Shamsaddin Timurtâshî’s (d.1599) Treatise Risâlah fi’n-Nuqûd

Shamsaddin Timurtâshî, a prominent Hanafî jurist, wrote a legal treatise entitled briefly Risâlah fi’n-Nuqûd, on monetary inconsistencies of his time. Husamuddin Affane from Quds University studied the treatise and published it as a book. The purpose of this paper is to introduce Risâlah fi’n-Nuqûd and to examine the important historical data that will allow us to understand this legal text. In the treatise, Timurtâshî classifies and analyzes exchange issues generated by the debasements implemented by the Ottoman government in the late 16th century. Among others, Timurtâshî addresses the legal dispute on how to make payments when coins are taken out of circulation or withdrawn from the market, or when the coin values change. He emphasizes that it is still an ongoing problem among his contemporary colleagues. To eliminate this dispute, he suggests following the Hanafî methodology of fatwa.