Understanding ‘Others’ in Islamic Thought: The Example of Al-Biruni

Yıl 2013, Cilt: 10 Sayı: 3, 201 - 223, 17.12.2014

Kemal Ataman

Öz

There have been scholars within the Islamic tradition who showed gen-uine interest in studying and understanding other religious traditions on their own terms. Arguably, one of the best representatives of these scholars was al-Biruni (973-1048 CE) whose accomplishments in other disciplines, notably in natural sciences, overshadowed his crucial contribution to the study of religion This paper is an attempt to contribute to the current de-bate in the study of religion by analyzing the method al-Birûnî employed in his treatment of the religious traditions of India. In pursuing the subject, the paper aims to elucidate the phenomenological, dialogical and compar-ative aspects of al- Al-Biruni's thought in light of contemporary scholarship.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Al-Biruni, Intercultural Understanding, Phenomenological Method, Comparison

İslam Düşüncesinde ‘Öteki’ni Anlama: Bîrûnî Örneği

Öz

İslam geleneği içerisinde öteki dinî gelenekleri onların kendi terim ve teo-rileriyle araştırma ve anlama hususuna samimi bir ilgi gösteren âlimler bulunmaktadır. Başta doğa bilimleri olmak üzere diğer bilimlerdeki başa-rıları din araştırmalarındaki önemli katkısını gölgelemiş olsa da Bîrûnî'nin (973-1048), söz konusu âlimlerin en iyi temsilcilerinden biri olduğu söyle-nebilir. Bu makale, Bîrûnî'nin Hindistan'a ait dinî gelenekleri incelerken uygulamaya koyduğu metotları analiz ederek din araştırmalarındaki aktüel tartışmalara katkı sağlamayı amaçlamaktadır. Konu ele alınırken, Bîrûnî'nin düşüncesindeki fenomenolojik, diyalojik ve mukayeseli yaklaşım-lar da günümüz bilimsel tartışmaları ışığında açıklanmaya çalışılacaktır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Bîrûnî, Kültürlerarası Anlama, Fenomenolojik Metot, Karşılaştırma

Kaynakça

• Aasi, G. H. (1999) Muslim Understanding of Other Religions (Islamabad: Inter- national Institute of Islamic Thought and Islamic Research Insti- tute).
• Bîrûnî. Abû al-Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al- (1910) Al-Beruni’s India: an Account of the Religion, Philosophy, Literature, Geography, Chrono- logy, Astronomy, Customs, laws and Astrology of India, trans. E. Sachau (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co.).
• Bîrûnî, Abû al-Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al- (1958) Tahqîq mâ li-al- hind min maqûla maqbûla fî al-‘aql aw mardhûla, (Ed.) E. Sachau (Hay- derabad: Da'irat'ul-Ma'arif’il Osmania (Osmania Oriental Publicati- ons Bureau), Osmania University).
• Dimirdâsh A. s. (1980) AI-Birûnî Abu Rayhan Muhammad Ibn Ahmad (Cairo: Dar al-Ma‘arif).
• Eliade, M. (1959) Sacred and the Profane: the Nature of Religion, trans. w. R. Trask (New York: Harcourt, Brace and World,).
• Embree, A. T. (1975) Foreign interpreters of India: the case of al-Birûnî, in: P. J. Chelkowski (Ed.) The Scholar and the Saint (New York: New York University Press'), s. 1-16.
• Fakhry, M. (1979) Al-Bîrûnî and Greek philosophy: an essay in philosophi- cal erudition, in: H. M. Said (Ed.) Al-Birûnî Commemorative Volume: Proceedings of the International Congress Held in Pakistan, November 26-December 72, 1973 (Karachi: Hamdard Academy), s. 344-350.
• Flood, G. (1999) Beyond Phenomenology: Rethinking the Study of Religion (Lon- don & New York: Cassell).
• Husserl, E. (1964) Cartesian Meditations, trans. D. Cairns (The Hague: Marti- nus Nijhoff).
• Husserl, E. (1967) Ideas: General Introduction to Pure Phenomenology, trans. W. R. Boyce Gibson (New York: Collier Books).
• Jeffery, A. (1951) Al-Birûnî's contribution to comparative religion, in: Al- Birûnî Commemoration Volume (Calcutta: İran Society), s. 125-160.
• Jones, W. T. (1975) A History of Western Philosophy: the Twentieth Century to Wittgenstein and Sartre, 2nd rev. edn, Vol. 5 (Washington, DC: Har- court Brace Jovanovich).
• Kaur, G. (1982) Al-Birûnî: an early student of comparative religions, Islamic Culture, 56, s. 149-163.
• Kennedy, E. S. (1989) Al-Biruni (or Beruni), Abu Rayhan (or Abu'1 Rayhan) Muhammad Ibn Ahmad, in: Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Vol. 2 (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons).
• Lawrence, B. B. (1976) Al-Birûnî’s approach to the comparative study of In- dian culture, in: E. Yarshter (Ed.) Biruni Symposium (New York: Iran Center, Columbia University), s. 27-48.
• Leeuw, G. van der (1973) Religion in Essence and Manifestation (New York: Harper Torchbooks).
• Lenkowsk, W. J. (1978) What is Husserl’s Epoche? The problem of the begin- ning of philosophy in a Husserlian context, Man and World, 11(3-4), s. 299-323.
• Lott, E, J. (1988) Vision, Tradition, Interpretation (Berlin, New York, Amster- dam: Mouton de Gruyter).
• Massignon, L. (1951) Al-Birûnî et la valeur internationale de la science Arabe, in: Al-Birûnî Commemoration Volume (Calcutta: Iran Society), s. 217-219.
• Morgenstierne, G. (1973) Al-Birûnî, the founder of comparative studies in human culture, in: The Commemoration Volume of Biruni International Congress (Tehran: High Council for Culture and Art), s. 1-9.
• Nasr, S. H. (1966) Islam and the encounter of religions, Islamic Quarterly, 10(3-4), s. 47-68.
• Nasr, S. H. (1979) Al-Birûnî as philosopher, in: H. M. Said (Ed.) Al-Birûnî Commemorative Volume: Proceedings of the International Congress held in Pakistan, Noventber 26-December 12, 1973 (Karachi: Hamdard Aca- demy), s. 400-406.
• Nasr, S. H. (1993) An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press).
• Nowshervi, A. R. (1979) Al-Birûnî’s contribution to natural sciences, in: H. M. Said (Ed.) Al-Birûnî Commemorative Volume: Proceedings of the In- ternational Congress Held in Pakistan, November 26-December 12, 1973 (Karachi: Hamdard Academy), s. 582-586.
• Paden, W. E. (1992) Interpreting the Sacred: Ways of Viewing Religion (Boston, MA: Beacon Press).
• Penner, H. (1988) Impasse and Resolution: Critique of the Study of Religion (New York: Peter Lang).
• Pines, Shlomo and Tuvia Gelbum (1966), Al-Biruni’s Arabic Version of of Patanjali’s “Yogasutra”: A Translation of the Third Chapter and a Comparison with Related Texts, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Vol. 29, No. 2, s. 302-325.
• Pines, Shlomo and Tuvia Gelbum (1977), Al-Biruni’s Arabic Version of of Patanjali’s “Yogasutra”: A Translation of the Third Chapter and a Comparison with Related Texts, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Vol. 40, No. 3, s. 522-549.
• Pines, Shlomo and Tuvia Gelbum (1983), Al-Biruni’s Arabic Version of of Patanjali’s “Yogasutra”: A Translation of the Third Chapter and a Comparison with Related Texts, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Vol. 46, No. 2, s. 258-304.
• Pines, Shlomo and Tuvia Gelbum (1989), Al-Biruni’s Arabic Version of of Patanjali’s “Yogasutra”: A Translation of the Third Chapter and a Comparison with Related Texts, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Vol. 52, No. 2, s. 265-305.
• Ritter, H. (1956) Al-Biruni’s Übersetzung des Yoga-Sutra des Patanjali, Ori- ens, 9, s. 165-200.
• Rosenthal. F. (1973) On some epistemological and methodological presup- positions of al-Birûnî, in: The Commemoration Volume of Biruni Inter- national Congress (Tehran: High Council for Culture and Art), s. 535- 549.
• Rosenthal. F. (1976) Al-Birûnî between Greece and India, in: E. Yarshter (Ed.) Biruni Symposium (New York: Iran Center, Columbia Univer- sity), s. 1-12.
• Schimmel, A. (1992) Islam: an Introduction (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press).
• Sharpe, E. J. (1975) Comparative Religion (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons).
• Sharpe, E. J. (.1983) Understanding Religion (New York: St Martin's Press).
• Smart, N. (1958) Reason and Faiths (London: SPCK).
• Smart, N. (1973) Science of Religion and Sociology of Knowledge (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press).
• Smith, W. C. (1963) Faith of Other Men (New York: Harper Torchbooks).
• Spiegelberg, H. (1984) The Phenomenological Movement: an Historical Introduc- tion (The Hague, Boston, Lancaster: Martinus Nijhoff).
• Ströker. E. (1988) Phenomenology as first philosophy: reflections on Hus- serl, in: R. Sokolowski (Ed.) Edmund Husserl and the phenomenologi- cal Tradition (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press), s. 249-263.
• Tümer, G. (1975) Biruni’ye Göre Dinler ve İslam Dini (Ankara: Ayyıldız Mat- baası)
• Yasin, M. (1975) Al-Birûnî in India, Islamic Culture, 49, s. 207-213.