A CRITICAL COMPARISON BETWEEN THE PRESIDENCY OF RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS (DİYANET İŞLERİ BAŞKANLIĞI) AND THE OFFICE OF SHAYKH AL-ISLÂM

Year 2019, Volume: 6 Issue: 11, 421 - 452, 30.12.2019

Emine Enise Yakar

Abstract

After the 19th century, a great number of religious institutions that manage religious
affairs were established in many Muslim countries. These religious institutions bear
official identity since they were established by states. Some academics, authors and
intellectuals liken these institutions to the offices of Shaykh al-Islām that existed
between 11th and 18th centuries and evaluate modern religious institutions as if the
follow-up these religious offices. This results in some misunderstandings. The article compares the Presidency of Religious affairs in Turkey to the office of Shaykh
al-Islām in the Ottoman Empire with the intent of obviating these misunderstandings. Before comparing these two religious institutions, the article presents brief
explanations of their history, establishment and functions in their times, and then
these two institutions are comparatively evaluated from two different perspectives.
In the first instance, it is drawn a parallel between two in terms of their jurisdiction.
In the second instance, the functions and roles of fatwās issued by the two are evaluated in their respective environments. The comparison and evaluation of the two
institutions from these angles considerably help to scatter the misconceptions to
which are led by those academics, authors and critics who establish strong similarities between past and modern religious institutions. 

Keywords

Religious Institutions, the Diyanet, the Office of Shaykh al-Islām, Fatwā, Islamic Law

DİYANET İŞLERİ BAŞKANLIĞI VE ŞEYHÜL İSLAM MAKAMLIĞI ARASINDA KRİTİK BİR KARŞILAŞTIRMA

Abstract

19. yüzyıl sonrası birçok Müslüman ülkesinde dini işleri yürüten dini kurumlar kurulmuştur. Devlet tarafından kurulduğu için bu kurumların çoğu resmi bir kimlik
taşımaktadır. Bu resmi dini kurumlar bazı akademisyenler, yazarlar ve entelektüeller
tarafından 11. ve 18. yüzyılları arasında var olan Şeyhü’l İslamlık Makamlıklarına
benzetilmiş ve sanki onların devamıymış gibi değerlendirilmiştir. Bu da akademik sahada bazı yanlış anlaşılmalar neden olmuştur. Bu yanlış anlaşılmaları gidermeyi hedefleyen bu makale bu günkü Türkiye’de var olan Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı ve
Osmanlı devletindeki Şeyhü’l İslam Makamlığını karşılaştırmalı olarak değerlendirmektedir. Bu iki kurum arasında detaylı bir karşılaştırma yapmadan önce, bu iki
kurumun tarihi, kuruluşları ve kendi dönemlerindeki işlevleri ve görevleri hakkında
kısa bir bilgi verilmektedir. Daha sonra, bu iki kurum arasındaki farklılıkları göstermek için iki noktadan bu kurumlar karşılıklı olarak değerlendirilmektedir. İlk etapta bu iki kurum çalışma sahaları bakımından birbiriyle karşılaştırılır. İkinci etapta
ise bu iki kurumun tarafından verilen fetvaların yasal sistemdeki ve toplumdaki
işlevleri ve rolleri açısından karşılaştırılmalı olarak değerlendirilmektedir. Bu iki
kurumun bu iki açıdan detaylı olarak karşılaştırılması, bazı eleştirmenler, yazarlar
ve akademisyenler tarafından bu iki kurum arasında güçlü bir benzerlik kurularak
neden olunan yanlış anlaşılmaların giderilmesine katkı sağlayacaktır.

Keywords

Dini Kurumlar, Diyanet, İslam Hukuku, Şeyhü'l İslamlık, Fetva

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