Constructing 19th-century Ḥanafī authority: The case of Qur’anic recitation for pay

Abstract

By the thirteenth century AH/19th century CE, the practice of hiring a professional to recite the Quran and donate the resulting merit (thawāb) to a deceased person was well-entrenched in many parts of the Islamic world. Responding to a wave of bequests for this purpose after an outbreak of the plague, the Syrian Ḥanafī jurist Ibn ʿĀbidīn (d. 1252/1836) produced a famous work strongly denying the legitimacy of such transactions in Ḥanafī fiqh. Freestanding treatises representing the opposing view were produced by two other leading Ḥanafī thinkers of the 19th century, the Algerian Ibn al-ʿAnnābī (d. 1850) and the later Syrian authority Maḥmūd al-Ḥamzāwī (d. 1887). While Ibn ʿĀbidīn’s intervention has usually been interpreted as a response to evolving social practices, it can also be read as an extended application of Ibn ʿĀbidīn’s distinctive approach to the authority structure of the Ḥanafī madhhab. This paper centers on Ibn ʿĀbidīn’s Ḥanafī legal methodology and how it contrasts with those of these other two scholars. Through an examination of these three contrasting Ḥanafī discussions of the same legal issue, it is possible to see the methodological diversity of the Ḥanafī madhhab in the 19th century.

Keywords

• Qur’anic recitation
• Ibn ʿĀbidīn
• Hanafi
• Legal methodology

XIX. Yüzyıl Hanefî Otoritesinin İnşası: Ücret Karşılığı Kur’an Okuma Meselesi

Abstract

XIX. yüzyıla gelindiğinde, Kur’an okuması için bir profesyonel kiralamak ve ortaya çıkan sevabı (thawāb) ölen bir kişiye bağışlama uygulaması, İslam dünyasının birçok yerinde iyice yerleşmişti. Veba salgınının ardından bu amaçla yapılan bir dizi vasiyete yanıt olarak, Suriyeli Hanefî fakihi İbn Âbidîn bu tür işlemlerin Hanefî fıkhında meşruiyetini kesin bir dille reddeden ünlü bir eser kaleme aldı. Karşı görüşü temsil eden bağımsız risaleler ise XIX. yüzyılın önde gelen diğer iki Hanefî düşünürü, Cezayirli İbnü’l-Annâbî (ö. 1850) ve daha sonraki Suriyeli Maḥmûd Ḥamza (ö. 1887) tarafından yazılmıştır. İbn Âbidîn’in müdahalesi genellikle gelişen sosyal uygulamalara bir yanıt olarak yorumlanmış olsa da bu müdahale aynı zamanda İbn Âbidîn’in Hanefî mezhebinin otorite yapısına dair kendine özgü yaklaşımının genişletilmiş bir uygulaması olarak da okunabilir. Bu makale İbn Âbidîn’in Hanefî hukukî metodolojisine ve bunun diğer iki âliminki ile nasıl tezat oluşturduğuna odaklanmaktadır. Aynı hukukî meseleye dair bu üç zıt Hanefî tartışmasının incelenmesi yoluyla, XIX. yüzyıldaki Hanefî mezhebinin metodolojik çeşitliliğini görmek mümkündür.

Keywords

• Kur’an tilaveti
• İbn Âbidîn
• Hanefî mezhebi
• Fıkıh usulü

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