Ottoman society and state in the light of the fatwas of İbn Kemal

The fetvas are good histarical sources for shedding light on the society and the state. This study is an attempt to use the fetvas for such a purpose. For example, by looking at the fetvas of the Shaikhu'l-İslam İbn Kemal it is possible to get an idea about the history of the Rafızis in the Ottoman Empire (Kızılbaşs and Kalandaris ). In contrast to the modem canception which conceives the Rafızis as one homogenous entity, İbn Kemal thought that the Rafızis were only a tbreat when they followed the political enemy of the Ottomans, the Safavi ds. For İbn Kemal a Kızılbaş did not necessarily m ean a hereti c. The Sufis also com e up frequently in the fetvas of İbn Kemal. He opposes the Sufi beliefs and the pratices which contradicted the Orthodox Sunni Islam such as monism and Sufi dancing. The arguments developed by both sides occasionally pertaining to the realm of the political authority show how deeply-rooted were the problems related with Sufism. It is also possible to see the general stnıcture of the Ottoman society in the fetvas of İbn Kemal which was mainly divided along the religious lines. The legitimacy/protection discussion for the descendants of the Prophet, Al-i Resul, and for the state officers implies that İbn Kemal served in the maintenance of the state's Sunni ideology and authority. In the discussion of the Shari'a vs. the secular law, İbn Kemal tums out to be quite familiar with the notion of secular law. His legitimizing a traditional tax, that is the calleetion of çift-resmi tax, within the frarnework of the Shari'a meant that İbn Kemal served the state apparatus with his Shaikhu'l-İslam identity. In this, İbn Kemal was also a precursor to Abu Su'ud. In addition to his fetvas İbn Kemal wrote approximately 220 works which are listed at the end.