Tanzimat, Islahat, and the Ottoman Parliament through the Eyes of a Bosnian Scholar: On Bosnevî Hilmi’s Risāla fī al-Siyāsa
Risāla fi's-Siyāsa is a text containing the testimony and critiques of a Bosnian scholar who received his initial education in Islamic sciences in Istanbul, then went to Medina to study tafsir and hadith, and upon returning to Istanbul in his thirties as a teacher, organized various lectures and discussion circles. The author, Bosnevî Hilmi Baba Taşlıcevî, wrote the Risāla in the context of the debate in the Meclis-i Meb’ûsân (Ottoman Parliament) on whether to admit non-Muslims. In this context, he argued that non-Muslims should not be allowed in any position related to administration and judiciary, and he attempted to substantiate this judgment by referring to Islamic legal evidence. Bosnevî did not limit his criticism to the aforementioned incident, but extended it to the entirety of Ottoman modernization; in this context, he directed harsh criticism at the Tanzimat, the Islahat, which he referred to as “Müsavat” (Equality), and the Constitutional Monarchy policies. Bosnevî Hilmi Baba, who appears to have been a Sufi scholar, completed his Risāla shortly before the proclamation of the Constitution, on 3 Sha'ban 1293/August 24, 1876. This article presents Bosnevî Hilmi's biography and analyzes his Risāla.
Nedim AYDIN
