Transliteration and evaluation of pages 131-248 of Ali Vahîd Uryânîzâde's book 'Turkish Sermons'

Human beings need guidance to reach the truth, recognise error, and develop themselves. Regardless of the era, from the past to the present, we need a path; this is a necessity for humans. One of the most effective ways to fulfil this need is through communication tools that inform and alert society, the most effective of which are undoubtedly sermons. Sermons are like a branch that humanity clings to; without that branch, people would be swept away. Almighty Allah has made sermons a means for us so that we are not swept away. Thanks to these means, it has been made clear to whom? What? How? In what way? we should believe. What comes next is up to us, that is, our minds and our will. The Almighty Allah has provided humans with all the means to find the truth. Of course, the eye may look but not see, the ear may hear but not listen, the mouth may speak but not understand; in short, humans may know but not comprehend. In such cases, we must seek guidance. We must warn humanity and offer advice to make the eyes that see and the ears that hear truly perceive and understand. One of the most beautiful methods we can employ for this purpose is undoubtedly sermons. The sermon, one of the forms of speech through which we can express our advice, recommendations, and guidance, is a concept that has persisted with the aim of showing the truth through actions such as giving advice, offering counsel, and fulfilling the duty of guidance. This speech, delivered during Friday and holiday prayers to convey knowledge to Muslims on various topics such as worship, morality, and faith, has existed since the early days of Islam. Based on this topic, our study involves the Latinisation of 13 sermons found on pages 131-248 of Uryânîzâde Ali Vahîd's book 'Türkçe Hutbeler' (Sermons in Turkish) and an evaluation of these sermons. Uryânîzâde Ali Vahîd's work was written in the early years of the republic, which is also significant in that it reveals how our society perceived the concept of sermons during the transition to the republic. When we examine the sermons, we can see that their content is not limited to a single topic, but also includes various subjects such as social issues, faith, worship, and morality. In this work, where we encounter many different topics, we have written our study as a general evaluation due to reasons such as time constraints, subject integrity, and simplicity. Our main objective in translating these 13 sermons from Ottoman Turkish into modern Turkish and evaluating them is to shed light on our society and guide it by comparing the concepts and perspectives on sermons from the period in which our work was written to those of today.