İsmail Ankaravi ve Huccetü`s-Sema

Abstract

Bu araştırma, giriş, dört bölüm ve sonuç kısmı olmak üzere toplam altı bölümdür. Giriş bölümünde Ankaravî'nin yaşadığı zaman dilimi genel hatları ile ele alınmış, imparatorluktaki siyasî ve içtimaî durum tanıtılmaya çalışılmıştır. İkinci bölüm; Ankaravî'nin hayatı, eserleri ve düşünceleri hakkındadır. Ankaravî'nin doğum tarihi kesin olarak bilinmemekle beraber, XVI. asın ikinci yansı olduğu söylenebilir. Hayatının ilk yıllan hakkında bilgi çok sınırlıdır. Ankaravî, göz hastalığı sebebi ile gittiği Konya'da Bostan Çelebi'nin irşadı ile, Mevlevi olur. Daha sonra 1019 / 1610 senesinde, Galata Mevlevihanesi şeyhi ve Mesnevihan olmak üzere İstanbul'a gelir. Bu görevi vefatı olan 1041 / 1631 senesine kadar kesintisiz olarak tam 21 sene yürütmüştür. İsmail Ankaravî, Türkçe, Arabça ve Farsça dillerine hakim, araştırmacı ve ilmi bir kişiliğe sahiptir. Bilhassa Mevlevîlikle ilgili olan yazdığı eserler konularının doruklandır. Üçüncü bölüm; Hüccetü's-Semâ risalesinin transkripsiyonu yapılmış metnini içermektedir. Bu risalenin yazılış sebebi, Kadı-zadeliler veya Fakılar denen, Ankaravî devrinde yaşamış gerici ve tutucu bir gruptur. Araştırmaya konu olan Hüccetü's-Semâ risalesini Ankaravî, giriş ve üç kısım olmak üzere dört bölümden meydana getirmiştir. Risalenin birinci bölümü Raks ve Mevlevî devranı konusundadır. İkinci bölümü ise semâ'nın mübahlığı hakkındadır. Risalenin son bülümü olan üçüncü bölüm def çalma, daha geniş manada saz çalmaya dairdir. Dördüncü Bölüm; Risalenin günümüz Türkçesine aktarımıdır. Beşinci bülüm, Hüccetü's-Semâ risalesin içindeki iddialar ve karşı iddialara toplu bir bakışı içerir. Ankaravî'nin düşüncesine göre raksın, semânın ve def çalmanın ( genel olarak saz çalmak ) hakkındaki hükmü yapılan işe göre değil, yapanın meyline, ilhamının sebebine, maksadına göre verilir. Kurân-ı Kerîm'in ruhuna ters düşmeyen semâ, raks ve müziği yasaklayan herhangi bir âyet mevcut değildir. Hadislere göre de, semâ yapmak, musikî dinlemek ve bunlardan zevk almak mutlak surette mubahtır. Allah'ın yasaklamadığı şeyleri kullar yasaklayamazlar. Dolayısı ile raks, semâ ve müzik haram değildir. İslâmiyet raksı, semâ'ı ve müziği yasaklamamış gerek dinî gerekse ahlâki açılardan kontrol altma almıştır.

Ismail Ankaravi is one of the most important personalities lived during a period in which the Ottoman Empire started its decline after enjoying a long period of prosperity and welfare. His works hold their validity even in our times, especially the one about the interpretation of Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi's most importatnt work, Mathnawi. Because of this work he was given the name ` Hazret-i Sarih ` which implies that he was the best interpreter of Mathnavi. His book titled Hüccetü's-Sema which deals with such topics as religion, sema and music also considered extremely importatnt. We thought it was very important to present him and his works to our contemperories. This study consisted of six sections and they are ; 1 - introduction : Overwiew of social, political and administrative conditions of the Ottoman Empire during Ankaravi's life period. 2 - Ankaravi's life, his philosophy and his works. 3 - Transcripion of Hüccetü's-Sema. 4 - Translation of Hüccetü's-Sema into modern Turkish. 5 - Review of the contents of Hüccetü's-Sema. 6 - Results. Ottoman Empire entered a period of decline between late 16. and middle 17. Centuries. At this time boundaries of the Empire had reached their all time maximum and welfare level was considerably high. xiAfter the rule of Sultan Suleiman ( the Magnificent ) the Empire experienced a period of slowing down and finally entered a process of decline. Bribery and favoritism started taking place in society and the involvement of imperial women in palace politics made it very difficult to conduct state affairs properly. During this period education was also suffered from this circumstances. Although the number of educational institutions ( including theological schools ), teachers, and students were at its highest level, the quality of education was considerably low. Numbers of knowledgeable teachers and/or philosophers were drastically reduced. Organizations of theological schools were also damaged from this corruption, resulting in unqualified Mollas [ theological teachers and students ] being hired for high teaching positions at these schools. Also in this period, number of books published were at it's highest, but most of them were lacking academic significance. Meanwhile in Europe number of inventions and innovations were made, one after another, and great progress took place in arts, science, and literature. It may sound ironic that while experiencing a decline in education, many important personalities emerged both in the fields of arts and literature. We can attribute this seemingly contradicting results to the accumulation of wealth that took place during past centuries. These prominent artists and writers produced some of the most important works of Ottoman Empire. Baki and Fuzuli in poetry, Aziz Mahmud Hudai, îdris Muhtefi, Niyazi Mısri in Sufism and Islamic Mysticism, Sedefkar Mehmed Ağa, Mimar Davud, Mimar Dalgıç Ahmed Ağa in architecture, Hafız Osman, Ahmed Karahisari in Islamic calligraphy, are few that can be mentioned here. Turkish music also benefited from these favorable circumstances and important progress' were observed in both composition and performance. One of the most important writers of this era in Islamic Philosophy and Mysticism was İsmail Ankaravî. Although his birth date was not known accurately, written sources show that he was born in the second half of 16. century, and as his name indicates his birth place was Ankara. In most sources his name is referred as İsmail b. Ahmed el- Ankaravi el- Mevlevi. In his poetry written in Turkish, Arabic or Persian he used ` er-Rusuhî ` ( ^- y-* j ) as his pen name which was derived from the word ` er- Rusuh ` indicating the construction date of Galata Mevlevihanesi (a Mevlevi shrine in Istanbul) according to numerical value of letters. xnThere is almost no information available about his family other than that they lived in Ankara and his father Ahmed was a member of Bayrami order. Before joining any religious order he studied religion and science along with Arabic and Persian. He first joined Bayrami order which was quite popular in and around Ankara. After completing all required duties he became the leader (sheikh) of this order. Along with this title he also received high ranks in Halveti order before eventually joining the Mevlevi's. He lost his sight during his teaching period in Bayrami order and was quite disturbed by this disorder. No remedy was found in Ankara and he left for Konya upon experiencing a revelation. In Konya he met Bostan Çelebi who was a Mevlevi Sheikh and was also a descendant of Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi. He regained his sight when the prayers of Bostan Çelebi were answered. He was very much affected by this event so much so that it caused important changes in his life. During his stay in Konya he became an admirer of Bostan Çelebi and after short while he joined the Mevlevi order. During this period he wrote extensively while going through the required duties of this order. Later, Bostan Çelebi appointed him, as Sheikh, to Galata Mevlevi Order which was established by İskender Pasha in the year 1610. He arrived in Istanbul as the New Sheikh of Galata Mevlevi order and the teacher of Mesnevi, the most important work of Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi. When he appointed to this post he became the sixth Sheikh of this order and he kept this position for 21 years until his death in 1631. Before him only two Sheikh served longer terms, Nayi Osman Dede for 33 years and Sun Dede for 29 years. During his life time, like all other Sufi order members, he was also targeted by radical conservative groups like Kadizadeli or Fakilar. He was even sent to exile. At Galata Mevlevi order while he was teaching, he was also writing extensively. Some of his writings devoted to countering the attacks of Kadizadeliler. Such efforts made him very popular among Sufis and he became the leader of many people from every walk of life. To his followers he always preached that they should be trathful and sincere, and avoid bad behavior. Shortly before his death in 1631 he stated that he did not join to this order because of the `post` ( sheepskin that the sheiks sit on ), and he will not xmbe attached to it forever. As he requested he was buried,in the courtyard of Mevlevihane, and later on, in 1819 his tomb was restored by Halet Sait Efendi. İsmail Ankaravi was fluent in Turkish, Arabic and Persian and he had a strong, scholarly attitude towards research. In order to support his thoughts he always made references to at least 10-15 books, including Quran, Hadith and Mesnevi. Despite his meticulous work he always asked his students and his readers to be critical of his work. He is ranked very high in Mevlevi order. His most important work is ` Mecmuatü'1-Letaif and Metmuret'ül-Mearif ` which is an interpretation of Mevlana's main work Mesnevi. This work was so well received that future Mesnevihans ( teachers of Mesnevi ) were requested to follow Ankaravi's interpretations. He used a relatively simple Turkish in his writings. His knowledge in mystical philosophy was so profound that whitin his life time, he became the sheikh of three major mystical order of Turkey, namely Bayrami, Halveti and Mevlevi. For him any mystical order was on the right path as long it observes and obeys the Quran, and follows the teachings of Hz. Muhammed. Number of books he wrote is not known exactly but our research indicates that there exist at least 25 works which can be identified as his. These works are; Huccetü's-Semâ,and Muhtasar Risaletü'1-Tûsî Fi's-Semâ,( About religion,Music and sema ) Câmiu'1-Âyat ( Explanation of Arabic and Persian verses in Mesnevi ) Fâtihu'l-Ebyât ( interpretation of first 18 lines of Mesnevi ) Mecmûatü'l-Letâif and Metmûratü'l-Meârif ( well-known interpretation of Mesnevi ) Zübdetü'l-Fühûs fi Nakşi'l-Füsûs ( Interpretation of Nakşe'l Füsus ) Miftâhü'l- Belâğa and Misbâhü'l-Fesâha ( About Ottoman language and eloquence, first book on this subject ) El-Hikemü'l -Münderice fi Şerhi'l-Münferice ( Turkish interpretation of Kasidetü'l-Münferice, a book by Yusuf bin Muhammed ) Er-risâletü'1-Tenzîhiyye fi Şe'ni'l-Mevleviyye ( About acceptability of Sema ) Derecâtü's-Sâlikîn ( A book based on Herevi's book Menazilü's-Salikin ) Simâtû'l- Mûkinîn ( Interpretation of Mesnevi's introduction ) Mekâsıdü'l-Âliyye fi Şerhi't-Tâiyye ( Interpretation of Sadi's book Kasidetii't-Taiye ) Şerhü'l-Kasîdeti'l-Mîmiyye el-Hamriyye ( An interpretation of a poem by Sadi ) Cenâhu'l-Ervâh ( A book written on XIVthe subject of Unity ) Îzâhü'1-Hikem ( Interpretation of Heyakil'un-Nur, a book by Emirek ) Futûhat-ı Ayniyye ( Explanation of a verse in Quran ) Misbâhu'1-Esrâr ( Explanation of a verse in Quran ) Risale-i Uyûn-ı İsnâ Aşere ( About mysticism ) Hadîs-i Erbain Şerhi ( About 40 Hadidth ) Tuhfetü'l-Berere ( Interpretation of some verses in Mesnevi and his own ) Halli Müşkilât-ı Mesnevi ( Explanation of some verses in Mesnevi ) Minhâcü'l- Fukara ( About the manners of Mevlevis ) Risale-i Usûl-i Tarîkât-ı Mevlânâ ( About Mevlevi Genealogy and manners ) Sulûknâme-i Şeyh Ismail ( About the relations between sheiks and their dervishes ) Nisâb-ı Mevlevi ( His last work which resembles one of his earlier book Minhacü'1-Fukara ). Mevlana's Mesnevi is 6 volumes but Ankaravi wrote his interpretation for 7 volumes. Experts agree that 7th volume was not a part of Mesnevi but Ankaravi erronously thought it was. Hüccerü's-Sema was written as a reaction to Kadizadeliler ( or Fakilar ), a conservative religious group, known by their rejection of Sufi orders and their limited interpretation of Islam. Members of this group disregarded Sema and singing and they consider such activities as sinful. According to them Tekkes ( Sufi orders ) are places of sin so they should be burned down and destroyed, their foundations should be dug and the soil from this foundations should be dumped into ocean, otherwise it wouldn't be appropriate to perform prayers there. Wrong interpretation of Birgivi Mehmed Efendi's book Tarikat-i Muhammediye encouraged them to behave in such manners. At the very begining of this work Ankaravi states that the leaders and the sheikhs of this group were misleading their followers by imposing on some untruthfull and deviant thoughts about mystical philosophy and this was the very reason why he wrote this book. Including an intoduction this ` risale ` ( book ) consisted of 4 sections. Introduction starts with a prayer, prasing Hz.Muhammed, his family and his friends. Than he goes into untruthfull claims of Kadizadeliler, eventually stating how he is going to challenge these claims by utilizing well known and well respected theologian's arguments. First section is about ` raks ` ( sema ) and ` Mevlevi Devranı ` ( Whirling of dervishes ).Here, Ankaravi first states the claims of sinfullness of xvraks, made by some religious scholars, then using Quran and other sources he astablishes his counter arguments on this subject. According to Ankaravi ` games ` and ` dances ` performed simply for entertaintment could be unacceptable but sema performed by dervishes during mystical ceromonies can not be considered entertaintment. On the contrary, he beleives that exctasy experienced during Sema should only be considered as devotional prayer. He support his point by making referances to several earlier scholarly work. Second section deals with the proof of acceptability of Sema. Ankaravi claims that there can be found no supporting evidence about the sinfullness of Sema. He does not beleive that listening a beatiful voice should be considered sinfull. Drinking, on the other hand, should be prohibited because of it's undesirable effects on people who are involved in such religious activities. ` Beautiful melodies could only have positive effect on people ` he argues. He goes further to say that people who are not positively effected by good music should be considered lower beings, even than the animals. According to Ankaravi Sema is not simply a game or an entertainment. He refuses to believe that Sema distracts people from their involvement with prayer to God. For him the purpose of Sema is to be with God. Sema causes hearts to be open and reveals everything in them, good or bad. Truthfulness of Sema can only be judged by the intention and the motivation of the person who is performing it. Last section is about playing instruments. Here, he refers to Hadith literature to prove that playing ` def ` (a type of frame drum) is not sinful, on the contrary it is perfectly acceptable to be joyful during holidays and weddings and it is acceptable to perform Sema since it elevates the human sprit and provides absolute happiness. At the end of his book Ankaravi states that evidences he used in his work had also been acceptable to other devoted and knowledgeable scholars. Ankaravi' s thoughts and arguments about Sema and playing instruments still hold their validity and we have every reason to believe that his arguments can not be successfully challenged. So many books have been written on this issue but most of them could not go beyond being collections of personal thoughts and believes. xviAs Ankaravi argues Sema, raks, or music performed to be close to God are perfectly acceptable and there exists no statement in Quran which prohibits them. ` Since God did not prohibit people from Sema, dance and music, it is even sinful to preach that they are `, he said and argued that `Islam did not prohibit Sema, dance and music but provided religious and ethical guidelines in order these activities to be conducted in acceptable manners. xvn