Analysis and assessment of Kasabbaşızâde's work Risâla-i I'tikâdiyye

In this study, Kasabbaşızāde İbrāhim Efendi (d. 1236/1820), a person who grew up in the 18th and reforms century of the Ottoman Empire, and his work Risāla-i I'tikādiyye / Risāla fî I'tikād-i Ahl al-Sunnah va'l-Cemāa were analyzed and evaluated. Kasabbaşızāde's name began to be mentioned during the reign of Abdulhamid I (d. 1204/1789) when he took office in the Ministry of Speed in 1201/1787 (1187-1203/1774-1789). Kasabbaşızāde lived until the middle of the reign of Mahmud II (d. 1255/1839) (1222-1254/1808-1839) and worked in various civil services and held important positions. In addition to fulfilling his state duties, he did not refrain from being an author. Kasabbaşızāde succeeded in writing treatises on topics ranging from theology and philosophy to geology and astronomy and produced many works. The work Risāla-i I'tikādiyye, which has the characteristics of a creed text in terms of theology, was examined and analyzed in this. Thus, in the first part of the study, information is given about the life and works of Kasabbaşızāde, the author of the aforementioned work. In the second part, the work Risāla-i I'tikādiyye, which includes Sunni belief and theology, is evaluated in terms of Ahl al-Sunnah theology and its place among the creedal texts is shown. In this regard, uluhiyyah, nubuwwah, sem'iyyah and al-Esmā va'l-Ahkām which is in the content of the work, were discussed along with their main headings and subheadings and evaluated based on the information in the classical works of Sunni theology. As a result, it has been observed that in this treatise, Kasabbaşızāde conveys the views of both sects of Ahl al-Sunnah, Maturidiyyah and Ashʽariyyah, together with their points of agreement and disagreement. However, it has been seen that he accepts both sects as representatives of Ahl al-Sunnah. In the issues on which these sects disagreed, he preferred the sect whose views he approved, depending on the subject. Thus, the work Risāla-i I'tikādiyye, which is the subject of this study, appeared as an Ottoman work that contains the theology of Maturidiyyah and Ashʽariyyah and takes its place among the creedal texts of Ahl al-Sunnah theology. Keywords: Kasabbaşızāde İbrāhim, Risāla-i I'tikādiyye, Kalām, Ahl as-Sunnah, Maturidiyyah, Ashʽariyyah