Popular Devotion to the Prophets in Ottoman Istanbul : A Study of Aḥmed el-Istanbulī’s (d. 1197/1783) Enbiyāʾ-i Kirām Ḥaḳḳında Yalan Rivāyetleri Red Risālesi

In twelfth/eighteenth century Istanbul, spurious stories about the prophets circulated widely among the Muslim masses. In response to these popular fabrications, the prominent theologian Ḳāżīzāde Aḥmed b. Meḥmed Emīn el-Istanbulī (d. 1197/1783) composed the Enbiyāʾ-i Kirām Ḥaḳḳında Yalan Rivāyetleri Red Risālesi (“A Treatise on Disproving Fabrications about the Noble Prophets”). Deeply concerned that such false stories about the prophets would endanger Islamic doctrines, el-Istanbulī sought to refute them in this treatise. Through a close analysis of his observations and apologetic defense of Islamic prophetology, this study explores the popular reception and theological significance of the stories of the prophets (ḳıṣaṣ-ı enbiyāʾ).

Debates concerning Islamic prophetology in the early modern Ottoman world remain relatively understudied.1 Although some studies examined prophetological discussions in the eleventh/seventeenth and twelfth/eighteenth centuries Ottoman realm, a number of Muslim theologians who once engaged in prophetological writings have been consigned to oblivion, awaiting careful investigation to enhance our comprehensive understanding of intellectual cur- rents. This study aims to further our understanding of prophetological trends within the context of twelfth/eighteenth century Istanbul, focusing on the