Critical edition and analysis of Nişancizâde's Nûru'l-'Ayn (chapters 1-6)

This study is focused on Nişancızâde Mehmed Efendi's Nûru'l-'ayn, a rearrangement of Şeyh Bedreddin's Câmi'u'l-fusûleyn. During his judgeship, Nişancızâde Muhyiddin Mehmed frequently referred to Câmi'u'l-fusûleyn and, upon the need he felt, embarked upon rearranging it, probably in his tenure as novice. Compared to other texts written around Câmi'u'l-fusûleyn, Nûru'l-'ayn stands out by its covering the entire source text. Nişancızâde's motivation was to facilitate the book's usage. The popularity, reception, and circulation of Nişancızâde's work are evidenced by the multiple manuscript copies, the citations in legal literature, and paratextual notes that show the appeal of judges to the book. The thesis consists of three parts. The first part presents, in three sections, the time and life of the author and introduces the text in question. This part is meant to lay ground for an understanding of the book. The second part is dedicated to the analysis of the findings from a comparison between Nûru'l-'ayn and Câmi'u'l-fusûleyn. Finally, the third part comprises of the critical edition of the chapters I-VI from the book. When completed, the project will make a manuscript from the 16th-17th century Ottoman legal literature available for the Islamic scholarship. Key Words: Nişancızâde, Nûru'l-'ayn, Şeyh Bedreddin, Câmi'u'l-fusûleyn, juristic procedure, judge (kâdı), judiciary, Ottoman, 16th century, 17th century