From Learning Circles to Endowed Institutions: Zāwiyas of the Mosque of ʿAmr b. al-ʿĀs in the Ayyubid and Mamlūk Cairo

Year 2023, Volume: 13 Issue: 1, 293 - 319, 31.03.2023

Muhammet Enes Midilli

https://doi.org/10.26650/iuitd.2023.1178467

Abstract

Zāwiya, as a polysemous term, refers to a Sufi institution, as well as to the concepts of khanqāh and ribāṭ (Sufi lodges). On the other hand, however, it also denotes more modest architectural and organizational institutions built in suburban areas. Nevertheless, the term zāwiya has also been employed in the Syro-Egyptian region for describing the institutions of the central mosques of cities, in which scholars and their lessons in religious disciplines were supported regularly by endowments. This article deals with the eight zāwiyas of the Mosque of ʿAmr b. al-ʿĀs in Cairo, and particularly the most significant of them, the Zāwiya of Imām al-Shāfi‘ī. By analyzing the narratives of two major khiṭaṭ (topographical urban history) works compiled by Ibn Duqmāq and al-Maqrīzī and comparing them with other chronicles and biographical dictionaries of the period, this article argues that the mosquezāwiyas differed from the Sufi zāwiyas and that the zāwiyas, which formerly only denoted study circles held by scholars with their own initiatives in the mosques, turned into endowed, long-lasting, and prestigious institutions of learning with the proliferation of madrasas in Egypt during the 6th/12th century.

Keywords

Zāwiya, Mosque of ‘Amr b. al-Ās, waqf, madrasa, Cairo

İlim Halkalarından Vakıfla Desteklenen Kurumlara: Eyyûbî ve Memlük Kahiresi’nde Amr b. Âs Camii’nin Zâviyeleri

Abstract

Modern literatürde çoğunlukla sûfîlerle ilişkilendirilen zâviyeler, zaman zaman hankah ve ribâtla aynı yapıya işaret etmekle birlikte daha ziyade şehir merkezlerinin dışında ve geçiş güzergâhlarında kurulan, hankaha kıyasla mimari ve teşkilatlanma bakımından daha mütevazı olan sûfî kurumları olarak tanımlanmışlardır. Bununla birlikte Mısır ve Bilâdüşşam şehirlerinin merkezî camilerinin içerisinde şer‘î ilimlere dair vakıfla desteklenen derslerin yapıldığı ve müderrisine düzenli tahsisat sunan müesseseleri ifade etmek üzere de zâviye terimi kullanılmıştır. Bu makalede, Kahire’de Amr b. Âs Camii’nde bulunan sekiz zâviyenin ve özellikle bunların en önemlisi olan İmam Şâfiî Zâviyesi’nin tarihi, vakıfları ve geçirdiği dönüşümler inceleme konusu edilmiştir. Bu zâviyelerin tarihi hakkında İbn Dokmak ve Makrîzî’nin hıtat türü eserlerinde yer alan kayıtlar incelenmiş, bu kayıtlar dönemin diğer tarih ve tabakat kaynaklarındaki bilgilerle mukayese edilmiştir. Buradan yola çıkarak Mısır-Şam bölgesinde cami zâviyelerinin, sûfî kurumu olan zâviyelerden farklı bir müessese türüne işaret ettiği ve önceleri sadece âlimlerin camilerde şahsi imkânlarıyla sürdürdüğü ilim halkalarını ifade eden zâviyelerin Mısır’da medreselerin yaygınlaşmaya başladığı 6./12. yüzyıldan itibaren vakıfla desteklenen birer ilim kurumuna dönüştükleri tespit edilmiştir.

Keywords

Zâviye, Amr b. Âs Camii, vakıf, medrese, Kahire

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