Islamic Intellectual History in the Seventeenth Century: Scholarly Currents in the Ottoman Empire and the Maghreb

418 Pages·2015·4.177 MB·English

by  Khaled El-Rouayheb

IslamicIntellectualHistoryintheSeventeenthCentury
ScholarlyCurrentsintheOttomanEmpireandtheMaghreb
Formuchofthetwentiethcentury,theintellectuallifeoftheOttoman
and Arabic-Islamic world in the seventeenth century was ignored or
mischaracterized by historians. Ottomanists typically saw the seven-
teenth century as marking the end of Ottoman cultural florescence,
whilemodernArabnationalisthistorianstendedtoseeitasyetanother
century of intellectual darkness under Ottoman rule. This book is
the first sustained effort at investigating some of the intellectual cur-
rents among Ottoman and North African scholars of the early mod-
ern period. Examining the intellectual production of the ranks of
learned ulema (scholars) through close readings of various treatises,
commentaries,andmarginalia,KhaledEl-Rouayhebarguesforamore
textured–andtext-centered–understandingofthevibrantexchangeof
ideasandtransmissionofknowledgeacrossavastexpanseofOttoman-
controlledterritory.
Khaled El-Rouayheb is James Richard Jewett Professor of Arabic and
ofIslamicIntellectualHistoryintheDepartmentofNearEasternLan-
guagesandCivilizationsatHarvardUniversity.HespecializesinAra-
bic and Islamic intellectual history, especially in the period from the
thirteenthtotheeighteenthcenturies.HeistheauthorofBeforeHomo-
sexuality in the Arab-Islamic World, 1500–1800 (2005) and Rela-
tional Syllogisms and the History of Arabic Logic, 900–1900 (2010).
He is also coeditor of the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Islamic
Philosophy.

Islamic Intellectual History in the
Seventeenth Century
Scholarly Currents in the Ottoman Empire
and the Maghreb
KHALED EL-ROUAYHEB
HarvardUniversity
32AvenueoftheAmericas,NewYork,ny10013-2473,usa
CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge.
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Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107042964
(cid:2)C KhaledEl-Rouayheb2015
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andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
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permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2015
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
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LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
El-Rouayheb,Khaled.
Islamicintellectualhistoryintheseventeenthcentury:scholarlycurrentsin
theOttomanEmpireandtheMaghreb/KhaledEl-Rouayheb.
pages cm
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn978-1-107-04296-4(hardback:alkalinepaper)
1.Turkey–Intellectuallife–17thcentury. 2.Africa,North–Intellectual
life–17thcentury. 3.Learningandscholarship–Turkey–History–
17thcentury. 4.Learningandscholarship–Africa,North–History–
17thcentury. 5.Muslimscholars–Turkey–History–17thcentury.
6.Muslimscholars–Africa,North–History–17thcentury. 7.Muslim
philosophers–Turkey–History–17thcentury. 8.Muslimphilosophers–
Africa,North–History–17thcentury. I.Title.
dr511.e57 2015
956(cid:3).015–dc23 2015010600
isbn978-1-107-04296-4Hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyofurls
forexternalorthird-partyInternetWebsitesreferredtointhispublicationanddoesnot
guaranteethatanycontentonsuchWebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate.
Oreader!Theremayoccurinourworkthingswithwhichyouare
not familiar and that you will find nowhere else. Do not hurry to
condemn this, whimsically heeding the call of the one who merely
relayswhatothershavesaidandstitchesittogether,andforwhom
theultimateinknowledgeandtheaimofalleffortistosay“Soand
sohassaid.”NobyGod!...WeseekrefugeinGodfromblackening
folios and stuffing quires with what people have said and meant,
following the well-trodden path of imitation (taqlı¯d) as the dull-
witted do...There is no difference between an imitator being led
and a pack-animal being led. So know, o reader, that we have not
included in this or other compositions anything besides what we
believetobecorrect,viz.conceptsandpropositionsthatareevident
orcorrectlyarguedfor.
–al-H.asanal-Yu¯s¯ı(d.1691)
Haditnotbeenforimitation(taqlı¯d),nooneoftheignorantwould
havebeendeprivedofthetruth,andnoonecouldbeheardsaying,
“Wehavenotheardthisfromourfirstforefathers.”Theonewhom
the Lord wishes to make a consummate scholar, He will guide by
making him understand that “Wisdom is the stray camel of the
believer”andwillmakehimcommittotakewhatispureandleave
whatisadulterated...Oyou,whoarebrimmingwithintelligence,
do not look to who is saying something but to what is being said,
for this is the way of the verifiers (muh.aqqiqı¯n) and the custom of
thosewhodelvedeep(mudaqqiqı¯n)intoscholarlymatters!
–K.araḪal¯ılT¯ırev¯ı(d.1711)

Contents
Figures,Maps,andTables page xi
Acknowledgments xiii
NoteonTransliteration,Dates,andTranslations xv
Introduction 1
part i: “the path of the kurdish and
persian verifying scholars”
1 KurdishScholarsandtheReinvigorationoftheRational
Sciences 13
TheMythofthe“TriumphofFanaticism” 14
OpeningtheGateofVerificationinDamascus 26
OpeningtheGateofVerificationintheHejaz,Istanbul,
andAnatolia 37
Conclusion 56
2 ADiscourseonMethod:TheEvolutionofA¯da¯b
al-bah.th 60
AnExplosionofInterestinDialectics(A¯da¯bal-bah.th) 61
Seventeenth-CenturyOttomanContributionstoA¯da¯b
al-bah.th 70
A¯da¯bal-bah.thandRelationalSyllogisms 85
3 TheRiseof“DeepReading” 97
TraditionalManualsontheAcquisitionofKnowledge 99
A¯da¯bal-bah.thand“TheProprietiesofReading” 106
Mu¨neccimba¯s¸¯ıon“theProprietiesofReading” 109
Sa¯c¸ak.l¯ıza¯deontheAcquisitionofKnowledge 115
vii
viii Contents
DeepReadingandTextualCriticism 120
OttomanEducationandtheIdealofDeepReading 125
Conclusion 128
part ii: saving servants from the yoke
of imitation
4 Maghreb¯ı“Theologian-Logicians”inEgyptand
theHejaz 131
Maghreb¯ıLogiciansinEgypt 131
TheSeventeenth-CenturyEfflorescenceintheMaghreb 147
FourMaghreb¯ıScholarsintheEast 153
TheEndofanEra 170
5 TheCondemnationofImitation(Taqlı¯d) 173
Sanu¯s¯ıonImitation(Taqlı¯d) 175
Sanu¯s¯ı’sInfluenceintheEast 188
Sanu¯s¯ı-InspiredCreedalWorks 193
AForgottenChapterinIslamicReligiousHistory 200
6 al-H.asanal-Yu¯s¯ıandTwoTheologicalControversiesin
Seventeenth-CenturyMorocco 204
TheControversyConcerningthe“Imitator”(Muqallid) 204
H.asanal-Yu¯s¯ı’sDefenseofLogic 215
H.asanal-Yu¯s¯ıontheControversyConcerningtheIslamic
ProfessionofFaith 221
Epilogue:Zab¯ıd¯ı’sCriticism 230
part iii: the imams of those who proclaim
the unity of existence
7 TheSpreadofMysticalMonism 235
Sixteenth-CenturyArabSufiScholarsonIbnʿArab¯ı 237
TheShat.t.a¯r¯ıOrderintheHejaz 249
TheNaqshband¯ıOrderintheHejazandSyria 257
TheKhalwat¯ıOrderinSyria 261
Conclusion 270
8 MonistMysticsandNeo-H.anbal¯ıTraditionalism 272
Ku¯ra¯n¯ıonFigurativeInterpretation(Taʾwı¯l) 275
Ku¯ra¯n¯ıandNa¯bulus¯ıontheValueofRationalTheology
(Kala¯m) 285
Ku¯ra¯n¯ıandNa¯bulus¯ıonOccasionalismandHumanActs 294
Conclusion 305
9 InDefenseofWah.datal-Wuju¯d 312
Tafta¯za¯n¯ı’sCriticismofWah.datal-Wuju¯d 313
Ku¯ra¯n¯ı’sDefenseofWah.datal-Wuju¯d 320