Defense of Religion in the Second Constitutional Monarchy Period: Nâibzâde Ali Fuad and His Epistle İslâmlık Elden Gidiyor
Mahmut DilbazAli Fuad was born in Istanbul in the last quarter of the 19th century as the son of a regent who was a member of the ilmiye. He passed through the religious and secular education processes of the period and became a member of the ilmiye class. He began working as a civil servant in Adana and welcomed the declaration of the Second Constitutional Monarchy in Istanbul. Five or six months after the declaration of the Constitutional Monarchy, he published his views on the relatively religious, moral, and social problems that he encountered in a small epistle titled “İslâmlık Elden Gidiyor”. Between 1909 and 1920, he worked as a district governor in various parts of the Ottoman territory. When he returned to İstanbul, he published his memoirs in periodicals by editing them into short stories. His book, which he compiled by selecting these narratives and published in 1923 under the name Mustafa Kemal Paşa and Köse Hoca, contains remarkable information and comments on the administrative, social, moral, and literary conditions of the Second Constitutional Monarchy and the War of Independence. However, this work does not receive the attention it deserves in academic history and literature writing and, is even attributed to Ali Fuat Cebesoy, Ali Fuat Türkgeldi, and Ali Fuat Bilgen. In this article, this mistake has been corrected, and Ali Fuad’s life story has been revealed with the information and documents used for the first time. His, treatise on Islam has also been re-published in Latin letters and analyze and criticize.
II. Meşrutiyet Döneminde Bir Din Müdafaası: Nâibzâde Ali Fuad ve İslâmlık Elden Gidiyor Risalesi
Mahmut DilbazAli Fuad, ilmiye mensubu bir nâibin (şer‘î hâkim) oğlu olarak 19. asrın son çeyreğinde İstanbul’da dünyaya gelir. Döneminin dinî ve laik eğitim süreçlerinden geçerek ilmiye sınıfına dâhil olur. Babası Kozan nâibi iken kendisi de Adana Valiliği Yazı İşleri Müdürlüğünde memuriyete başlar. II. Meşrutiyet’in ilanını İstanbul’da karşılar. Taşrada herhangi bir yerleşim yerinin yazı işleri müdürlüğüne atanmayı beklemektedir. Meşrutiyet ilan edileli henüz beş altı ay geçmemişken karşılaştığı görece dinî, ahlâkî, sosyal problemlere dair görüşlerini İslâmlık Elden Gidiyor ismiyle küçük bir risale hâlinde neşreder. 1909-1920 yılları arasında Osmanlı coğrafyasının çeşitli yerlerinde kaymakamlık yapar. İstanbul’a dönünce hatıralarını süreli yayınlarda küçük hikâyeler hâlinde kurgulayarak yayımlar. Bu hikâyelerden seçerek derlediği, Mustafa Kemal Paşa ve Köse Hoca ismiyle 1923 senesinde neşrettiği kitabı II. Meşrutiyet ve Milli Mücadele dönemlerinin idarî, sosyal, ahlâkî ve edebî ahvaline dair dikkate değer bilgi ve yorumlar taşımaktadır. Fakat bu eser akademik tarih ve edebiyat yazıcılığında hak ettiği ilgiyi göremez, hatta Ali Fuat Cebesoy, Ali Fuat Türkgeldi ve Ali Fuat Bilgen’e izafe edilir. Elinizdeki makalede hem bu yanlışlık giderilerek Ali Fuad’ın hayat hikâyesi ilk defa kullanılan bilgi ve belgelerle ortaya konmuş hem de İslâmlık risalesi Latin harfleriyle yeniden yayımlanarak tahlil ve tenkit edilmiştir. İslâmlık risalesinin II. Meşrutiyet’in ortaya çıkardığı şartları dinî, ahlâkî ve sosyal açılardan tenkit eden ilk eserlerden biri, belki de birincisi olduğu söylenebilir.
The purpose of this article is to examine the critical views of a modest author who moved from ilmiye class to qalamiyya class, ezamining practices in the first months of the Second Constitutional Era through, his treatise titled İslâmlık Elden Gidiyor. In this way, it will be revealed how a young writer with religious sensitivities, who went through both religious and secular education processes of the period, was at the beginning of his civil service life and who also produced literary works, was affected by the Second Constitutional Monarchy environment and its practices, and how he viewed controversial issues.
Ali Fuad was the son of the regent (nâib) Mehmed Şükrü Efendi (1850-1919), a member of the ilmiye class. Although it is not known for certain, it is understood that he was born in Istanbul in the last quarter of the 19th century and that he passed through the religious and secular education processes of his period. He began his civil service career as a clerk in the Adana Province Registrar’s Office (1906). Later, he was appointed as a clerk at the Directorate of the Registry of Konya Province. In the spring of 1908, he traveled to Istanbul to pursue his request for promotion and to become the director of correspondence (tahrirat) in any place.
Although he was appointed as the director of correspondence, he could not leave Istanbul because of his mother’s illness. During this period, he began producing literary works and published his treatise İslâmlık. Between 1909 and 1920, he worked as a director of correspondence, letter carrier, and district governor in places such as Divaniye, Devrek, Gelibolu, Diyarbakır, Çermik and Suşehri. After returning to İstanbul, he published his memoirs in periodicals by editing them into short stories. He brought some of these narratives together in his book, Mustafa Kemal Paşa and Köse Hoca, which was published in 1923. Although this work contains remarkable information and comments on the administrative, social, moral, and literary affairs of the Second Constitutional Monarchy and the National Struggle periods, it did not receive the attention in academic history and literature writing that it deserves, and it was even attribute to Ali Fuat Cebesoy, Ali Fuat Türkgeldi, and Ali Fuat Bilgen. In this article, this mistake has been corrected, and Ali Fuad’s life story has been revealed with the information and documents used for the first time. The treatise on Islam has also been re-published in Latin letters and analyze and criticize.
It can be said that the treatise İslâmlık was one of the first, perhaps the first, works to criticize the conditions created by the Second Constitutional Monarchy from religious, ethical, and social perspectives. Although the cover of the treatise does not indicate when it was published, it is understood that it was published in the last days of 1908 or early 1909, based on the signs of its content. Considering that treatises and books criticizing the period in terms of religious, moral and social aspects started to be published a few years after the declaration of the Second Constitutional Monarchy, the importance of the treatise can be better understood.
Ali Fuad explicitly stated that he had published his work with the approval of the Şeyhülislam. This shows that he differentiated himself from the crude criticisms directly projected at the regime and the Şeyhülislam, which could be summarize in the oppositional or rebellious attitudes of the period, which could be summarized as "we want şeriat". In this sense, the discourse of "İslâm is being lost" differs from the discourse of "we want şeriat". Moreover, the fact that the author was not subjected to any prosecution during and after 31 March and that he served in different regions of the state as the director of correspondence/district governor confirms this.
It should be noted that the treatise İslâmlık is problematic in terms of language, expression, fiction, and word-sentence structure. This situation may be related to both the author’s inexperience and the treatise’s sloppy typesetting. However, considering both the title and the issues in the content of the treatise, it should be beyond dispute that this is an important work.
It can be easily said that the treatise does not oppose the constitutional regime itself, nor is it theoretically opposed to popular conceptions of civilization, modern science and the progress of the period. The areas that the treatise opposes and criticizes focus on the point that these modern concepts and institutions are "misunderstood" and "misapplied". It is underlined that current practices harm İslâm and the state, which is considered an integral part of it.
