Memlükler Dönemi Siyer Yazıcılığına Genel Bir Bakış
Güllü Yıldızİki buçuk asrı aşkın bir zaman dilimi boyunca Mısır, Bilad-ı Şam ve Hicaz bölgelerinde hüküm süren Memlükler dönemi (1250-1517), İslâmî ilimlerin her alanında önemli gelişmelerin yaşandığı bir dönemdir. Siyer yazıcılığı açısından da benzer gelişmelerin yaşandığı tahmin edilmektedir. Ancak bu konuda kapsamlı bir çalışma yapılmadığı için bu yargılar, şimdiye kadar tahminden öteye gitmemiştir. Dolayısıyla dönemin siyer yazıcılığı hakkında dile getirilen tahminlerin âlimler ve eserleri üzerinden test edilmesi ve muhtemel gelişmelerin bütün boyutlarıyla tespit edilmesi bir gerekliliktir. Memlükler Dönemi siyer yazıcılığına bir giriş olma iddiasındaki bu makalede, öncelikle tespit edilebildiği kadarıyla bu dönemde yazılmış siyeri konu alan eserler; muhtevaları, benimsenen usuller ve öne çıkarılan konular bağlamında incelenmiştir. Çalışmanın ikinci bölümünde ise Memlükler döneminde siyer konularına dair yürütülen bazı tartışmalar ve bu tartışmalara bağlı olarak telif edilen eserler söz konusu edilmektedir. Son olarak gerek âlimler arasında cereyan eden ilmî tartışmalarının bir ürünü olarak kaleme alınan küçük hacimli risalelerin, gerekse bilginin toplumsal düzleme aktarımında yaşanan tartışmaları yansıtan en önemli kaynaklardan fetva mecmualarının, siyer yazıcılığı açısından kaynaklık değeri vurgulanmaya çalışılmıştır.
An Overview on the Historiography of Sīra during the Mamlūk Era
Güllü YıldızThe era of Mamlūk rule that lasted for two and a half centuries (1250-1517) over Egypt, Bilād al-Shām and Hijaz regions represents a new phase in the Islamic scholarly tradition, differentiating from it’s predecessor in various aspects. In regard to the sīra field, it is also estimated that some important developments must have happened. Nevertheless, such claims have remained unattested up until now. Thus, it requires substantiating with a thorough examination of scholars and their texts and developments in all dimensions related to the subjects of sīra. Pretending to be an introduction to the historiography of sīra during the Mamlūk era, this study firstly examines an established list of sīra works written in this period in terms of contents, methods, and subjects put forward by scholars. Secondly, it discusses some controversies on sīra subjects and texts compiled because of these controversies. Finally, it tries to emphasize the source value of treatises and fatwa compilations for the historiography of sīra since treatises were written by scholars to defend their views in the scholarly debates and fatwa compilations depict the transmission of religious knowledge produced within scholarly circles to social practices.
Aiming to be an introduction to the historiography of sīra during the Mamlūk era, this study is planned as two parts. The first part examines an established list of sīra works written in this period in terms of contents, methods, and subjects put forward by scholars. Thus, it tries to draw a frame for sīra books of the Mamlūk era by putting emphasis on the diversity of them. Examining one or two texts from each genre, it reaches some conclusions which are thought to be extended to include other texts of the same genre as well. The second part discusses some controversies on sīra subjects and texts compiled because of these controversies. Also, it emphasizes the source value of treatises and fatwa compilations for the historiography of sīra since treatises were written by scholars to defend their views in the scholarly debates and fatwa compilations depict the transmission of religious knowledge produced within scholarly circles to social practices.
The Mamlūk era is regarded as representing the highest rank that the Islamic world has reached until that day in text production not only quantitatively but also qualitatively. It can be said that this judgement is acceptable for the historiography of sīra. Even it is still far from being thorough, our text list is rich enough to confirm this assessment. Although we cannot talk about an emerging new genre in the sīra field, the most developed texts of every genre were compiled during this period. Also some genres came into prominence and issued more texts than others. First of all, we must remark “comprehensive sīras” as the first of these genres. Designating a sīra work as “comprehensive” in this study means that it includes not only a chronological narrative of the Prophet Muhammad’s life but also his appearance (shamāil), his special features (khasāis) and prophetic proofs (dalāil), his hilya, his miracles, his family and relatives, his wives and children, his freed slaves and servants, his scribes and mu’azzins, his property, weapons and mounts, his major and minor pilgrimages, his death and funeral. Comprehensive sīras can be regarded as a reflection of the encyclopedic feature of the period on the historiography of sīra. Even in abridged sīras written in this period, the content of the comprehensive sīras was applied. In addition to comprehensive sīras, there are so many examples of abridged sīras and sīras written in verse from the Mamlūk era and these texts are primarily used for educational purposes in scholarly circles.
Another scholarly feature of the Mamlūk era is compiling commentaries and glosses on canonic texts of Islamic sciences. Considering the sīra field, this period is also very rich in regard to the commentaries and glosses. It can be observed that some scholars tend to limit themselves to literally explanations, while on the contrary, others tend to extend their comments on every aspect of the text under scrutiny. In addition to sīra books, it must be noted that there are also books from other genres written in this period which include a chapter on sīra. These sīra chapters in general histories, biographical dictionaries, and encyclopedic works must also be examined in detail to reach a complete picture of the period in terms of the historiography of sīra.
Beside the above mentioned sīra works which were produced and consumed mostly within academic circles, there are also “popular” sīra works which were mostly composed and narrated by storytellers and preachers. Prominent scholars such as Ibn Taymiyya severely criticized these popular sīra works and issued fatwas or compiled treatises against them especially on the mawlid (the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad and the celebrations), his miracles and prophetic proofs.
To conclude it must be emphasized that the historiography of sīra during the Mamlūk era is still a largely unstudied subject. Thus, the very first aim of this study is to show that there are an exhausting list of works still waiting to be examined in various aspects. Because that period witnessed a massive text production and scholars put emphasis on protecting the academic heritage, reconstructing it and transmitting it to the next generations in a more systematic way.