Kemalpashazade (İbn-i Kemal)

Shaykh al-islam, historian, poet (B. 1469, Tokat - D. 16^th April 1534, Istanbul). His date of birth is indicated as 1468 and his place of birth is indicated as Amasya in some of the sources. His full name was Kemâlpaşazâde Ahmed Şemseddin. He was called with the nicknames Müftiyyü’s-Sakaleyn, Müfti’l Enâm and İbn-i Sina-yı Rum. He was also known as İbn-i Kemal and Kemalpaşaoğlu since he was the grandson of Kemal Pasha. He finished the Hadith Madrasa of Edirne by taking lessons from the famous hodjas of the period. He memorized the Koran and the dictionary. He took cognizance of principle knowledge such as morphology, syntax and logic. He was given a feud (a land having an income) and he was accepted to the Maiyyet-i Hâssa Company of Bayezid II. After a while, he left soldiering and he continued his lessons with the big hodjas of the period. He became a lieutenant (mudarris, candidate for kadi) of Kestelli under his teacher. However, he was sent to Amasya after the death of his teacher. He participated in the lessons of Bahşî Efendi there. He worked as a mudarris in the Madrasahs of Ali Bey (Taşlık), Halebiye, Üç Şerefeli, Darülhadis and Sultan Bayezid (1511) in Edirne, in the Madrasah of İshak Paşa in Skopje (1505), in the Madrasah of Karadeniz Çifteayak Kurşunlu, in the Madrasah of Sahn-ı Semanda and Fatih in Istanbul.

He worked as the Kadi of Edirne (1515) and the kazasker (T.N. military judge) of Anatolia (1516). He participated in the expedition of Egypt in his last duty and he was respected by the sultan. He worked as an assistant Governor General in Egypt. It was told that the sultan (Yavuz Sultan Selim) told that “The mud leaping up from the feet of scientists would be an ornament and honor for him” upon the fact that the mud leaping up from the feet of the horse made the sultan’s caftan dirty during their return from this expedition and that he wanted this caftan to be covered up to his sarcophagus after his death. In 1518, he was the registrar of Karaman. He was entrusted with the task of translating the Ottoman history written by İdris-i Bitlisî from Persian language to Turkish. In 1525, he was assigned as shaykh al-islam. He stayed in this duty until his death. He was buried in the Mahmud Çelebi Zaviyesi, the encircled cemetery outside Edirnekapı.

İbn-i Kemal, whom we mostly know from his famous historical work named Tevârîh-i Âl-i Osman (new ed. in 10 volumes 1991), was one of our important scientists who left two hundred and nine works in Turkish, Arabic and Persian languages in the subjects of history, literature, language and Islamic sciences. Some of his works on religious topics were small booklets that handle the topics in a brief manner. He educated a great number of students. Taşköprülüzâde, who was also a big scientist, wrote about him as in the followings: “The decedent made forget the scientists before him. The base of the science is rejuvenated after being collapsed”. İbn-i Kemal had an argumentative and challenging character that didn’t succumb to injustice. In addition to his writings in some subjects of Islamic mysticism, he made himself accepted on the subject of fiqh, hadith, grammar as a step, prosody and rhyme. He had an influence in the preparation of Ottoman law books. Nevizâde Ataî described him as “muallim-i evvel (T.N the first teacher)” because of his effort in implementing the law books to the Islamic law. He emphasized on the reasons of the fast development of the Ottoman Empire. He had the chronological approach. He wrote in Turkish according to the order of Bayezid II.

He had an influence in the settlement of many applications in the Ottoman community by virtue of the distinct tracts he wrote and the fatwas he gave. His fatwas are important from the point of view of reflecting the conditions of the time and the religious, moral and social life of the Ottoman community of that period. With his works, he aimed to prevent the Batınî and Safevi-Şii propagandas showing tendency to expand in Anatolia. He was a thinker linked with the Fahreddin er-Razi school. His understanding of knowledge and existence was that wisdom was not a symptom but an ability and that it was the first thing coming from Allah. He prioritized the wisdom in taking cognizance. He divided the values to two, by external and mental and he emphasized on the mental ones. Besides, he divided the values as unavoidable and possible and he demonstrated the existence of Allah with classical evidences such as reoccurrence, possibility, aim and ordinance.

It is accepted that his literary personality was less powerful than his scientific personality. He considered poem as an erudite word. He gave weight to the subject of love and wisdom. He gave more importance to mind more than feelings, to concrete more than abstract. His language was plain and his expression was steady. He successfully used the proverbs, idioms and wordplays. In his eulogies, he gave prominence to the visual elements of the period he was living in. He didn’t use a pseudonym in his poems.

MAIN WORKS:

POETIC-LANGUAGE-LITERATURE: Divan (1895, edit by Mustafa Demirel, 1996), Yûsuf ile Züleyhâ (mesnevi, Anthology: Ahmet Demirel 1983), Kasîde-i Bürde Tercümesi (Prep. M.A. Yekta Saraç, 1995), el-Felah Şerhu’l Merah (1872), Dakâyıku’l-Hakâyık (dictionary), Resailü İbn Kemalbaşa el-Lugaviyye (pub. Nasır Sad er-Reşid, Riyad, 1980), Risaletü Meziyetti’l-Lisan’l Farisi alâ Sairi’l-Elsine mâ Hala’l Arabiyye (pub. Hüseyin Ali Mahfuz, Tahran, 1952), Risâle fi Tahkiki Taribi’l Kelimati’l Acemiyye (pub. Muhammed Sevai, 1991), et-Tenbih alâ Galati’l-Cahil ve’n-Nebih (pub. Muhammed Sevai, 1994), Risâle-i Kafiye (edit by Yekta Saraç, 1998), Nigâristan, Manzum Darb-ı Meseller / Usûlnâme, Yavuz Sultan Selim Mersiyesi.

HISTORY: Tevârîh-i Âl-i Osman (10 volumes, Edit Şerafettin Turan, 1991).

RELIGIOUS FAITH-KALAM: Risâletü’l-Münîre, Akaid-i İslam (1890), Risale fi’l-İmani’ş-Şeri, Risâle fi Tahkiki’l-İman, Risale fi Vücudi’l-Vacib, Risâle fi Kıdemi’l-Kur’an, Risâle fi Elfazi’l-Küfr, Risâle fi’s-Seb, Risâle fimâ Yeteallaku bi-Lafzi’z-Zındık, Efdaliyyetü Muhammed (a.s.) alâ Sâiri’l-Enbiya, Risâle fi Tafzili’l-Enbiya ale’l-Melaike, Risâle fi Hakkı Ebeveyni’n-Nebi, Risâle fi Tahkiki’l-Mucize ve Delaletiha alâ Sıdkı men İddea’n-Nübüvve, Risâle fi’l Cebr ve’l-Kader, Risâle fi Beyani’l-Hikme li Ademi Nisbeti’ş-Şer İlallahi Teâlâ, Hakikatü’r-Ruh ve’n-Nefs, İhtilafü’l-Maturidiyye ve’l Eşariyye (1886).

PHILOSOPHY: Tehâfüt Haşiyesi / Haşiye ‘âlâ Tehâfüti’l-Felâsife li-Hocazâde (Trans. Ahmet Arslan, 1987), Risâle fi Beyani’l-Vücûd, Risâle fi Tahkiki Lüzûmi’l-İmkân li Mahiyyeti’l Mümkin, Tarifü’l-Akl, Risale fi Beyan’i-Akl, Nesayih, Fi Tahkiki Muradi’l-Kailin bi-Enne’l-Vacib Teala Mûcib bi’z-Zat, Risâle fi Hakikati’l-Cism, Risâle fi Mane’l-Cal ve Mecûliyyeti’l-Mâhiyye, Risâle fi Tahkiki Mane’l-Eys ve’l-Leys, Risâle fi Beyani Enne’l Vücûd Aynü Mahiyyetih ev Gayruha, Risâle fi Vücûdi’z-Zihni, Risale fi’l-Fakr, Risâle fi Ziyadeti’l-Vücûd ale’l-Mahiyye, Risâle fi Enne’l-Mümkin lâ Yekûnü Ahade’t-Tarafeyn, Risâle fi İhtiyaci’l-Mümkin, Risâle fi Ulûmi’l-Hakaik ve Hikmeti’t-Dekaik, Risâle fi hel Yecûz en Yestenide’l-Kadim ile’l-Müeşşir em lâ, Risâle fi Tekaddümi’lilleti’t-Tâmme ale’l-Malûl, Risâle fi Sübûti’l-Mâhiyye.

FIQH: Tağyîrü’t-Tenkih (1891), Haşiye ale’t-Telvîh, Işlâ-hu’l-Vikaye, Haşiye ale’l-Hidâye, Fetâvâ, Mühimmâtü’l-Müftî.

ISLAMIC MYSTICISM: Risâle fî Fetva’r-Rakş, Fetva fî Hakkı İbn Arabi.

INTERPRETATION: Risâle fî Tefsiri Fâtihati’l-Kitâb, Risâle fî Tefsîri Sûretî’1-Fecr, Risâle fî İstisnaillahi Teâlâmimmen fi’s-Semâvâti ve’l-Arz ve Tahkîkih, Risâle fî Tefsîri Sûreti’l-Mülk, Risâle fî Sûreti’n-Nebe, Kıssatü Hârût ve Mârût min Tefsîri Ebi’s-Suûd.

   REFERENCE: İbrahim Alaeddin Gövsa / Türk Meşhurları (1946), Şeyhülislam İbn Kemal Sempozyumu (tebliğler ve tartışmalar, 1986), Ahmet Uğur / İbn-i Kemâl (1987), Orhan Şaik Gökyay / Molla Lütfi (1987), Ahmet Arslan / Kemal Paşazade - Tehafüt Haşiyesinin Tahlili (1987), Amil Çelebioğlu / Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Devri Türk Edebiyatı (1994), M. A. Yekta Saraç / Şeyhülislâm Kemal Paşazade Hayatı Şahsiyeti Eserleri ve Bazı Şiirleri (1995), Sayın Dalkıran / İbn-i Kemal ve Düşünce Tarihimiz (1997), Şamil Öcal / Kemal Paşazâde’nin Felsefî ve Kelâmî Görüşleri (2000), TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (c. 25, s. 238-247, 2002), İhsan Işık / Ünlü Bilim Adamları (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 2, 2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013).