Sykes-Picot Agreement

There are moments in history that are invisible to the naked eye, but have an impact that lasts for centuries. If one agreement is to be blamed for the geographical and political decline of the Muslim world, it would undoubtedly be the “Sykes-Picot” agreement of 1916. This secret agreement was actually a stab in the back of Muslims—a fratricidal conspiracy through which the Western colonial powers shattered the heartland of the Muslim Ummah, that is, the Arab world.

During the First World War, when the Ottoman Caliphate was at war with the European colonial powers, on the one hand they were fighting a military battle, and on the other hand diplomatic deception and secret plans were going on. Britain, France, and Russia—the three major powers—sat down in secret to decide how they would divide up the Middle Eastern territories of the Ottoman Empire if it were to collapse.

The agreement is named after two diplomats—Mark Sykes of Britain and Georges Picot of France. Their joint plan was to cut up the map of the Middle East in such a way that the Arabs could never unite. The map of the Arab world, which was once united under the shadow of a single caliphate, now became British and French protectorates.

According to the agreement, Syria and Lebanon would go to France, and Iraq, Jordan, and Palestine would fall under the British. Russia was given parts of Anatolia and eastern Turkey. Although the fall of Turkey was not yet certain, they assumed that the caliphate would be destroyed—and they drew a pre-planned map accordingly.

The most terrible thing here is—this agreement was made completely secretly, without the knowledge of the Arabs. However, the British at that time made another agreement with the Sherif of Mecca, Hussein ibn Ali, in which they assured that if the Arabs rebelled against the Ottomans, the Arabs would be given an independent state at the end of the war. This belief led to the Arab Revolt, symbolized by Lawrence of Arabia. But the reality was different—Britain and France broke their promises and divided the Arabs for their own interests.

After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, Russia published the documents of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, which was a terrifying surprise for the entire Muslim world. The moment the agreement was made public, it became clear to the Arabs that they had been deceived; the Muslim world had not only been defeated—the poisonous shadow of colonialism had fallen on its soul.

The most terrible impact of this agreement was on Palestine. For exactly one year later, in 1917, the British announced the “Balfour Declaration,” in which they promised the Jewish people a “national home” in Palestine. In other words, Sykes-Picot was a plan to set the stage, and Balfour was the beginning of its implementation. We can see the results of this today—the occupation of Israel, the Palestinian refugee problem, and a century of violence.

The map of the Middle East we see today—Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia—none of these are naturally formed states. They are all divided regions scratched by the British-French pen, where blood is pooled on every border, there is a conspiracy behind every nation. As a result of these artificial borders, the Muslim Ummah is isolated from each other, and the poison of nationalism has entered the body of Islam. “I am Syrian,” “I am Iraqi,” “I am Jordanian”—these identities take precedence over the Islamic identity.

The Sykes-Picot Agreement is not just a political agreement in history—it was an example of how Muslim unity can be shattered, how a caliphate can be destroyed through diplomatic deception. If today we see wars, civil strife, refugee crises, or power struggles in the Muslim world—then we have to look back to this agreement to find its roots.

But this history is not for us to despair. This is a lesson—where we can learn how unity is lost, how betrayal destroys a nation, and how an ummah falls into confusion without political foresight. Sykes-Picot shows us how powerful a weapon not only occupation, but also psychological and cultural division is.

If the Muslim world wants to regain true freedom, unity, and leadership, it must remember this history. Our identity must be based on Islam, political unity, and the realities learned from history. And our leadership must be one that puts the interests of the ummah above all else, without falling into the traps of Western diplomacy.