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This volume contains the collected fetava of Yenişehirli Abdullah Efendi (died 1156 AH/1743 CE), who was Şeyhülislam of the Ottoman Empire between 6/6/1130–17/3/1143 AH/ 7/5/1718–30/9/1730 CE.

Originally of Yenişehir, Abdullah Efendi completed his medrese education in Istanbul. He went on to serve variously as a müderris, custodian of fetva (fetva emini), military judge (ordu kadısı), and kazasker of Anatolia and later Rumelia. Upon the dismissal of Şeyhülislam İsmâil Efendi, Sultan Ahmed III (reigned 1115-1143 AH/ 1703-1730 CE) made Abdullah Efendi his replacement on 6 Cemaziyülahır 1130 AH/ 7 May 1718 CE. This was in large part thanks to the efforts and recommendation of the incumbent Grand Vizier and Ahmed’s son-in-law, Nevşehirli Damad İbrahim Pasha (in office 1130-1143/1718-1730 CE).

Abdullah Efendi remained in this office for over twelve years, enjoying good relations with Ahmed III and Ibrahim Pasha, an influential figure in the Empire’s cultural life in this period, known as the Tulip Age (Lâle Devri, 1130-1143 AH/1718-1730 CE). However, upon the outbreak of the Patrona Halil Rebellion in 1143 AH/1730 CE, Abdullah Efendi became a fierce critic of the Grand Vizier and supported the dethronement of Ahmed III, in large part to protect himself from the rebels. For this behaviour he was dismissed by Ahmed III on 17 Rebiyülevvel 1143 AH/ 30 September 1730 CE and exiled to Bozcaada. He was permitted to undertake the Hajj in 1144-5 AH/1732 CE and was later allowed to reside in his waterside mansion in Kanlıca. He died in 1156 AH/1743 CE and was buried in Kanlıca’s İskender Pasha Mosque.

During his long reign as Şeyhülislam, Abdullah Efendi became one of the important figures of the Tulip Age, issuing a number of notable fetava in favour of contemporary practices. Among these are his judgments on the establishment of the printing press and the printing of non-religious works. Unlike a number of his predecessors in the office of Şeyhülislam, Abdullah Efendi himself compiled the fetava he issued into a large volume. A fetva emini in his service by the name of Mehmed Fıkhi al-Ayni then rearranged the text, following the standard order of classical fıkıh compilations. He completed this edition in Abdullah Efendi’s lifetime, and called it Behcetü’l-fetava. For each fetva, Aynî provided references from the most renowned Arabic-language Hanafi source texts.

The Behcet went on to become one of the most important Ottoman fetava compilations. Later scholars continued to produce derivatives and supplements to the work, for example Fındıklılı Süleyman Efendi, a clerk at the Kısmet-i Askeri Court in Istanbul who produced a complete index of the work for even more convenient navigation called the Behcetü’l-fetâvâ Fihristi (el-Fihristü’l-Kâmil li-Behceti’l-fetâvâ). The fetava in the Behcet were also summarised and published in the Hulâsatü’l-ecvibe of Çeşmîzâde Mehmed Hâlis.

Following Aynî’s introduction, the text begins with a section on akaid, followed by subjects related to ibadet (ritual worship) and muâmelât (nonritual legal rulings). It is written in plain Ottoman Turkish and is arranged in the form of questions and answers.

Begins:

Besmele elhamdülillahi’llezi ahkeme ahkam es-şer‘i’l-kavm ala ahseni’t-tertib ve’n-nizam, ve ce‘ele ulema eş-şeria hülefa-i Resulih fi beyani’l-helal ve’l-haram ... ve ba‘d, yakulü’l-fakir illallahi’l-Gani Mehmed ibn-i Fıkhi el-‘Ayni…

Ends:

... ve ol tarlaları tapu ile ahir-i tefviz etmek istediğine Zeyid mücerret ziraat ettiklerinin hukuklarını eda etmekle ziraaat etmedikleri ahir-i tefvizden Amr men‘e kadir olur mı? el-Cevab: Olmaz

Many folios in the volume contain extensive text or annotations in the margins, in similar but smaller and untidier nastalik.

There is a gilt ruled table of contents on ff 1v-4r and a gilt and polychrome illuminated heading on f 5v, with an unused gilt space evidently left for the title. Other contents include a record of monthly salary payments on the front flyleaf, a note in Arabic concerning receipts for purchases on f 4v, and two tables in Arabic of legal import on 208v, on the preferential order between relatives who have the right to nurse a child in place of the mother, according to Ebü’l-Leys Semerkandi, and on the preferential order of witnesses’ evidence (beyyinat).

The colophon is on f 208r, and states that the work was completed by Mehmed ibn-i Ahmed el-Eyyübi (of Eyüp), formerly kadı of Çerkes, in early Zilhicce 1150 AH/late March 1738 CE.