The Adventure of a Book That Migrated from Shirwān to Istanbul: A Study of Ḥadīth Terminology Presented to Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror

The science and religion policies of the states affected the types of scholars, the understanding of science, the centres of science and the styles of teaching in the regions they dominated. While Timur made Samarkand and his grandson Ulugh Beg made Herat centres of knowledge, they tried to attract scholars to these cities. This was done by forcing the ulema to emigrate or by increasing the opportunities available to them. The Ottoman Empire, which was a candidate for the role of the central Muslim state, invited scholars to the cities under its rule, especially Istanbul. During the reign of Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror (1451–1481), one of the pioneers of this activity, many scholars came to Istanbul. As a result, renowned scholars in medicine, astronomy, mathematics and religious sciences; books in these fields; and their understanding of knowledge were transferred to the Ottoman Empire. This article analyses the still extant manuscript of the ḥadīth methodology book Qawāʻid al-usūl fī ‘ilm ḥādīth al-Rasūl, which Ibrāhīm b. ʿAlī al-Shirwānī brought to Istanbul during the reign of Fatih and presented to the Sultan. The analysis examines the method and content of the work, whether it is an original book or not and the comparison of the information contained in it with similar books, taking into account the status of the science of ḥadīth in Istanbul and the Ottoman Empire. In particular, it questions the Ottoman political approach to the reception of religious sciences and the impact of this book on Ottoman ḥadīth scholarship, as the Ottoman Empire patronised knowledge and scholars from other regions through migration.