A Wedding Gone Wrong The Rather Worldly Woes of a Rather Wealthy Qādirī Sufi Shaykh. Two 18th Century Documents from the Ottoman Court Records of Ḥamā and Aleppo

A rather intricate legal case took place first in Ḥamā’s and then in Aleppo’s Ottoman Islamic courts around the middle of the 18th century. The setting, the social standing of the individuals involved, and the alleged circumstances of the case all contribute to make clear that this was not just another routine court case. Altogether, the two documents are a good example of the scope and quality of the information preserved in the archives of local courts and they both demonstrate the extent and modes of implementation of Islamic law in a specific Ottoman milieu. The long inventory of personal property in the Aleppo document gives us a good idea of the social status and affluence enjoyed by the plaintiff – a member of the Jīlānī/Qādirī family - and an interesting insight into material culture and what constituted wealth and affluence at the time.

[ʿAlam al-malāḥa fī ʿilm al-filāḥa]

"Fī al-yawm al-sābiʿ wa-al-ʿašrīn min šahr Ḏī al-Ḥiǧǧaẗ al-ḥarām sanaẗ tisʿ wa-tisaʿīn wa-miʾatayn al-alf min hiǧrat" - Colofó

at- Tuḥfa an-nābulusīya fi 'r-riḥla aṭ-ṭarābulusīya

ḥaqqaqahū wa-qaddama lahū Harībart BūsihIn arab. Schrift, arab., Vorw. in dt. Sprach

Nafaḥāt al-azhār ʻalá nasamāt al-asḥār fī madḥ al-Nabī al-Mukhtār bi-fann al-badīʻ /

Mode of access: Internet

al-Kāshifah li-adʻiyat al-Nabī al-akram fī sharḥ al-Ḥizb al-aʻẓam, [late 18th century?].

Fine copy of Muḥammad al-Nābulusī al-Maqdisī al-Rifāʻī's commentary on al-Ḥizb al-aʻẓam, prayers compiled by al-Qārī al-Harawī.Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center, Isl. Ms. 53Origin: As appears in colophon on fol.97a (p.203), copied by Aḥmad al-Najīb, muftī in Amasya. Date of transcription not specified. Author, Muḥammad al-Nābulusī al-Maqdisī al-Rifāʻī, provides the date he completed the composition 6 Rajab 1147 [ca. 2 December 1734] in authorial colophon on fol.97a (p.203).Accompanying materials: Several small inserted slips carrying brief comments on text (paginated pp.85-86, pp.89-90, pp.93-94, pp.97-98, and pp.105-106) -- leaf from another ms. slipped in just before final leaf (paginated pp.207-208).Former shelfmark: British Museum, London "No. 10. Commentary on al-Hizb al-azam." ; on tail of textblock "٣٠٠".Binding: Pasteboards covered in black leather ; Type II binding (with flap) ; board linings in pink-tinted laid paper ; fore-edge flap lined in marbled paper ; upper and lower covers bear central mandorla (gold to green painted paper) with gold-painted accents and border ; sewn in dark blue or black thread, two stations ; chevron endbands in yellow and pink ; in fair condition with minor abrasion and staining ; some negative draw in upper cover and envelope flap.Support: European laid paper with 11 laid lines per cm. (vertical) and chain lines spaced 25 mm. apart (horizontal) ; watermark of scrollwork with diamond flanked by flourishes with six-pointed star below (compare Heawood 3728 with six-pointed star in place of cross) ; staining, smudges, creasing, etc.Decoration: Section headings and keywords rubricated ; overlining and textual dividers in red ; red rule-border surrounds written area throughout ; well of headpiece outlined in red rules on incipit page, with basmalah set off in rectangular piece.Script: Naskh ; fine Ottoman hand ; effect of tilt to the left ; occasional slight effect of words descending to baseline ; rounded ; many open counters ; the lām alif al-warrāqīyah and kāf mabsūṭah preferred ; point of final nūn assimilated with bowl.Layout: Written in 25 lines per page ; frame-ruled.Collation: 9 V(90), IV+1 (99) ; chiefly quinions ; final two leaves left blank ; catchwords lacking ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during digitization (includes inserts).Colophon: "Authorial," rectangular, reads: "وكان الفراغ من هذا الكتار المبارك ليلة الاربعاء سادس يوم شهر رجب الفرد من شهور سنة الف ومائة وسبعة واربعين من الهجرة النبوية على صاحبها افضل الصلوة واتم التحية على يد كاتبها ومؤلفها افقر العباد الى الله سبحانه عز شانه جل ثناؤه محمد النابلسي بلدا المقدسي اقليما الرفاعي طريقة ..." ; "Scribal," rectangular, reads: "تمت كتابة شرح الحزب الاعظم على يد حافظ احمد النجيب المفتي باماسية"Explicit: "حمدا دائما بدوام الله باقيا ببقاء الله لا منتهى له دون علم الله والصلوة والسلام على فاتح الفواتح وخاتم الختام ... وحسبنا الله ونعم الوكيل ولا حول ولا قوة الا بالله العلي العظيم اللهم واذا اردت بالناس فتنة فاقبضنا اليك غير مفتونين يا ارحم الراحمين"Incipit: "وصلى الله وسلم على الحبيب الكريم الحمد لله المذكور بكل لسان الهادي لهذه الامة المحمدية بمن تنورت من نور الاكوان ... وبعد فان الاشتغال بالذكر من فضل الطاعات واولى ما انفقت فيه نفائس الاوقات ... وقد كثرت الاحاديث الصحيح على ملازمته في المساء والصباح وافضله ما وردت فيه الاخبار ونقلته وحزبته الائمة اولوا الفضل والفلاح فمن ذلك حزب الامام ... الحزب الاعظم المضاف للنبي الاكرم لمنلا علي القاري افاض الله على قبره سحائب الرضوان ... فقد حوى من الادعية النبوية ما لا يحتوي غيره وقد احضره من انتمى الي لاخذ العلم واخبرني ان ليس له شرح فيما علم الشيخ ... خليل بن مصطفى من دياربكر ... فلما سألني ذلك رأيت اني لست اهلا لذلك ثم استخرت الله تعالى لمحبتي لهذه الادعية النفيسة فرأيت ان هذا شرح يتم ... ولما اكملته سميته الكاشفة لادعية النبي الاكرم في شرح الحزب الاعظم والدعاء الافخم ..."Title from opening on fol.2a (p.3).Ms. codex.Brockelmann, C. GAL,Fine copy of Muḥammad al-Nābulusī al-Maqdisī al-Rifāʻī's commentary on al-Ḥizb al-aʻẓam, prayers compiled by al-Qārī al-Harawī.Mode of access: Internet.Acquired by purchase along with Abdul Hamid Collection (funds donated by Horace Rackham).Bookplate of British Museum, London on upper cover, "British Museum, London. No. 10. Commentary on al-Hizb al-azam." ; circular seal impression with figure of goat/gazelle in purple ink as well as inscription "388" in Western numerals on fol.1a (p.1) ; circular waqf-seal impression in black ink appears on fol.1a (p.1) and several places throughout, reads: "هذا وقف الراجي فيض الصمدي الشيخ احمد ضيا الدين ابن مصطفى الخالدي فمن بدله بعد ما سمعه فانما اثمه على الذين يبدلونه" in name of Aḥmad Ḍiyāʼ al-Dīn ibn Muṣṭafá al-Khālidī (i.e. Ahmed Ziyâüddîn Gümüşhanevî, d. 1893 or 4) ; numerous glosses (many from Fayḍ al-arḥam) and marginal corrections