An Unnoticed Fatwa Book: Bostanu Shaqa'iq al-Nu'man

Abstract

The corpus of fatwa named as Bostanu Shaqa'iq al-Nu'man, recorded in the Veliyuddin Efendi section under the number 1414 at Beyazid State Library. It has been ignored so far. Because of its name, it may be thought that it is a part of Tash-koprultizade's (d. 968/1561) book Shaka'ik-i Nu'maniyya, but it is a nuqullu fatwa collection of Babakushi 'Abdurrahman Efendi. In the famous Shaqa'iq appendix Ata'i, which gives information about the biography of Abdurrahman Efendi (d.983/1576) does not mention the book with this name. Abdurrahman Efendi who was from a family in Plovdiv region worked in different positions in Istanbul and Edirne. Then, he was appointed as a mufti to Kefe, Crimea. He died in 983/1576. There is no information about his scholarly identity in 'Ata'i (d. 1045/1635) except being the intern of Abu l-sucad Efendi (d. 982/1574). In this essay, first of all, the place of Babakushi in Ottoman Islamic Law tradition will be determined, and the features of the manuscripts and some notes on the postscript will be studied. In assessment section, especially because of the notes on the manuscripts, it has to be studied in terms of Islamic Law literature and its place should be figured out in fatwa literature.