Fiqh Works in Turkey on the Indian Subcontinent: An Overview

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the history and development of scientific activities in Turkey related to the Hindu Valley by examining the main areas, key issues discussed, scholars who have studied this topic, content and systems in fiqh texts, fiqh education, and contributions of the region to fiqh knowledge. Fiqh is one of the scientific disciplines that has contributed to the transformation of the Indian subcontinent into a civilization. The main goal of this study is to provide some contributions regarding identifying areas where academic research on the Hindu Valley has been concentrated in our country and potential subjects awaiting investigation. It is observed that studies on fiqh during the Republican era generally overlooks this region. However, writing about the history of fiqh, especially for the Hanafi school's development in the Indian subcontinent, requires numerous research efforts. Examining historical developments in fiqh studies that focus on this region through translation and original writings will provide a small contribution towards assessing accumulated knowledge in our country and identifying any gaps. This study aims not only to create a bibliography of fiqh literature that focuses on the Indian world but also to evaluate their contributions based on the research areas they cover. Despite being written in different fields, a few articles that extensively discuss fiqh issues have been included in this research. There is insufficient preliminary research to categorize and analyze the history of fiqh in different periods, such as the Ghaznavids (963-1186), the Delhi Sultanate (1206-1526), Babur's Empire (1526-1858) Colonial India, and modern era of the Indian subcontinent. Instead of examining fiqh studies chronologically, it was deemed more appropriate to classify them under these dominant periods to better identify the periods that require more focus. During the Ghaznavid period, India had not yet become a center of knowledge and civilization that attracted scholars. In a book that examines the biographies of Indian scholars during the Ghaznavid period, it was determined that Baghdad was an important center of learning in terms of intellectual travels. Many scholars who were born in different cities in the Sindh region came to this area and became renowned figures in hadith and fiqh fields, with some choosing to stay in Baghdad and others opting for Egypt. The Ghaznavid period did not become a subject of fiqh research in our country. Following the conquests by the Ghaznavids, the Delhi Sultanate emerged as a Turkish-Islamic dominion on the Indian subcontinent, exerting lasting social, economic, and political effects. One of the few studies on this period focusing on fiqh is Adem & Ccedil;iftci's article about al- Fat & amacr;wa al-Ghiy & amacr;siyya. It is claimed that al- Fat & amacr;wa al-Ghiy & amacr;siyya is considered the first Arabic fatw & amacr; book prepared based on the Hanafi school of thought on the Indian subcontinent. The article suggests that this study serves as an example of fatw & amacr; works written in the region and has been used as a source by Indian Hanafi jurists. The period in which fiqh studies intensified in the Indian subcontinent is the Mughal period. The region gained an independent center of knowledge during this time. Central cities such as Delhi emerged as the hub of this center, and extensive and profound activities were carried out in various fields of Islamic knowledge by scholars who emerged during this period and the scholarly circles formed around them. Within the framework of the Hanafi school of thought, which became the official madhab (school) for fiqh in the region, various types of research can be identified, including literature on religious law and fatw & amacr;s, jurisprudence methodology, fiqh history, and person-centered studies. This period witnessed extensive discussions centered around hadith-fiqh. If we look at the regions and periods that researchers have focused on in pre-modern Hanafi fiqh history, it is generally observed that there is a lack of academic interest, specifically in the Mughal period in the Indian subcontinent. While there are fiqh studies examining the judicial system in cities of the Ottoman Empire during a specific time period, or focusing on the Mamluks, Seljuks, or Umayyad Caliphate of al-Andalus, there seems to be a lack of thesis or article-level research examining the development and judicial activities of the justice system in India during these three major empires mentioned above. The British took control of the Indian territories with the collapse of the Mughals in 1857. During this period, such scholarly traditions emerged as Ahl-i Hadith, Barelvi, and Deobandi, aiming to unite and guide the Muslim population and provide Islamic education. Fiqh studies during this period focused on the Ahl-i Hadith sect. Modern-era studies have been limited to scholars produced by these sects during colonial times, their fiqh works prepared by these sects, and a few renowned multidimensional scholars known for their views in the Islamic world. In terms of their fiqh opinions and scholarly contributions, the names that have been studied in the modern period are Muhammed Iqbal (d. 1938), Fazlur Rahman (1988), Ahmed Hassan (1996), Muhammed Hamidullah (d. 2002), Muhammed Taki Usmani and Muhammed Khalid Masood. As seen in the above-mentioned studies, Urdu fiqh literature has not been a field that could be studied except by researchers who have come to our country from this region. There has not yet been a study examining Islamic legal research in countries such as Spain and Germany through translation or original works.