Defects of will in four authoritative Ottoman fatwa compilations (With a focus on al-buyu' section)

Human beings are distinguished from other living creatures by the faculty of reason bestowed upon them and by their free will. These characteristics enable humans not only to acquire certain rights but also render them accountable for their actions in both worldly and otherworldly terms. Accordingly, the concepts of reason and will, which play a central role in human actions, have also attracted scholarly attention as subjects of inquiry within the field of Islamic law. The will manifested by individuals in the course of legal transactions may at times differ from their true intention. In such cases, defects of will arise. In Islamic law, defects of will are expressed through the concepts of ghalaṭ (mistake), taghrîr (deception) and ikrah (disgust). Although the subject of defects of will has been addressed in various studies, it has been determined that no research has been conducted within the framework of examples found in fatwa collections. For this reason, the present study aims to examine defects of will through fatwas and to address the subject from a different perspective. The first chapter of the study is devoted to the conceptual framework of defects of will, while the second chapter examines selected fatwah examples that may be evaluated within the scope of defects of will in four authoritative Ottoman fatwah collections.