The conception of Ahl al-Sunnah in the Ottoman scholarly tradition

In the Ottoman Islamic tradition, the books of the catechism have a very important position. Providing religious information to the people, the books of ilmihal contain the subjects of belief, worship, treatment and morality. Ilmihal books shed light on the period in which they were written and used from different perspectives. One of the aspects they shed light on is undoubtedly the sectarian perception of the period. As a matter of fact, the works cannot have been written independently of the sectarian understanding adopted by both the period and the author. After making general explanations about the research in the introduction section, the concept of ilmihal and the history of its composition are discussed in the first section and the historical course of the ilmihal is revealed. In the second part of the thesis, the Turkish ilmihal books used in the Ottoman Empire are discussed in two periods and brief information about the works is given. The works selected for the research were chosen from those used in formal and informal education centers addressing different age groups of the society. In the third part, the conception of the Ahl al-Sunnah sect and the reflections of this perception in the studied catechism books are revealed. Thus, the impact of the Ahl al-Sunnah understanding in shaping the religious perception of the Ottoman society and its role in its transmission to the present day were tried to be revealed. In the catechism books, the understanding of Ahl al-Sunnah is predominantly reflected through the Hanafi-Māturīdī tradition. It is seen that the influence of the Hanafī-Māturīdī tradition is more prominent and dominant than the Ashʿarī tradition.