Or 16145

This volume contains an adaptation in Ottoman Turkish of al-Farā’iḍ al-Sirājiyya, the well-known Arabic treatise on the laws of inheritance according to the Hanafi madhhab. The Farā’iḍ was authored by Sirāj al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Sajāwandī (died after 596 AH/1200 CE). It was frequently translated and/or adapted into Ottoman Turkish.

The author of this particular adaptation is Mehmed ibn-i Mustafa ibn Mahmud İstanbuli (died 1100 AH/1689 CE). He was known as known as Hacibzade, since his father was a palace hacip (usher; chamberlain). After completing his medrese education, he received his mülazemet from Şeyhülislam Ebu Said Efendi, and served as a müderris and later as a kadı. He died while kadı of Üsküdar in Cemaziyülahır 1100 AH/March-April 1689 CE.

Hacibzade explains in the introduction to the text that he began studying fıkıh as a seventeen-year-old, initially by memorising the Muhtasar-i Vikaye. After that, he resolved to memorise and study the work of al-Sajāwandī, which he says was popular with the ulema of the day. For this purpose, he went to the expert (mahir) in the field of inheritance, Sirkeci Hüseyin Efendi, in 1053 AH/1643-4 CE. He produced notes based on each of Hüseyin Efendi’s lectures in order to better understand them and commit them to memory. He then compiled these notes and translated them into Turkish in concise format, being sure to cover what previous works in the same field had failed to mention. He completed the Feraiz in 1081 AH/1670 CE.

f 37 of the present manuscript is of interest in that it consists of a smaller piece of paper in the form of a symmetrical irregular hexagon containing a small apportionment diagram and with a thin retaining stub inserted between ff 34-35.

Begins:

Besmele, Yekul el-‘abdu’l-fakir ila birr Rabbih Muhammed bin Mustafa bin Mahmud el-İstanbuli el-meşhur beyne’l-hass ve’l-âm bi-Hacibzade, … elhamdülillahillezi teferred Zatehü bi’l-kidem ve’l-baka ve takaddes sifatehü ‘ani’l-hüdus ve’l-gina’ (sic, i.e. ve’l-fena

Ends (55v):

…olsun için bunlardan … beri varis oldukları sahibi malından bir nesne almaz bundan gayri terekesinden hisse-i şer‘iyelerin alırlar, elhamdülillahi’l-Meliki’l-‘allam ale’t-temam…

Between ff 56v-58r, the opening portion of the preceding text (beginning on 2r) is recopied in the form of a short treatise in the same hand as the first, perhaps for speedier consultation. It outlines the four legal steps of handling the estate (tereke) of a deceased person, which are: (1) preparing and shrouding the body; (2) fulfilling outstanding debts; (3) Dividing the estate into three; (4) Assigning the estate among the inheritors. It ends as follows: ve kezalik bu esnafın füruunda dahi hüküm böyledir ki evvela kurb derece ile saniyen kuvvet-i kıraat ile tercih olunur.

Other contents of this manuscript include a passage from a work on Arabic grammar between ff 59v-60v, written in small cursive nesta‘lik. According to the colophon on 55v, the text was copied on 22 Zilhicce 1175 AH/14 July 1762 CE.