A Critical Edition of the Risāla fī raq？ al-muta？awwifa by Hüsam ？elebi

One of the major debates related to Islamic law in the Ottoman period was about dancing with music, as practiced by some Sufi communities. Regarded as a religious ritual, this tradition became popular among the statesmen and the public. It was therefore deemed important to know the Islamic legal verdict of the practice. As a matter of fact, Ottoman sultans insisted that the legal aspect of dancing be studied by jurists. Scholarly opinions about the issue could be divided into three: The ritual could be permissible, or disliked (makrūh), or forbidden (？arām). Hüsam ？elebi (d. 926/1520), who had served as a mudarris and judge in various institutions of the Ottoman state, was among those to consider it permissible. This study deals with the epistle of Hüsam ？elebi, Risāla fī raq？ al-muta？awwifa, about the ceremonies of the Sufis. In the epistle, Hüsam ？elebi attempts to answer various questions about the ritual. The fact that famous scholars benefited from the work by quoting it extensively and reproducing it in manuscript form testifies to its significance. Although some sources mention that ？elebi opposed the ritual, this does not reflect his position. On the contrary, he supported the practice and embraced a moderate attitude toward Sufis. The author benefited from about twenty-nine sources in the fields of fiqh, fatwā, tafsīr, ？adīth, kalām and ta？awwuf. In order to compare the opinions of religious and scholarly groups, he made use of primary and secondary sources. Additionally, he answered questions that he anticipated people might ask. It is noteworthy that the author prefers the word “raq？,” which has negative connotations, as opposed to “samā‘,” a concept widely used in tasawwuf literature. Nevertheless, the author emphasizes the permissibility of ceremonial Sufi practices, despite their outward resemblance of mundane actions like dancing and singing. In general, Hüsam ？elebi embraces a moderate approach to the subject, and criticizes those who treat it as a theological problem by excommunicating their opponents. He maintains that such treatment placed individual reasoning (ijtihād) in peril. The study is based on a non-dated manuscript with the archive number 19 HK 864/2, found in ？orum Hasan Pa？a ？l Halk Kütüphanesi (？orum Hasan Pa？a Public Library). The first and final pages of the manuscript note that it is an original copy, written by Hüsam ？elebi, the judge of Edirne, himself