VAROL, Muharrem İstanbul Üniversitesi - Tarih Bölümü, Turkey

IN PURSUIT OF KASHIFU’L-ASRAR: AN UNKNOWN PAMPHLET OF HODJA ISHAK IZAHU’L-ASRAR

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After the death of Fehima Efendi who was an Ottoman official, more than a hundred manuscripts on Hurufism were left in his heritage in 1881. Since they were probably regarded as heretic, some ulemas were at once charged to investigate those books. After that, these books were instantly confiscated. It was understood that a manuscript report later on transformed into a book called as Izahu’l-Asrar was prepared on the basis of order. This article sheds light on the author and its content. It includes criticism and refutation of Hurufism and Bektashi Order. The author, we find out, was Hodja Ishak who was an Ottoman religious scholar and wrote about a famous book called Kashifu’l-Asrar in 1871. Izahu’l-Asrar is a continuation of Kashifu’l-Asrar and repeating defemation of Bektashism on the context in which a serial book printed pros and cons of Bektashism in 1870s. Moreover, it contains almost thirty questions against Bektashis. Apart from that, at the end of the book, there was also interesting information about the relationship between Naqshi-Khalidi order and ulemas.

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Bektashi Order , Hurufism , Hoca Ishak Efendi , Kashifu’l , Asrar , Izahu’l , Asrar

Turkish Culture and Haci Bektash Veli Research Quarterly

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