Notes on Abū Sa‛īd al-Khādimī and His Treatise on Khushū‛ (Reverence) in Prayer
Öz
Khādimī was born in 1113/1701 in the town of Khādim, which is located in today’s district of Konya. His family traces back to Bukhara. His father, a mudarris (professor), was Hacı Mustafa Efendi, and his mother was Hediye Hanım. His lineage is said to have reached the Prophet. He obtained his primary education from his father and memorized the entirety of the Quran at the age of ten. He learned the fundamental sciences at his father’s madrasah from whom he received his first diploma. It was here that he read with his father the Kutub al-Sittah and other Hadith books along with their chains of transmission. After some time he went to study at the Konya Karatay Madrasah in order to get a better education. Here he studied for five years and received a second diploma from mudarris Ibrahim Efendi. With the recommendation of his teacher, he left for Istanbul and, over the course of seven years, continued his educational training with Kazābādī Ahmed Efendi. He learned Arabic and Persian. Thereafter, he returned to Khādim and began to give lectures at his father’s madrasah. Khādim became a center of learning during this period as a result of his family. With the spread of his fame to Anatolia, Khādimī went to Istanbul on the invitation of Sultan Ahmed III. He gave a sermon to a large gathering at the Hagia Sophia where his teacher Kazābādī was based. His sermon, where he explicated on Ṣūrah al-Fātiḥah, had a considerable influence on the congregation. The Caliph had offered him to stay in Istanbul at the Topkapı Palace, but he preferred to return to Khādim. His madrasah, which incorporated five branches of study, evokes today’s divinity faculties. In addition to education-training activities, he penned many a work. Khādimī, a scholar, possessor of many virtues, a poet, a faqīh (jurisconsult), an uṣūlī (legal methodologist), a fine educator, and one well-acquainted in the study of logic, had left behind a great number of students and works, and in the year 1176/1762, he died in Khādim where his grave-site is also located.
Khādimī, who in his commitment to the gnostic tradition, divided the prayer into ẓāhir (outward) and bāṭin (inward), and penned the “Namazda Huşū‛ Risalesi” in order to draw attention to the prayer’s inward conditions, and to underscore its importance. Khādimī made use of Ghazzālī’s Iḥyā ‛ulūm al-dīn and Bidāyah al-hidāyah particularly in the aforementioned treatise of his, alongside other works as well that dealt with the topic. Khādimī begins by expounding on the supplications of ritual ablution, and draws focus on the necessity of purifying both the outward and the inward. Accordingly, just as a believer who when standing in the presence of God Most High whose outward organs which are visible to the people are cleansed from physical impurities through the ritual ablution which they perform, similarly, when preparing to converse with God Most High should one purify all such spiritual impurities, and purge their heart from mā-siwā (all that is other than God) and from things that are of no benefit. Subsequently, the author also touches on the etiquettes of purification, and addresses them in two categories of contingent and inherent. Later on, he makes mention of khushū‛ in prayer, and examines the elements and conditions of prayer in detail.
As indicated in the above-mentioned treatise and sources, prayer is remembrance, recitation, bowing, prostration, standing, and sitting. Remembrance and recitation is conversing with God. Nevertheless, if the heart is not aware of this, then the tongue’s action would carry no meaning. Bowing and prostration is expressing reverence to God. Otherwise, without having this feeling the body’s action has no meaning. Standing signifies one’s stance in God’s presence in a manner that the heart is conscious and in repose. Just as a body that moves here and there at a time when it is meant to be bolt upright creates unsightliness, likewise is the heart of one whose consciousness strays off to some place while in the presence of God at the height of unsightliness. For these not to be heeded is a condition that shows that the prayer is without spirit. The most fundamental factor in securing khushū‛ in prayer is the heart’s presence. At the outset of the treatise, the cultivation and fruits of the heart’s presence was emphasized. According to this, ḥuḍūr al-qalb (presence of the heart) means that the heart, while abiding in its presence, is emptied from all things other than God, to whom one is speaking and entreating. Cultivation of the heart’s presence is brought about with the turning of the heart towards God with all its strength (himmah); its fruit is to know God’s splendor and mightiness (ta‛ẓīm), to know that God is free of any need from the universe (haybah); to know God’s favors, beneficence, and generosity, and the overall immenseness of His blessings (raja‘), and also to be conscious of one’s deficiency in their servitude and one’s feebleness in their obeisance to God Most High (ḥayā’). If in one’s heart there has emerged a total awareness of some certain delusions (khawāṭir al-qalb), so from there hayā’ (modesty) will spring forth. Khawāṭir, which are the involuntary suggestions that come to the heart and the thoughts that are attached to the mind, must be evaded. In this way, according to Khādimī, this is the state of those who are able to pray in a state of khushū‛. If God’s compassion, blessings, and protection is not a matter of concern, then the prayer of the heedless is in danger. God’s compassion is bountiful, His beneficence is abundant. We have no other choice but to concede to our feebleness in submitting to God.
In conclusion, worship, and its specific form of prayer in particular, indicates a process that furnishes purification from vileness (taqwā) and adornment with virtues (iḥsān). This, however, is only viable through a cognitive state of worship. And this is a type of virtue that is to be acquired not just superficially but by being acquainted with and valuing one’s own essential self and soul. Khādimī’s treatise, therefore, awakens this attitude and standard of conduct.
In the publication of the treatise, two copies were taken as a basis, one printed and the other in manuscript form. From these, the printed edition is found in the author’s treatise Majmū‛ al-rasā’il (Istanbul 1302, p. 199-209) and has been designated with the letter (ط). The one in manuscript form is located at the Süleymaniye Library in the Denizli collection (no. 389, ff. 117a−121b) and has been designated in this publication with the letter (د).
Anahtar Kelimeler
Ebû Sa‘îd El-Hâdimî’nin Namazda Huşû Risalesi
Öz
Ebû Said Muhammed Hâdimî, 1113/1701 yılında Konya – Hadim’de doğdu. İlköğrenimini babasından gördü. Konya Karatay Medresesi’nde eğitim aldı. Ardından İstanbul’a gidip tahsilini tamamladı. Daha sonra Hadim’e döndü. Hayatı boyunca burada eğitim ve irşat faaliyetinde bulundu. 1176/1762 yılında Hadim’de vefat etti. Hâdimî, irfani geleneğe bağlı kalarak namazın adabını zahirî ve batınî olmak üzere ikiye ayırmış ve namazın batınî şartlarına dikkat çekmek ve önemine işaret etmek amacıyla “Namazda Huşû Risâlesi”ni kaleme almıştır. Bu risalesinde özellikle Gazzâlî’nin İĥyâǿu Ǿulûmi’d-dîn ve Bidâyetü’l-hidâye adlı kitaplarının yanı sıra konuya yer veren diğer bazı eserlerden de istifade etmiştir. Namazda huşûyu sağlayan en temel özellik kalp huzurudur. Risalenin başında kalp huzurunun sebebi ve semereleri üzerinde durulmuştur. Buna göre, huzûru’l-kalb, kalbi, huzurunda durup kendisiyle konuşulan ve yakarışta bulunulan Allah’ın dışındaki her şeyden boşaltmak demektir. Kalp huzurunun sebebi kalbin bütün gücüyle Allah’a yönelmesidir (himmet); semereleri ise Allah’ın celal ve azametini bilmek (ta‘zîm), Allah’ın âlemlerden müstağni olduğunu bilmek (heybet), Allah’ın lütuf, ihsan ve cömertliğini, nimetlerinin enginliğini bilmek (recâ) ve de kullukta kusurun ve Allah Teâla’ya saygıda acziyetin bilincinde olmaktır (hayâ). Risalenin neşrinde birisi matbu ve diğeri yazma olmak üzere iki nüsha esas alınmıştır. Bunlardan matbu olanı müellifin risalelerinin yer aldığı MecmûǾatü’r-resâil’i (İstanbul 1302, s. 199-209) içinde bulunmaktadır. Yazma olan nüsha ise Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi dahilindeki Denizli koleksiyonunda (nr. 389, vr. 117a -121b) yer almaktadır.
Anahtar Kelimeler
