The Life and Works of Mullah Kestelī (D. 901/1496)

Abstract

The Ottoman Empire has been instrumental in producing many important scholars that were accomplished in various fields. Sultan Fatih Mehmed II in particular
had made considerable effort in this respect. Many remarkable intellectuals and
scientists had carried out countless scholarly research and have left us with many
notable works. One of these scholars is Mullah Kestelī whose real name is Muśliĥ
al-Dīn Muśŧafa b. Muĥammed (d. 901/1496). He was one of the three most important students of Khidr Beg, a mudarris at the Sultan’s madrasa in Bursa, together with Khayālī and Khocazāde, all of whom were among the reputed scholars
of the age. Kestelī, whose mastery in the rational and religious sciences, especially
in kalam and fiqh, is well-attested, had served as a mudarris and qādī in Istanbul,
Bursa and Edirne, cities that were dubbed as bilād-ı selāse having been the most important centers for science and politics in the Ottoman Empire. In addition to this,
Kestelī also became a kadıasker (military judge) in his later years. He had spent the
majority of his life preoccupied by scientific and political duties, and therefore did
not have the opportunity to author many books. However, according to library collections and bibliography books, Kestelī wrote ten works in total, most of which are
short works. Apart from his most important and famous work, Ĥāshiya ‘alā Sharĥ
al-‘Aqā’id, all his works are unpublished and reamin in manuscript form in libraries.
Although he is one of the most important figures during the reign of Sultan Fatih
Mehmed II, Kestelī’s scholarly career and notable works have heretofore been understudied. In particular, there has only been one master’s thesis on Kestelī written
to date. Apart from this, there is neither an article nor any other thesis or book
about Kestelī. This has led to a less than adequate understanding of a scholar and
statesman who played an active role during a pivotal stage of the Ottoman scientific
tradition. Therefore, there is a great need for more detailed studies in this particular
area. This article serves as a modest attempt to fill this gap without, however, pre
tending to be exhaustive in any way, especially since a study of this nature cannot do
justice to such a complex task. Therefore, this article aims to carry out an in-depth
examination of issues related to the life and works of Kestelī. His views, however,
were excluded from the article’s scope because of the fact that all of Kestelī’s works
should first be identified and carefully examined to be able to present his views in
any thorough way. Therefore, this article will focus on his life and especially his
works as an introduction to Kestelī studies. A more critical examination of his views
will therefore be left for other studies. This article consists of an introduction and
two basic parts. In the first part, I present Kestelī’s life in a systematic manner,
utilizing in particular many classical and modern sources and observing special care
not to neglect even the slightest information contained in them. The second part is
dedicated to an introduction and examination of Kestelī’s works. In this context, I
have probed into both classical and modern sources and identified works attributed
to Kestelī. Subsequently, painstaking research was carried out through the catalog
scanning system in the Süleymaniye Manuscript Library which provides access to
the Turkish libraries connected with it, and here some other works were also identified. All of the correct copies of the manuscripts were determined by examining
each manuscript one by one. In addition to the second basic part of the article,
two tables were given following the second part in order to pin point the changes
and developments in classical and modern bibliographic books, and to facilitate
a comparative analysis of the works attributed to Kestelī. After these tables, as a
further supplement, the second part includes the introductory (muqaddimah) and
concluding (khāŧima) sentences of the works belonging to Kestelī. I hope that this
work will raise both awareness of and interest in this field, and likewise serve as an
introduction for more extensive studies in the future.

Keywords