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TURKOMANS BETWEEN TWO EMPIRES: THE ... - Bilkent University

TURKOMANS BETWEEN TWO EMPIRES: THE ... - Bilkent University

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Hamza’s foundation in accusing qizilbashes with disbelief (küfr), however, seems to<br />

have been heavily manipulated by the political conditions of the period. First of all,<br />

some of his accusations appears to be at least over-toned. For example, despising<br />

Qur’an, Shari’a, and Islam must be carefully regarded. Furthermore, as delineated<br />

elsewhere in this study, permitting the acts banned by God and prostrating before Shah<br />

Ismail should be appraised within the unorthodox, extremist-shi’ite, and militant Sufism<br />

of the qizilbashes. That sort of Sufism was not a new phenomenon in the Ottoman<br />

Empire. Rather, it always co-existed with the Ottoman orthodox version of Islam. 1795 In<br />

the meantime, other accusations pertaining to the first two caliphs and Ā’ysha are<br />

supported by Safavid sources, not in the form of accusation as expected but as a natural<br />

result of Shi’ism.<br />

Another question is the ratio between the ‘guilt’ and the punishment in this fetvā.<br />

Leaving the theoretical framework of the theological discussions aside, which appears to<br />

have been quite controversial in the history of Islam, 1796 on the level of practice,<br />

Hamza’s judgment seems quite harsh and unprecedented in the Ottoman context. Hamza<br />

concludes that killing them and scattering their community is obligatory for all true<br />

Muslims; their dead are in hell while ‘Muslims’ who would die during fight against<br />

them are martyrs; whatever they slaughter is impure, their marriage is invalid, and they<br />

could not benefit from inheritance; in short, they are worse than infidels. 1797 I have<br />

biz dahi şeriatün hümi ve kitaplarımuzun nakli ile fetvā virdük ki ol zikr olunan taife kafirler ve<br />

mülhidlerdür. …” See TSA, document E 6401.<br />

1795 This is already discussed in length in the second chapter of the present study.<br />

1796 For a summary of discussion among Islamic scholars, see Eberhard, pp. 5-44. Also consider Ahmet<br />

Yaşar Ocak, Osmanlı Toplumunda Zındıklar ve Mülhidler (15.-16. Yüzyıllar), 3. baskı, Đstanbul: Tarih<br />

Vakfı Yurt Yayınları, 2003, pp. 1-70.<br />

1797 “…Bunları kırub cemaatlerin dağıtmak cemi’ müslümanlara vacib ve farzdur. Müslümanlardan ölen<br />

sa’id ve şehid cennet-i aladadur ve anlardan ölen hor ve hakir cehennemün dibindedür. Bunların hali<br />

kafirler halinden eşedd ve ekbahdur, zira bunların bugazladukları ve dahi saydları gerekse doğanla ve<br />

541

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