islamism. Ertugrul is not a tribute to Islam; it's the ramification of Erdogan's nationalistic propaganda.

If you are a fan of Ertugrul and enjoy watching this show, be my guest. There's nothing wrong in watching a well-crafted drama series. But please refrain from calling Ertugrul the story of an Islamic hero. We known absolutely nothing about this guy. We don't even know if he actually did all these things you're praising him for. This entire series is just a product of imagination-gone-pious. Watch it like you'd watch Game of Thrones, Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings. If you need to learn something real about Islam, try Omar Series or Mokhtarnameh. Don't embarrass us in front of the Turks. Even the actor who plays Ertugrul knows all of this is mere fiction.