Abstract:

One of the important works read in Ottoman madrasas is al-Farrāʾ al-Baghawī's (d. 516/1122) hadith book named Masābīh al-Sunnah. In his work, Baghawī brings together the narrations he has chosen from reliable hadith sources. Since the day it was written, many commentaries have been written on the work that has attracted attention. There are commentaries, annotations and translations of the scholars about Masābīh from the Ottoman period. Qutb al-Din al-Izniqī a forerunner scholar of the first madrasa established in Nicaea, is one of the scholars who commented on Masābīh. Izniqī, who authored many works in the fields of tafsir, hadith, fiqh and tasawwuf, continued his life in Nicaea, where important scholars lived in a period when the interregnum problems socially felt. Instead of annotating all the hadiths in Masābīh, Izniqī compiled Talfīqāt al-Masābīh in order to eliminate the apparent disagreement among the hadiths. The manuscripts of Fatih (no. 1125) and Hagia Sophia (no. 476) have survived to the present day. There is no doubt about the author of the work, which is known by different names. The narrations of his son Qutb al-Din zādā from his father confirm this. The author, who stated that the aspirants of knowledge in his own period turned away from tafsir and hadith by turning to the non-religious sciences, tried to determine universal rules to eliminate the conflict between the hadiths and the apparent conflict between the narrations. Izniqī, who cites the method followed by the muhaddiths to resolve the conflict between the hadiths, states that there will be no conflict between the hadiths in any case. Emphasizing that the narrations that are thought to be offensive are said in different situations or environments, and attention should be paid to the apparent or metaphorical expression, the author makes an effort to gather the narrations throughout the work. In the method of preference, instead of preferring one of the narrations to the other, he actually uses the jam' (combining) method by eliminating the conflict between the narration attributed to one of its meanings and the other. There are not all chapters, headings and narrations of Masābīh in Talfīqāt. Izniqī deals only with conflicting narrations. In this aspect, Talfīqāt, which is not a complete commentary on Masābīh, contains extensive evaluations about the narrations discussed. In these evaluations, the author makes use of the main Masābīh commentaries and tries to reveal the meanings of the hadiths. However, information on the hadith such as the reason for saying the hadith, criticism of the narrator and the isnad, the extraction of the hadith, the differences in the copy and the narration, the explanation of strange words are rare. Instead, information that can be considered as dirayat al-hadīth, which aims to reveal the will of the Prophet (PBUH), comes to the fore. For this reason, the author, who frequently makes use of the science of language and logic, focuses on the theological and mystical approach. Although he is one of the Masābīh commentators who belong to the Hanafi School, he does not mention fiqhi issues in the work. While giving place to the approaches of the scholars related to the hadith, Izniqī, who emphasizes the interpretations in line with Maturidī on theological issues, does not refrain from criticizing the interpretations that he does not see appropriate. His main purpose in pointing out the interpretation that he deems it appropriate or the approaches he criticizes is to remove the confusion in the minds of the students and the doubt in their hearts. The author, who sets the rules for this, states that the disagreement about these rules and the hadiths that are not covered in the work can be eliminated, and he refers to these rules throughout the work. Talfīqāt differs from the works written in the field of mukhtalaf al-hadith due to its focus on Masābīh, and the method that the author followed. However, it is also included in the literature as the only work in which the narrations in a work are discussed in terms of controversy. Despite his criticism of his students who gravitate towards instruments and mental sciences, Izniqī does not include the information commonly seen in the commentaries due to the scientific level of his interlocutors, the understanding of copyright and teaching of the period, the characteristics of Masābīh or only the narrations that are the subject of controversy. However, we can say that he followed this method in his work as a conscious choice due to the breadth of his sources, his criticisms and the views he put forward. The criticisms of Izniqī, the Ottoman scholar of the establishment period, the works he wrote, the method he followed in Talfīqāt and the information he gave draws attention as an early Ottoman scholar and especially a muhaddith.

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