@article{article_1618595, title={Rethinking Seventeenth-Century Ottoman Māturīdism: Madhhabī Identity and Its Manifestations in the Provincial Context}, journal={İslam Araştırmaları Dergisi}, pages={77–98}, year={2025}, DOI={10.26570/isad.1618595}, author={Çelik, Şerife Nur}, keywords={XVII. Yüzyıl Osmanlı Entelektüel Düşüncesi, İrade-i cüziyye, Mehmed Birgivî, et-Tarîkatü’l-muhammediyye, Osmanlı Mâtürîdîlîği}, abstract={The policies implemented by the Ottoman polity in the sixteenth century in order to protect Sunni orthodoxy had an impact on the spread of Māturīdism as a theological identity in the seventeenth century. Mehmed Birgivī (d. 981/1573), a prominent Ottoman scholar, addressed the problem of free will in al-Tarīqa al-muhammadiyya, which he wrote for the spread of correct beliefs and religious practices and wherein he rephrased Sadr al-Sharīʿa’s (d.747/1346) argument of al-muqaddimāt al-arba‘ (four premises) on a theological ground through the concept of al-irāda al-juziyya (particular will). In the seventeenth century the discussion of free will in al-Ṭarīqa was on the agenda of scholars in the Ottoman provinces, and madhhabī identities were grounded on discussions of free will. While Birgivī’s statements on this subject played an important role in shaping Ottoman Māturīdism, they were also at the center of Ashʿarite scholars’ criticisms of the Māturīdī tradition. This article reveals how scholars in the Ottoman provinces justified their Māturīdī identity based on the al-irāda al-juziyya treatises in a mecmūa compiled by Abdurrahmān b. Ramazān, who lived in and around Izmir. This article argues that in these treatises, Māturīdite identity is constructed as a theological identity while responding to the criticisms directed against the Māturīdī tradition centered on Birgivī. These treatises, written around Birgivī’s al-Tarīqa, are analyzed in the intellectual, political and historical context of the period in connection with the role they played in the course of Māturīdism in the Ottoman provinces.}, number={54}, publisher={Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslam Araştırmaları Merkezi}