An Analysis of Some Theological Topics in Nazmu’l-Leâlî, a Work by İshāk ibn Hasan al-Tokādī in Terms of the Kalām and History of Islamic Sects

Abstract

İshāk ibn Hasan al-Tokādī (d. 1100/1688–89) was a scholar from Tokat who lived during the seventeenth-century Ottoman period and held a distinguished position within the intellectual and religious circles of his time. His work Nazm al-Leʾālī is a noteworthy source that contributes to the field of kalām (Islamic theology) through its treatment of doctrinal issues, and to the history of Islamic sects by presenting the views of various theological schools. The author’s explicit reference to and praise for Imām al-Māturīdī (d. 333/944) further highlights the treatise’s significance for the study of Māturīdī theology. In this regard, examining the work provides valuable insight into the nature of theological debates in the Ottoman period. Using literature review and document analysis methods, this study explores the doctrinal topics discussed in Nazm al-Leʾālī and seeks to determine Tokādī’s position within the disciplines of kalām and the history of Islamic sects. The findings indicate that Tokādī strongly defended Māturīdī thought and the ideas of Abū Ḥanīfa (d. 150/767), while directing severe criticisms toward other theological schools. In the treatise, he presents Māturīdī doctrine as the representative of truth and critiques certain views of other sects that he considers deficient or erroneous. This stance clearly reflects his strong sectarian affiliation and his conviction that his own school constitutes the “saved sect” (al-firqa al-nājiya). Although the author’s confrontational tone and partisan approach appear far from objective when viewed through the lens of contemporary Islamic sectarian studies methodology, the work remains significant for demonstrating that the defensive and polemical style characteristic of early sectarian literature continued into the seventeenth-century Ottoman intellectual environment. Thus, Nazm al-Leʾālī stands as an important poetic treatise illustrating how Māturīdī theology and the Ḥanafī tradition were represented in the Ottoman intellectual sphere.