Shaykh Muhammad Kâzim and his fiqh views

This thesis presents a scholarly examination of the life, intellectual profile, and works of Shaykh Muḥammad Kāẓim, a prominent figure in the Islamic scholarly tradition who lived through the transformative period from the Ottoman Empire to the early Turkish Republic. Bearing witness to the challenges of both eras, Shaykh Muḥammad Kāẓim distinguished himself through his extensive knowledge and the students he trained, particularly in the field of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh). The central focus of the study is the fiqh section of his work titled Jawāhir al-ʿUlūm al-Kāẓimiyya. In this section, the fatwas (legal opinions) authored by Shaykh Kāẓim are analyzed in depth. The classical fiqh sources underpinning these fatwas are identified, and the scholarly and methodological relationships between them are examined. The first chapter of the study provides a biographical overview of Shaykh Muḥammad Kāẓim, including details about his education, teachers, scholarly environment, and written works. In doing so, the intellectual context of his era is also considered, with particular attention to his position and significance within the field of Islamic jurisprudence. The second chapter focuses on the jurisprudential content of Jawāhir al-ʿUlūm al-Kāẓimiyya. It begins with an overview of the author's methodology in issuing fatwas. The legal opinions within the work are classified thematically and studied under three primary categories: ʿibādāt (acts of worship), muʿāmalāt (transactions), and mutafarriq (miscellaneous issues). Each fatwa is analyzed in terms of the specific legal issues it addresses and the sources it draws upon, some of which belong to the classical Ḥanafī legal tradition. This thesis aims to shed light on the intellectual legacy and jurisprudential approach of a prominent scholar such as Shaykh Muḥammad Kāẓim.