Writing Biography at the Tense Crossroads of Two Worlds: An Evaluation of Mehmet Ali Ayni’s Study on ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī

Aynur Singin

Article Details

Writing Biography at the Tense Crossroads of Two Worlds: An Evaluation of Mehmet Ali Ayni’s Study on ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī

Authors:

Aynur Singin

Publisher:

Yozgat Bozok University

Main Topics:

Tasavvuf

Journal:

Bozok Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi Vol.26 Issue 26, pp.207-235

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

12/2024

Document Language:

Turkish

Document ID (Org No.):

2001337978

pISSN:

2458-9934

Keywords:

Abstract:

 This study examines Mehmet Ali Aynis biographical work on ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī, titled Un Grand Saint de LIslam, Abd-Al-Kadir Guilânî, published in 1938. Aynis work is important for researchers of both contemporary Islamic thought and the history of modern Ṣūfism in the following two respects: 1-The religious literature that came into existence in the early Republican period under the shadow of the single-party governments policies on Islam and secularism. 2-The projections of the new biography writing in the field of Ṣūfism. As it is known, in 1930s Turkey, the new political regime began to articulate the discourses of rejection of heritage and to take harsh and radical decisions in the field of religion and Islam by introducing the modernization program imposed from above, while religious publications approached zero point, and Sufism and Sufi orders began to be interpreted as a deviation and corruption within the tradition of Islamic thought. During these years, when the influence of the Republican ideology and the single-party rule was intensely felt, Ayni was one of the few intellectuals who dared to write biographical texts on Sufi greats. Although both the avoidance of the words Ṣūfī, shaykh and walī in the original title of the work and the fact that the work was published in French can be explained by the influence of the period, it is noteworthy that Ayni, without any discomfort, mentions the events such as miracles and legend as lived realities, refers to Western studies on this subject, occasionally compares them with the mystical traditions in the East and emphasizes the points of distinction between the two. However, apart from al-Jīlānīs biography, considering Aynis other biographies on al-Ghazālī, Ibn ʿArabī, Hacı Bayram-ı Veli Ḥāccī Bayrām-ı Walī, İsmail Hakkı Bursevi İsmāʿīl Ḥaqqī Bursawī, Jalāl al-Dawwānī and Aziz Mahmud Hüdayi ʿAzīz Maḥmūd Hudāyī, it can be said that he instrumentalized the biographical method both to express his own ideas and to voice his criticisms against the Republican administration and Kemalist historiography. Considering all these issues, the conclusions about Aynis work on ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī can be summarized as follows: i Aynis biography of ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī constitutes a link of the Turkish Saints project that the author started writing in the early 1900s and continued throughout his life. ii Although Ayni stated that he wrote his biography of al-Jīlānī in order to introduce and endear the Ṣūfī to the West as well as to transmit Islamic mysticism and ethics to the next generation, he also wrote his biography of al-Jīlānī in order to explain the conception of man, the universe and the world in the tradition of waḥdat al-wujūd. He instrumentalized the biographical method to weaken the corrupting influence of philosophical theories translated from the West on individual and social ethics and to defend the legitimacy of Ṣūfism by referencing the works of thinkers interested in spiritual knowledge in the West. iii This book, which can be considered a kind of magnum opus among Aynis biographical works, is one of the rare works in which concepts such as discovery, inspiration, dream, miracle and legend, which were surrounded by an ideological cloud in the 1930s when the influence of modern science was strongly felt, are explained without any obsession. iv Finally, Aynis knowledge of foreign languages, his equipment and acquisitiveness, as well as his desire to follow Orientalist studies closely and to translate his works into French and other foreign literature, allow him to be defined not only as a biographer but also as a cultural carrier who shuttled between East and West.

 This study examines Mehmet Ali Aynis biographical work on ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī, titled Un Grand Saint de LIslam, Abd-Al-Kadir Guilânî, published in 1938. Aynis work is important for researchers of both contemporary Islamic thought and the history of modern Ṣūfism in the following two respects: 1-The religious literature that came into existence in the early Republican period under the shadow of the single-party governments policies on Islam and secularism. 2-The projections of the new biography writing in the field of Ṣūfism. As it is known, in 1930s Turkey, the new political regime began to articulate the discourses of rejection of heritage and to take harsh and radical decisions in the field of religion and Islam by introducing the modernization program imposed from above, while religious publications approached zero point, and Sufism and Sufi orders began to be interpreted as a deviation and corruption within the tradition of Islamic thought. During these years, when the influence of the Republican ideology and the single-party rule was intensely felt, Ayni was one of the few intellectuals who dared to write biographical texts on Sufi greats. Although both the avoidance of the words Ṣūfī, shaykh and walī in the original title of the work and the fact that the work was published in French can be explained by the influence of the period, it is noteworthy that Ayni, without any discomfort, mentions the events such as miracles and legend as lived realities, refers to Western studies on this subject, occasionally compares them with the mystical traditions in the East and emphasizes the points of distinction between the two. However, apart from al-Jīlānīs biography, considering Aynis other biographies on al-Ghazālī, Ibn ʿArabī, Hacı Bayram-ı Veli Ḥāccī Bayrām-ı Walī, İsmail Hakkı Bursevi İsmāʿīl Ḥaqqī Bursawī, Jalāl al-Dawwānī and Aziz Mahmud Hüdayi ʿAzīz Maḥmūd Hudāyī, it can be said that he instrumentalized the biographical method both to express his own ideas and to voice his criticisms against the Republican administration and Kemalist historiography. Considering all these issues, the conclusions about Aynis work on ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī can be summarized as follows: i Aynis biography of ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī constitutes a link of the Turkish Saints project that the author started writing in the early 1900s and continued throughout his life. ii Although Ayni stated that he wrote his biography of al-Jīlānī in order to introduce and endear the Ṣūfī to the West as well as to transmit Islamic mysticism and ethics to the next generation, he also wrote his biography of al-Jīlānī in order to explain the conception of man, the universe and the world in the tradition of waḥdat al-wujūd. He instrumentalized the biographical method to weaken the corrupting influence of philosophical theories translated from the West on individual and social ethics and to defend the legitimacy of Ṣūfism by referencing the works of thinkers interested in spiritual knowledge in the West. iii This book, which can be considered a kind of magnum opus among Aynis biographical works, is one of the rare works in which concepts such as discovery, inspiration, dream, miracle and legend, which were surrounded by an ideological cloud in the 1930s when the influence of modern science was strongly felt, are explained without any obsession. iv Finally, Aynis knowledge of foreign languages, his equipment and acquisitiveness, as well as his desire to follow Orientalist studies closely and to translate his works into French and other foreign literature, allow him to be defined not only as a biographer but also as a cultural carrier who shuttled between East and West.

 This study examines Mehmet Ali Aynis biographical work on ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī, titled Un Grand Saint de LIslam, Abd-Al-Kadir Guilânî, published in 1938. Aynis work is important for researchers of both contemporary Islamic thought and the history of modern Ṣūfism in the following two respects: 1-The religious literature that came into existence in the early Republican period under the shadow of the single-party governments policies on Islam and secularism. 2-The projections of the new biography writing in the field of Ṣūfism. As it is known, in 1930s Turkey, the new political regime began to articulate the discourses of rejection of heritage and to take harsh and radical decisions in the field of religion and Islam by introducing the modernization program imposed from above, while religious publications approached zero point, and Sufism and Sufi orders began to be interpreted as a deviation and corruption within the tradition of Islamic thought. During these years, when the influence of the Republican ideology and the single-party rule was intensely felt, Ayni was one of the few intellectuals who dared to write biographical texts on Sufi greats. Although both the avoidance of the words Ṣūfī, shaykh and walī in the original title of the work and the fact that the work was published in French can be explained by the influence of the period, it is noteworthy that Ayni, without any discomfort, mentions the events such as miracles and legend as lived realities, refers to Western studies on this subject, occasionally compares them with the mystical traditions in the East and emphasizes the points of distinction between the two. However, apart from al-Jīlānīs biography, considering Aynis other biographies on al-Ghazālī, Ibn ʿArabī, Hacı Bayram-ı Veli Ḥāccī Bayrām-ı Walī, İsmail Hakkı Bursevi İsmāʿīl Ḥaqqī Bursawī, Jalāl al-Dawwānī and Aziz Mahmud Hüdayi ʿAzīz Maḥmūd Hudāyī, it can be said that he instrumentalized the biographical method both to express his own ideas and to voice his criticisms against the Republican administration and Kemalist historiography. Considering all these issues, the conclusions about Aynis work on ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī can be summarized as follows: i Aynis biography of ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī constitutes a link of the Turkish Saints project that the author started writing in the early 1900s and continued throughout his life. ii Although Ayni stated that he wrote his biography of al-Jīlānī in order to introduce and endear the Ṣūfī to the West as well as to transmit Islamic mysticism and ethics to the next generation, he also wrote his biography of al-Jīlānī in order to explain the conception of man, the universe and the world in the tradition of waḥdat al-wujūd. He instrumentalized the biographical method to weaken the corrupting influence of philosophical theories translated from the West on individual and social ethics and to defend the legitimacy of Ṣūfism by referencing the works of thinkers interested in spiritual knowledge in the West. iii This book, which can be considered a kind of magnum opus among Aynis biographical works, is one of the rare works in which concepts such as discovery, inspiration, dream, miracle and legend, which were surrounded by an ideological cloud in the 1930s when the influence of modern science was strongly felt, are explained without any obsession. iv Finally, Aynis knowledge of foreign languages, his equipment and acquisitiveness, as well as his desire to follow Orientalist studies closely and to translate his works into French and other foreign literature, allow him to be defined not only as a biographer but also as a cultural carrier who shuttled between East and West.

 Bu araştırma, Mehmet Ali Ayninin Abdülkâdir Geylânî hakkında 1938de yayımlanan Un Grand Saint de LIslam, Abd-Al-Kadir Guilânî başlıklı biyografik eserini incelemektedir. Ayninin bu çalışması hem Çağdaş İslâm düşüncesi hem de modern tasavvuf tarihi araştırmacıları için şu iki açıdan önem taşımaktadır: 1. Erken Cumhuriyet döneminde, tek parti iktidarının İslâm ve laiklik politikaları gölgesinde varlık kazanan dinî neşriyat. 2. Yeni biyografi yazıcılığının tasavvuf alanındaki iz düşümleri. Bilindiği üzere 1930lar Türkiyesinde yeni siyasi rejim, yukarıdan dayatmacı modernleşme programını devreye sokarak redd-i miras söylemlerini dile getirmeye, din ve İslâm sahasında sert ve radikal kararlar almaya başlamış, dinî neşriyat sıfır noktasına yaklaşırken, tasavvuf ve tarikatlar ise İslâm düşünce geleneği içerisinde sapma ve bozulma olarak yorumlanmaya başlamıştır. Cumhuriyet ideolojisinin ve tek parti iktidarının etkisinin yoğun bir şekilde hissedildiği bu yıllarda Ayni, tasavvuf büyükleri hakkında biyografik metinler kaleme almaya cesaret eden ender aydınlardan biri olmuştur. Gerek eserin orijinal başlığında sûfî, şeyh, veli kelimelerinin kullanımından kaçınılması gerekse çalışmanın Fransızca olarak yayımlanması, dönemin etkisiyle izah edilebilirse de Ayninin herhangi bir rahatsızlık duymadan kitapta keramet ve menkıbe türü olaylardan yaşanmış gerçeklikler olarak bahsetmesi, bu hususta Batıda yapılan çalışmalara referansta bulunması, yer yer Doğudaki mistik gelenekler ile mukayese etmesi ve ikisi arasındaki ayrım noktalarına vurgu yapması dikkat çekicidir. Bununla birlikte Ayninin Geylânî dışında Gazzâlî, İbn Arabî, Hacı Bayrâm-ı Velî, Bursalı İsmail Hakkı, Celâleddin Devvânî ve Aziz Mahmud Hüdâyî hakkında yazdığı biyografiler dikkate alındığında onun hem kendi görüşlerini ifade etmek hem de Cumhuriyet idaresine ve Kemalist tarih yazıcılığına yönelik tenkitlerini seslendirmek için biyografik yöntemi araçsallaştırdığı söylenebilir. Tüm bu hususlar ışığında Ayninin Abdülkâdir Geylânî çalışması hakkında ulaşılan bulgular şu maddeler altında özetlenebilir: i Ayninin Abdülkâdir Geylânî biyografisi, müellifinin 1900lerin başında yazmaya başladığı ve yaşamı boyunca devam ettirdiği Türk Azizleri projesinin bir halkasını oluşturmaktadır. ii Ayni, Geylânî biyografisini hem sûfîyi Batıya tanıtmak ve sevdirmek aynı zamanda İslâm tasavvuf ve ahlâkını bir sonraki nesle aktarmak için yazdığını ifade etmiş olsa da vahdet-i vücûd geleneğinin insan, evren ve âlem tasavvurunu anlatmak, Batıdan tercüme edilen felsefi nazariyelerin bireysel ve toplumsal ahlâk planında yozlaştırıcı etkisini zayıflatmak ve Batıda spiritüel bilgiyle ilgilenen düşünürlerin çalışmalarına referansta bulunarak tasavvufun meşruiyetini savunmak için biyografik yöntemi araçsallaştırmıştır. iii Ayninin biyografik eserlerinin bir tür magnum opusu olarak kabul edilebilecek olan Geylânî çalışması, modern bilimin etkisinin güçlü bir şekilde hissedildiği 1930lu yıllarda etrafı ideolojik bir bulut kümesiyle halelenen keşf, ilham, rüya, keramet ve menkıbe gibi kavramların, herhangi bir kompleks duyulmaksızın anlatıldığı ender eserlerden biridir. iv Son olarak Ayninin yabancı dillere olan vukûfiyeti, donanımı ve müktesebatının yanı sıra oryantalist çalışmaları yakından takip ederek eserlerini Fransızca ve diğer yabancı literatüre aktarma arzusu onun sadece bir biyograf olarak değil aynı zamanda Doğu-Batı arasında mekik dokuyan bir kültür taşıyıcısı olarak tanımlanmasına olanak sağlamaktadır.

Article Details

Writing Biography at the Tense Crossroads of Two Worlds: An Evaluation of Mehmet Ali Ayni’s Study on ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī

Authors:

Aynur Singin

Publisher:

Yozgat Bozok University

Main Topics:

Tasavvuf

Journal:

Bozok Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi Vol.26 Issue 26, pp.207-235

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

12/2024

Document Language:

Turkish

Document ID (Org No.):

2001337978

pISSN:

2458-9934

Sufism

Contemporary Turkish Thought

Biography

Mehmet Ali Ayni

ʿAbd al-Qādir al-JīlānīTasavvuf

Çağdaş Türk Düşüncesi

Biyografi Yazıcılığı

Mehmet Ali Ayni.

Abdülkâdir Geylânî

Issues

Article Details

Authors: Aynur Singin

Publisher: Yozgat Bozok University

Main Topics: Tasavvuf

Journal: Bozok Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi Vol.26 Issue 26, pp.207-235

Document Type: Article

Publication Date: 12/2024

Document Language: Turkish

Document ID (Org No.): 2001337978

pISSN: 2458-9934

Issues

Authors:

Aynur Singin

Publisher:

Yozgat Bozok University

Main Topics:

Tasavvuf

Journal:

Bozok Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi Vol.26 Issue 26, pp.207-235

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

12/2024

Document Language:

Turkish

Document ID (Org No.):

2001337978

pISSN:

2458-9934