Секция I
6
Çetin Aykurt (Artvin Coruh University, Artvin, Turkey)
Şânî-Zâde Mehmed Efendi (1771–1826)
and his historical works
Having been appointed by the Sultan, most of the
vakanüvises
(Ottoman official
historians) tried to please their sovereigns while compiling their annals. However, there
were some
vakanüvises
who stated their opinions quite freely by using a certain style of
writing. One of such authors was Şânî-zâdeMehmedAtâullah Efendi who occupied this
position from 1819 to 1825. The fact that he usually makes an emphasis on the reasons
and results of political events distinguishes himfromother Ottoman historians andmakes
his writing style very interesting not only for a stylistic but also for a historical study.
Şânî-zâde is known as an Ottoman ‘encyclopedist’. As to his historical work, it
is of particularly importance because he explained the disorder in the Ottoman state
system in a very clear way.
In this study, we deal with Şânî-zâde MehmedAtâullah Efendi’s historical works,
paying special attention to his manner of writing history.
Roswitha Badry (University of Freiburg, Germany)
How to succeed in shaking off a bad reputation?
Efforts of Nusayris/Alawis in the 20
th
century
to improve their image
For
centuries Nusayris/Alawis had been considered extremist heretics (
ghulāt
)
outside Islam. As a result, they were marginalized and even persecuted.
Since the 1920s educated members of the community started to improve the
image of the Alawis and to reposition them in mainstream Islam.
The adoption of the name Alawis under the French mandate as well as several
Fatwas
issued by Sunnite and Shiite authorities turned out to be useful instruments
for the self-identification process with the objective of integration into Islam and
the emerging nation state.
This contribution analyzes the main religious, historical, and rational arguments
and strategies presented by Alawi authors in two monographs: Mu
╩
ammad Amīn
Ghālib al-Tawīl’s
Tārīkh al-
ʿ
Alawiyyīn
(History of the Alawis), published for the
first time in the 1920s, and
ʿ
Alī
ʿ
Azīz al-Ibrāhīm’s
al-
ʿ
Alawiyyūn bayn al-Ghuluww
wa-l-falsafa wa-l-tasauwuf wa-l-tashayyu
ʿ
(TheAlawis between extremism, philos-
ophy, mysticism, and Shia), published in 1995.
In the end we will refer to similar tendencies among other extremist Shiite groups
during the past decades to rid themselves of the previous stereotypical categorization
as
ghulāt
,
qızılbaş
, etc.
