In the Crucible of Ottoman Taḥqīq: A Fifteenth-Century Case of Verifying Philosophy and Theology under Sufi Agnosticism

Abstract

Verification (taḥqīq) was a post-classical practice in Islamicate scholarship that sought ways to attain syntheses between rational and religious sciences. This article argues, however, that the early Ottoman practice of taḥqīq was not limited to the “verification of theology and philosophy,” as it also included attempts to reconcile certain Sufi doctrines with philosophical theology. This tendency is evident in the works of fifteenth-century scholars, such as Sinān Paşa and his shaykh Vefā’, as well as al-Jāmī and İbn Kemāl, all of whom tried to reconcile conflicting aspects of philosophy and theology under the overarching rubric of the Akbarī worldview. These cases demonstrate that Sufi taḥqīq was already present very early in the development of Ottoman intellectual life, and that it was a diffuse and multi-variegated practice that drew upon the universalizing tendencies of Sufi agnosticism.