Sunday, January 26, 2014

Istimdad in the fatwas of Shaykh al-Islam Ebussuud Efendi

Shaykh al-Islam Ebussuud Efendi rahimahullah (d. 1574) served as the 14th Shaykh al-Islam [supreme judge and highest official] of the Osmanlı [Ottoman] Empire in the years 1545-1574. One thousand one (1001) of his fatwas were published by Ertuğrul Düzdağ in 1972. The following are my translations of three questions and their answers:

IV. AWLIYA

872. Question: What is required according to sharia [Islamic law] if Zayd calls the names of awliya when he stands up from his place or when he suffers from a calamity?
Answer: Nothing is required.

873. Question: Is anything required according to sharia if Zayd communicates an ailing to the grave of one of awliya or shuhada [martyrs] by sacrificing a sheep for their souls and donating [the meat] to the poor for the purpose of istimdad [seeking help] from them [awliya or shuhada]?
Answer: If he seeks help [from awliya or shuhada] by sacrificing the animal for Allahu ta'ala and donating the resulting sawab [reward for the good deed] to their souls, nothing is required.

874. Question: What is required according to sharia for those who convey the sick and the sacrifices to the takka [dervish lodge] of Qaraja Ahmad by believing that "there is healing in visiting there for the sick"?
Answer: Nothing is required provided that they know that healing [cure, recovery to health] is from Allahu ta'ala and they believe that Qaraja Ahmad is a pious servant [creature of Allahu ta'ala, a mortal being].

Note: The name "Zayd" is a generic name of any man whose action is the subject of a question in such fatwas. Qaraja Ahmad rahimahullah (d. 1450) was a scholar that authored several books.

TURKISH ORIGINAL OF THE TEXT:

IV. Evliya

872. Mes’ele: Zeyd, yerinden kalktıkta, yâ bir belâya giriftar ol­dukta, evliya ismin çağırsa şer'an ne lâzım olur?
Elcevap: Nesne lâzım gelmez.

873. Mes’ele: Zeyd, evliyâullahtan veya şühedâdan bir kimsenin mezarına, anlardan istimdâd için bir marîz iletip, anların ruhları için koyun kurban eyleyip, fukaraya tasadduk eylese şer'an Zeyde nesne lâzım olur mu?
Elcevap: Kurbanı Hak te'âlâ ta'zîmi üzerine eyleyip, seva­bını anların ruhlarına ihdâ edip, istimdâd ederse nesne lâzım gel­mez.

874. Mes’ele: Karaca Ahmed tekkesine hasta ve kurban ileten kimseler, "hasta anda varmakta şifâ gelir" deyu i'tikad eyleseler, şer'an o kimselere ne lâzım olur?
Elcevap: Şifâyı Hak te'âlâ hazreti cenabından bilip, Karaca Ahmedi bir abd-i sâlih i'tikâd ederse nesne yoktur.

Source: M. Ertuğrul Düzdağ, Kanuni Devri Şeyhülislamı Ebussuud Efendi Fetvaları Işığında 16. Asır Türk Hayatı, Enderun Kitabevi, Istanbul 1972.

Murat Yazıcı

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