Assalamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullaah. I have a question that has really puzzled me and I'm seeking the answer from you. I read a book by one of the contemporary du'aat (callers to Islam) who said that Muhammad Al-Fatih killed his nursing brother. Is this true? I'm not looking for a ruling on anyone, but I'm in search of the answer especially since I constantly suspect this caller's words. I hope you can tell me the names of trustworthy books to read about Islamic history. Jazaak Allaahu Khayran.

In the name of Allaah, the Benevolent, the Merciful. All praise is due to Allaah, and peace and blessings be upon the messenger of Allaah, upon his family, companions, and those loyal to him. Many of the reports of history are without rope and rein (i.e. unbound from the criterion of authenticity) and those whose field is Jarh & Ta'deel (i.e. the science of verifying the trustworthiness of narrators) are to verify them as they do with the prophetic ahadeeth. Muhammad Al-Fatih was of the powerful sultans of the Ottoman Empire. He is the one who destroyed the Byzantine Empire and conquered many lands and kingdoms; of them Corinthia, Ghaalata, Argos, and Genova. He personally led the army that surrounded Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, then conquered it by Allaah's bounty and assumed authority over the Greek kingdom Trunboron. In 1462, he conquered Romania, Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Albania and Konya became a part of the Ottoman Empire. In 1476, he conquered Hungary and Maldova... it is enough boast for him that he fulfilled the prophecy of the prophet, peace and blessings be upon him: "Constantinople (Istanbul) will be conquered. How excellent a leader is its leader, and how excellent an army is that army." As for the story of him killing his infant nursing brother Ahmad, this was a lie fabricated by the enemies of the Ottoman empire to tarnish the reputation of the champion mujahid sultan, Muhammad Al-Fatih, may Allaah have mercy on him. Of the evidences of this forged lie is what follows: 1 - What is established is that Ahmad died of drowning in the water basin when his caretaker was inattentive of him. 2 - Is it reasonable that a grand sultan became jealous of a nursing brother of his whose highest aspirations are a drink of milk and whose intentions and desires cannot be predicted - so he kills him preemptively instead of raising him upon the obedience of Allaah and His messenger and upon sincerity... and feeding him loyalty to the nation and caliphate? 3 - Sultan Muhammad Al-Fatih was raised an Islamic upbringing at the hands of a band of the scholars of his age such as Shaykh Muhammad Jibilly Zaadah, Shaykh Siraaj Ad-Deen Al-Hably, and Shaykh Ismaa'eel Al-Kuraniy (who Al-Fatih called the Abu Haneefah of his time). 4 - It (this lie) was reported without a rope or rein (i.e. no chain of narration)... rather it was one of his enemies who made it up. 5 - The claimed method of murder proves the ridiculousness and fallacy of this story: The spreaders of this forgery claim that the Sultan Muhammad Al-Fatih sent one of his generals whose name is Ali Bik to the women's quarters to kill his nursing brother. When Ali Bik learned that the child is in the women's bathroom where his caretaker is bathing him, he burst into the bathroom, grabbed the nursing child and submerged him below the water until he died choking and drowning... What nonsense is this? Can it be believed the Muhammad Al-Fatih, with his wisdom and intelligence, could go forward with murdering his brother in this naive and open manner? Can a reasonable person believe that Muhammad Al-Fatih was incapable of delegating one of the women, such as his wife or one of her servants, to execute this mission without attracting anyone's attention... instead of sending a man to the women's quarters, which is uncustomary... wherein this man bursts into the women's bathroom, where the women are unveiled and discarded of much of their clothing, which is so radically uncustomary that it would lead to inciting the screams of these women and their panic and force this man to flee before he is able to execute his plans irrespective of his boldness and villainy. Hence, what is the truth behind this lie? The truth is that the caretaker that was responsible to look after the nursing child Ahmad became distracted with something as she was bathing him... so he fell into the water basin... wherein he drowned before the outstretched hands could rescue him when the opportunity had passed. Therefore, what has preceded is proof to the innocence of the Sultan Muhammad Al-Fatih from this accusation... it is but the fabrication concocted at the hands of the envious and spiteful. And Allaah, the Most High, knows best.