Reddiye Metinlerinde Dil ve Üslûp: Minhacu's-Sünne Örneği
Language and Style in Refutation Texts: The Case of Minhaj al-Sunna
Yazar: Akkoyunlu, İsmail
Dergi: e-Makalat Mezhep Araştırmaları Dergisi, Vol. 12 No. 2, 2019
Anahtar kelimeler: Religious Studies ; Din Araştırmaları ; History of Islamic Sects,Minhaj al-Sunna,Refutation,Ibn Taymiyya,Language,Style ; İslam Mezhepleri Tarihi,Minhacu's-Sünne,Reddiye,İbn Teymiyye,Dil,Üslûp

Dinler arası ilişkilerde olduğu gibi mezhepler arası ilişkilerdede dil ve üslûp, son derece önemli bir yer işgal etmektedir. Dil ve üslûbadayalı mezhepler arası ilişkilerin kök saldığı ve kalıcı hale geldiği en önemlideğişkenlerden biri olarak ise karşımıza reddiye metinleri çıkmaktadır.  İslam düşünce tarihinin ilk dönemlerindenitibaren mezheplerin birbirlerini görme ve okuma biçimlerinin kalıba dökülüpsomutlaştığı zemin olarak varlık kazanan reddiye metinleri, birçok açıdantahlil ve tenkidi hak etmektedir. Reddiye metinlerinin doğası gereği en fazlaöne çıkan belki de en çok tahlil edilmesi gereken karakteristik özelliği ise bumetinlerde kendisine sıkça yer bulan anlama çabasından uzak, dışlayıcı veötekileştirici dildir. Reddiye metinlerinin tarihine bakıldığında dışlayıcı veötekileştirici dilin en çok kullanıldığı eserlerin başında Şiî-Sünnî reddiyemetinlerinin geldiği görülür. Daha çok imamet ve hilafet gibi tarihinderinliklerine kök salmış tartışma konularının yer aldığı bu edebiyatta Hanbelîâlim İbn Teymiyye’nin Minhācu’s-Sünne adlıŞiîlik reddiyesi, dil ve üslûp açısından ayırt edici bir konuma sahiptir. Zirabu metin, yer verdiği ayrıştırıcı ve ötekileştirici dili nedeniyle hemŞiî-Sünnî ilişkilerine etki etmiş hem de günümüzde dahi referans kaynağı olarakkendisini var kılmayı başarmıştır. Bu nedenle makalemizde İbn Teymiyye’nin Minhācu’s-Sünne adlı Şiîlik reddiyesindetercih ettiği ayrıştırıcı dil ve üslûp; metin tenkidi, mezhebî aidiyet vemezhepler arası ilişkiler açısından analiz edilecektir.

Language and style occupy a very important place ininter-sectarian relations as well as interreligious relations. One of the mostimportant variables in which inter-sectarian relations based on language andstyle take root and become permanent is the refutation texts. The refutationtexts, which have existed as the basis of the way in which the sects see andread each other since the early periods of Islamic thought, deserve analysisand criticism in many ways. Perhaps the most prominent characteristics ofrefutation texts, which should be analyzed the most, are non-comprehensible,exclusionary and marginalizing language in these texts. When we look at thehistory of refutation texts, it is seen that Shiite-Sunni refutation texts arethe most important works in which exclusionary and marginalizing language isused most. The Shiite refutation of Minhajal-Sunna by the Hanbalite scholar Ibn Taymiyya has a distinctive positionin terms of language and style. This text, because of its distinctive andmarginalizing language, has influenced both Shiite-Sunni relations and hassurvived as a reference source even today. For this reason, in our paper, the discriminatorylanguage and style preferred by Ibn Taymiyya in his refutation of Shi'ismcalled Minhaj al-Sunna will beanalyzed in terms of text criticism, sectarian belonging and inter-sectarianrelations.SummaryDifferent topics of discussion,concepts, individuals, artifacts, thought systems and sects have taken place inthe history of Islamic thought. The legacy of Islamic intellectual thought,which owes its dynamism to freedom of thought to a great extent, has not beenable to maintain its timeliness and richness with the same vitality in everyperiod. One of the most important reasons of this situation can be said thatthe sects themselves as institutionalized structures. In fact, sects, whichappear as the institutionalized state of the common mind of a community whichis clamped around certain principles, are subject to an ontological change in asense after the formation process. Especially in the institutionalizationprocess, differences have been seen as wealth in terms of sects, and even sectshave emerged by being fed from the differences and freedom of thought itself.However, after completing the institutionalization process, sects have becomestatic structures by forming their own doctrines and defining their main fieldsof action. From this moment on, every different point of view and interpretationhas been perceived and condemned almost as a sectarian opposition. This is notonly a matter of self-perceptions of the sects, but also the main points ofdeparture of the relations and perceptions with the other sects. Thus, thedoctrines of sects, which gained a systematic structure and appearance with theinstitutionalization of their ideas, were mostly seen as the truth itself, andthe other perception was arranged and depicted through this concept of truth.As a result of this situation, the marginalization and pushing out of thecircle of truth has become extremely easy.It can be said that one of the mostimportant instruments of the conceptions of truth discourse where sects areputting themselves at the center and othering them is refutation texts. This isbecause the texts of refutation appear as texts where both the truth-centeredself-image is shaped and the other perception is sharply expressed. Theseworks, which are among the most senior texts in the history of Islamic thought,have taken their place in history as a collection of discourses in which theother perception of the sects are embodied and poured into certain patterns. Itis possible to come across such works in the literature activities of almostall sects which existed on the basis of politics and creed. Regardless of thename and the system of thought, all the political-religious Islamic sects havecreated refutation texts with different names, purposes, contents and reasons.It should be noted that the relationship forms developed by some sects in termsof the activity of refutation texts have certain characteristics of their ownand some sects are more visible in this process. In the early periods of thehistory of Islamic thought, numerous refutation texts were created between theAhl al-Hadith mentality and Mutezila. In the following periods, it is knownthat numerous refutation texts were created as a result of the interlocutoryrelationship experienced between Mutezila and Shia over different variables.Since the last period of the formation of Islamic thought h. the 4th and 5thcenturies, it is seen that the works of refutation have become the product ofthe tension-filled struggle between Shi'a and Ahl al-Sunnah. Since then, manypolitical and socio-cultural factors have made it necessary for these twostructures to be fully aware of each other and to be truly aware of eachother's existence. One of the most important products produced by thisobligatory contact state is the refutation texts written between the Shia andthe Ahl al-Sunnah in different periods but with similar contents and reasons.One of the most important componentsof the Ahl al-Sunnah, which is formed by the combination of multiple structuresand not a sect in the classical style, is the Ahl al-Hadith mentality and theschool of Hanbalite fiqh where this mindset is articulated. The Ahlal-Hadith-Hanbalite tradition stands at a different point under the roof of theAhl al-Sunnah due to its unique characteristic structure. Thus, thistradition's rigid discourse of truth, its adoption of othering rather thanunderstanding of the other, and the imagination of bid’at determined the lanesof the forms of relations it established with other sects. All these issues arethe main determinants of this tradition both in shaping the discourse ofrefutation and in the formation of the content of refutation works. Since Ahmadibn Hanbal, one of the most influential figures and founding figure ofHanbalite tradition, works with refutation content have been written and thisissue is extremely important. Ahmad ibn Hanbal not only wrote a text ofrefutation but also laid the foundation of refutation works which will becomethe indispensable texts of this tradition in the subsequent process. At thesame time, he played a role in determining both the sphere of action and theframework of meaning of the discourse of refutation that gave its color to thistradition.Ibn Taymiyya is one of the mostimportant names that came up when the trace of refutation discourse and refutationworks which Ahmed ibn Hanbal laid the foundations of his theoretical framework.Because Ibn Taymiyya, with his work Minhaj al-Sunnah, has gained a prominentplace in this tradition and has often made a name for himself. This text,written as a refutation of Ibn Mutahhar al-Hillî's Minhaj al-Karâme, who is oneof the most important representatives of the Shiite tradition, played a veryimportant political and religious role in history. Moreover, Minhaj al-Sunnahstill continues this activity in present days. This refutation is well deservedto be analyzed on the basis of variables such as current and historicalfunctions, resources, content, domain and specific gravity. One of the mostimportant issues to be mentioned about Minhaj al-Sunnah is the subject oflanguage and style. This work, which deserves to be described as one of themost important works of the tradition of Ahl al-Sunnah, is subject to a shiftof axis in the sense of language and style and becomes a text that should bedealt with in a completely different plane. Because the language and stylecreated in this work for Shiites and Shiite thought pushed the limits of thediscourse of refutation to the end and even in some places it took on a contentthat would exceed these limits.When Ibn Taymiyya's refutation ofShiism, Minhaj al-Sunnah, is analyzed in terms of language and style, the firstthing we encounter are concepts that are carefully selected and used withspecific meanings at the same time. The concept of Rafida, which is used by IbnTaymiyya instead of Shia, is one of the best examples of the use of thisselective concept. Ibn Taymiyya, who is aware of the negative meanings that theconcept of Rafida has taken from tradition and wants to use this semanticframework actively in the critique of Shiism, preferred the concept of Rafidainstead of Shia or Imamiyya. While using the concept of Rafiza, he sometimescontradicts the historical fact by forcing the limits of meaning of thisconcept. Another issue that poses a problem in terms of language and style inMinhaj al-Sunnah is that Shia, especially Imamiyya Shia, is depicted as astructure that has adopted the views of Mutezila, which was largely erased fromthe stage of history at that time and even identified with Mutezila. Thus, IbnTaymiyya's view of Shia as Rafizism and portraying it as a structureintertwined with the Mutezilian thought system both pushed him out of currentand historical reality to a great extent and carried him to a problematic pointin terms of language and style. Ibn Taymiyya's defense of the Ahl al-Sunnah,the criticism that pushed the limits of criticism and the socio-politicalconditions of the period were the main determinants in the emergence of such alandscape.