BEKDEMIR, Sezayi. Sadr al-Shariah es-Sâni, his being the jurist (within the

context of his work entitled “et-Tavzîh fi Halli Ğavâmizi’t-Tenkîh”), doctoral

dissertation, Sivas, 2016.

The aim of this dissertation is to evaluate Sadr al-Shariah as a jurist who

wrote unique works in varied fields within the context of “Tawdih”, which was about

usul-u fıqh (Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence). Our work consists of introduction

and two main chapters. In the introduction chapter: Some subjects have been

summarized such as the definition of usul-u fıqh, shariah evidences, and historical

process of usul-u fıqh (Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence) until Sadr al-Shariah. In

the first chapter: his family, life, education, teachers and scientific personality has

been dealt with under the light of his time. In the second chapter: his work ” Tawdih”

has been described within the context of usul-u fıqh and his remarks on shariah

evidences and ahkâm (Islamic commandments from

religious jurisprudence resources) have been shown by investigating his approach to

the subjects in usul-u fıqh and his usul perception.

Sadr al-Shariah is one of the most prominent mujtahids ("diligent" is an

individual who is qualified to exercise ijtihad in the evaluation of Islamic law)

who had Hanafi madhhab ensured to come until today healthily. He lived in an epoch

when independent and absolute Ijtihad ("diligence" "independent reasoning" or

"the utmost effort an individual can put forth in an activity. It is recognized as

the decision-making process in Islamic law through personal effort which is

completely independent of any school fiqh madhhab. As opposed to taqlid, it

requires a "thorough knowledge of theology, revealed texts and usul al-fiqh; an

exceptional capacity for legal reasoning; thorough knowledge of Arabic. By

using both the Quran and Hadith as resources, the scholar is required to

carefully rely on analogical reasoning to find a solution to a legal problem,

which is considered to be a religious duty for those qualified to conduct it.)

paused, studies which brought direct solutions to the religious and legal life from the

sources of the Quran and Sunnah began to decrease, instead they were replaced by

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Taqlid or taqleed (following the decisions of a mujtahid without necessarily

examining the scriptural basis or reasoning of that decision, such as accepting

and following the verdict of scholars of fiqh without demanding an explanation

of the processes by which they arrive at it) , devotion to madhhab was ingrained

and the gate of Ijtihad was closed.

He made great contribution to the revival of Bukhara, which was ruined by

Mongols, as a center of science and education. The students educated by him and

works regarded as source written by him in every field of Islamic sciences have

continued their effects until today.

His works were spread by his students such as İbn Mübarek Şah throughout

Islamic world. “Tawdih”, which is especially the center of our study, was studied as

the main source of fıqh (Islamic jurisprudence) at Iznik (Nicene) madrasah, which

was the first madrasah in the Ottoman Empire and until the republic period.

“Tawdih”, which was dealt with by combining with Fuqahā (Islamic jurists)

and Mutakallimūns’ (The scholars of Kalam) approaches, is one of the best examples

of intermingled work of usul-u fıqh. Sadr al-Shariah, we can regard as Gazzali of

Hanafi and Maturidi Schools, included philosophy and logic into the science of usulu

fıqh in this work based on the argument that a science can have subjects more than

one. Sadr al-Shariah expanded the Ijtihad area of mujtahids by having made reason

more active than primary sources of Islam.

Key Words: Sadr al-Shariah, Tawdih, fiqh, usul and mujtahid.