DAVVANI’s PLACE in ISLAMIC ETHICAL PHİLOSOPHY

İSLAM AHLAK TARİHİNDE Celaleddin DEVVANİ

Aşağıdaki metin Harun Anay’ın, hakkında doktora tezi hazırladığı Celaleddin Devvani (ö.1502)’nin İslam ahlak felsefesi tarihindeki yeri hakkında, Japonya’da verdiği konferansın özetidir.

İngilizce başlığın Türkçesi: ‘İslam Ahlak Felsefesi Tarihinde Devvani’nin Yeri’

Bu özeti, hem bilgi hem de bir tebliğ/konferans özetinin nasıl hazırlanacağı hususunda öğrencilerime ve konuya ilgi duyan dostlarıma yararlı olabilir diye burada yayımlıyorum.

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ABSTRACT

DAVVANI’s PLACE in the HISTORY of ISLAMIC ETHICAL PHİLOSOPHY

The present paper aims to survey Jalaladdin Muhammad bin As’ad al-Siddiki al-Davvani (d.1502)’s Ethical Thought and its Place in the History of Islamic Ethical Thought.

As an introduction to my lecture, I would like to discuss such methodological problems as the importance of Islamic ethical thought after 12^th century, the characteristics of the thinkers of ethics in that period, how to do research on the ideas of thinkers who were interested in different fields of philosophy and sciences, and how to interpret the philosophical commentaries (sharh-hashiya literature).

After introduction, Davvani’s life, his students (Davvani School) and his works will be presented briefly. Among his works it will be emphasized on his main ethical book, Akhlaq-ı Jalali.

I would like to present the ethical thought of Jalaladdin Davvani comparing to the ideas of Ibn Miskawayh, Nasiraddin Tusi, Husayn Vaiz Kashifi and Kınalızada Ali, and later I would like to try to determine Davvani’s place in the history of Islamic ethical thought.

Jalal al-Din al-Davvani who has been often referred to as ‘Allama-i Davani, Mavlay-i Muhaqqiq, Mollay-i Jalal, Fazil-I Davvani, Muhaqq-I Davvani is a leading thinker of ethics, theologian and philosopher in the 15^th century Iran.

He was born between 827-830/ 1423-1427 at Davvan in the district of Kazarun, where his father was the Qadi. After receiving his early education from his father, As’ad Davvani, he studied theology, hadis, fiqh, tafsir under Safiyyuddin al-Iji (d.1460), Abulkhayr Abdullah al-Ghayli, Mazharuddin Muhammad Kazaruni, Ruknaddin Ruzbahan Bakliy-i Shirazi, Muhyiddin Muhammad Gushakanari-i Ansari, Ibn Hajar (d.1449), Humamaddin Gulbari, Hasan Shah Baqqal and Muhyaviy-i Lari who were mostly the students of Sayyid Sharif Jurjani. He held the post of sadr under Qara Qoyunlu Dynasty and became chief qadi of the Province of Fars under Aq Qoyunlu Dynasty. And he taught in Tabriz and Shiraz in most of his life. Among Davvani’s students who later founded Davvani School in Ottoman thought, Iran and India were his son Sa’daddin Davvani, his son –in- law Muzaffaruddin ‘Ali Shirazi, Mu’ayyadzadah Abdurrahman Efendi, Hakim Shah Muhammad Kazvini, Mir Husayn Maybudi, Jamaladdin Mahmud Shirazi. Davvani died in 908/1502 and buried in Davvan.

Davvani has been one the most influential thinkers of Islamic thought generally and of Islamic ethical philosophy particularly. He wrote in different fields of sciences and interested in different subjects. Among his works Akhlaq-i Jalali influenced many ethical works after him. Although in the main plains of his book, Davvani followed closely Nasiraddin Tusi’s Akhlaq-ı Nasiri, he added many ideas of him in Akhlak-i Jajali. So contrary to some scholars who wrote on Islamic ethical thought and who claimed that Akhlaq-i Jalali is not an original book and is a new version of Aklaq-i Nasiri, in this paper I will try to show the similarities and the differences between two books.

Among Davvani’s ethical ideas which were discussed in Akhaq-i Jalali, the relation between religion and ethics are very important and from that point of view his ideas differ from the ideas of many writers of ethics in the same subjects. While Farabi considered fiqh and ethics inside of the science of politics and Tusi considered fiqh inside of practical philosophy, Davvani has identified the aims of practical philosophy with Shari’ah and fiqh. Doing this identification he opened a new discussion in the history of Islamic ethical philosophy.

Also, Davvani tried to found a new ethical theory based on sufism and metaphysics. Contrary to the most of the writers of philosophical ethics, he mixed philosophical ethics with the ideas of illuminationist (ishraqi) philosophy, sufism, mainly the philosophy of unity of existence (vahdat-i vujud), and Ash’ari metaphysics. According to him, ethical ideals must be considered as a value in itself and they must be practiced without expecting any benefits, goals and aims, just as God who has given many benefactions to human being and to all creatures without aiming any interests.

With all these ideas in ethics, he developed a new style of writing in ethics, he founded a new theory and he opened new discussions that are different and contradict to the ideas of Farabi, Tusi, Qutbuddin Shirazi, Urmavi and Husayn Vaiz Kashifi  and others in many ways.

Harun Anay/09.12.2013

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