A FATWA BOOK WITH AN UNKNOWN AUTHOR AND THE UNSIGNED VERSE FETWAS

Abstract

In the Ottoman period, fatwas were also given in verse and thus, an original genre was included in the treasury of Turkish literature. The explanation of legal issues in verse has been an original presentation and a multidisciplinary situation. However, these original products could not reach today completely and correctly, as they could not see the necessary organization and care in their own time. A significant part of these fatwas, which are understood by the presumption to be more than the ones that have survived to the present day, are incomplete, the author is uncertain, or we have them in a different form. The fact that these fatwas were not collected in a specific book suggests that they were given in an exceptional and special situation. Some of the 50 verse fatwas identified so far are not found in the fatwa book of the sheikhulislam or mufti who issued the fatwa, and some of them are recorded in the copies randomly or on behalf of different people. This is a situation that makes it difficult to evaluate these fatwas collectively in a better way. Some of these fatwas were meticulously recorded in books or magazines, but they also have the problem of incomplete or incorrect signatures. There are also books whose names, authors and verse fatwas are unknown, which requires deep and analytical research. In this study, the problem of missing and wrong signaturesin Ottoman verse fatwas is mentioned and a newly discovered unknown fatwa book is review. The author of this book is unknown, and it contains a significant number of unsigned verse fatwas.