1. Oflu Muhammed Emin Efendi’nin Necâtü’l-Müʾminîn Adlı İlmihalinin Tahlili ve Son Dönem Osmanlı Halkının İbadet Anlayışının Günümüzle Mukayesesi.
- Author
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ÇÖKLÜ, Ramazan
- Abstract
Ilmihals are generally books of Islamic jurisprudence, which consist of the matters of acts of worship, rules of conduct, belief and ethics that Muslims are prescribed to know. However, most of the ilmihal books are devoted to issues related to the acts of worship, and they try to explain the issues that the public needs most or makes mistakes and current issues. Many ilmihal books were written during the Ottoman period. One of them is Oflu Muḥammed Emīn Efendī's (d. 1320 AH/1902 CE) treatise titled Nejāt almuʾminīn. Muḥammed Emīn Efendī was an important religious figure who gave effective sermons for sixty years in various places, especially Fatih Mosque, and drew attention to the corruption in society both in his works and in his sermons. Muḥammed Emīn Efendī, who had been a member of the Naqshbandiyya Sufi order for a while, later left his order stating that it had moved away from the religious path and become a means of selfinterest. However, Oflu Hodja was not against Sufi orders and Sufism in general. He criticized ignorant people who deviated from the path of Sharia and use Sufi orders and Sufism for their own personal interests. In fact, his influence on the society led to the formation of a community around him called “Fatih Sofuları”, which had its own understanding of religion. There are Sufi works among the sources of Nejāt al-muʾminīn. This shows that Oflu Hodja was not against Sufism in general. Muḥammed Emīn Efendī’s views and lifestyle have been likened by some contemporary researchers to those of the Qadızâdelis, a group of preachers who started a social and religious movement in the Ottoman Empire. Muḥammed Emīn Efendī, who earned his living by selling milk, was exiled for a period due to his harshstyle and some of his books were confiscated. The ilmihal titled Nejāt al-muʾminīn is Muḥammed Emīn Efendī’s most famous work. Due to its unique language, style and content, it was one of the most popular works of its time and was published in both official and pirated editions. In addition, it differs from the other ilmihals because it also deals with Muslims’ life of worship of its time. Nejāt al-muʾminīn does not deal with all the topics covered by ilmihal books. Most of it is devoted to matters related to ritual prayer, while having no mention related to the matters of pilgrimage. The topics of fasting, sacrifice and sadaqa al-fitr are explained very briefly. This is because the main purpose of the work is to correct the mistakes of the society related to the acts of worship. For this reason alone, the treatise mentions some of the erroneous behaviors that the people of that day practiced both individually and collectively. The work is also different from other ilmihal books in terminology of the language it used. Because Muḥammed Emīn Efendī, who was a preacher for many years, reflected the style of his sermons in his writings as well, and as a result, although his expressions were sometimes quite harsh, he mostly warned and advised Muslims. In the work, how to perform acts of worship is especially explained in detail. In this respect, Nejāt al-muʾminīn is a source that mirrors the religious, actual and cultural life of the period. This is probably one of the main reasons for its popularity and acceptance by the society. Muḥammed Emīn Efendī made use of famous books of Islamic jurisprudence as well as Qur’anic exegesis, hadith and Islamic creed in writing his treatise Nejāt al-muʾminīn, and in many places he explained the issues by citing verses and hadiths as evidence. In one or two chapters, he interpreted the relevant verses just like a Qur’anic exegete. So much so that the reader of the treatise feels like listening to preaching and advice from a teacher in addition to attaining the knowledge related to the matters of ilmihal. In many issues, he included the views of the four madhhabs, sometimes making preferences among these views and sometimes adopting a view different from his own madhhab. In his ilmihal, he defined the concepts of Islamic jurisprudence and included some general maxims. In this article, first, Oflu Hodja's scholarly personality is briefly mentioned, then his treatise Nejāt al-muʾminīn is analyzed, and finally, within the framework of the issues addressed in the work, the understanding of worship of the late Ottoman people is compared with today’s understanding. The work has been analyzed through the editions available in the Ottoman archives; and in this context, its general characteristics in terms of language, expression and methodology have been explained, its sources have been identified and its content has been analyzed. While analyzing the content of the work, the jurisprudential issues in which Oflu Hodja disagreed with the Hanafī madhhab were also identified. In the last section of the article, the understanding of worship of the Ottoman people of the period within the framework of the treatise Nejāt almuʾminīn has been compared with today’s understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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