Author(s): Adnan Arslan / Language(s): Turkish
Issue: 40/2020
The most distinctive feature that distinguishes human being from other living creatures is his/her deep and broad love ability. However, as in all abilities, the ability of love can be disabled with ifrat and tafrit. (exaggeration/understate¬ment). The Islamic tradition, which teach the measure under the guidance of the Qur’an and the Sunnah for almost every human behavior and reaction, also made ifrat/tafrit warnings to keep ability of “love” in “mediocre”. One of the attempts to present these warnings in a tidy manner belongs to Ibn al-Jawzī, who was a name of the source of pride of the Ḥanbalī school in the sixth century (d. 597/1201) Ibn al-Jawzī took lessons from many scholars of Ḥanbalī school who were active in Baghdad. Contrary to the transmitting and anti-kalām tendency of the Ḥanbalī school, some of the scholars who took the lessons tended to rational interpretations and kalām. Ibn al-Jawzī must also have been influenced by this fact that he has not approached the phe-nomenon of love only with the harsh prohibitive attitude of the Ḥanbalī school. He tried to make deep examination by gooing to the background of the feeling from time to time and tried to make deep analyzes and analysed the root causes to deal with the problem. As a matter of fact, it is known that moral degeneration was common in the Islamic society during the Abbasid period. Apparently, the “love” also got its share from this degeneration and the measureless love that will end with worldly-destructive currents has gnawed the Muslim body. Ibn al-Jawzī tried to cope with one of the bleeding wounds of the society. In his work Dham al-Hawā, the purpose of the work was clearly stated by the author himself. Someone came to Ibn al-Jawzī and stated that he suffered from love and that he could not get rid off this pain. The patheticness of the person seeking a cure for his troubles pro-voked his patronage with the words of Ibn al-Jawzī, so the author wrote a selection of advice that would sprinkle the hearts of both that person and those who lived the same spirit. In his work, Ibn al-Jawzī, talked about the worldly and destructive consequences of the person’s compliance with the “hawa”, which means whim that does not think about the fate. By drawing attention to these facts, he aimed to strengthen reason and will and to enable the Muslim person to perform individual and social duties more efficiently. While doing this, he often conveyed the verses and hadiths without interpretation with the effect of the sectarian view based on narration and surrender, and also bene-fited from the influence of literature by using the poetry, which was the diwan of the Arabs, very effectively. Although the author seems to be approaching the phenomenon of “love” as a whole negatively, it is remarkable that the quotations he made from the ghazal poems and the idea he shared that love without overdo has maturing effect on individual. The work is composed of fifty chapters and chapters, each of which has no specific standard in itself. Although the author seems to be approaching the phenomenon of “love” as a whole, it is remarkable that the quotations made from the ghazal poems share the idea that they have maturing aspects of the transcendent, provided that they do not overdo it. The work is composed of fifty chapters and each of chapters has no specific standard in itself. The author, after the headlines, rarely made comments on the subject at the begin-ning. According to Ibn al-Jawzī, the feeling called “hawa” sets its eyes on flavors that are mostly urgent. In fact, even if these ready-made tastes are mashed with pain and cause loss of great tastes, what is called “hawa” will not give up on follow these ready-made tastes. Mind, on the contrary, will know the necessity to abandon a delicacies that is followed by pain. As the child's reason ability has not yet developed, it tends to things that can harm it. However, adults will prevent him because they know this state of the child. Likewise, because the animals are deprived of reasoning ability, they are running after ready-made delicacies and even perished by being trapped. So, the reason must prevail, and it is necessary to restrain the tendencies of the hawa by thinking about the fate. According to Ibn al-Jawzī, the reasons for some of them falling in love are the result of their repetitive and continuing glances. In fact, even insistent glances at a person who is not very suitable for him/her as a character may cause love to flare up. It is possible that not only glances, but also togetherness for a long time (muhālata) will lead to an unexpected love. The repetitive glances ultimately tranforming to fell in love likened to a garden. If a person plants a sapling and takes care of it, the sapling will develop further. Otherwise, it is not a remote possibility that if a sprout not watered and neglected turns into a tree. Many other evaluations of love such as this are discussed in the study. On the other hand, some critics are made about form and content. For example, the work was criticized in the context of the case of khashw, which means unnecessary repetitions. As it can be seen, Dham al-Hawā is prone to “khashw” with a considerable number of “more than necessary repetitions” passages. From another point of view, it is seen that the work enters into issues that are not directly related to the purpose of the work. For example; in the work, legal practices regarding the punishment of homosexuality are mentioned. Considering all aspects of the work, from the title of the work to the literary and morality of the content, it can be said that the evaluations regarding the punishment of the homosexuality are an “exceeding purpose” in the integrity of the work. In the study, criticisms were made from other aspects of the work. As a result; there are many works for Ibn al-Jawzī which were translated into Turkish. However, Dham al-Hawā has not yet been brought into the Turkish literature. In my opinion, there is a lot of information and admirable persuasive approaches that the young people will benefit from this work. However, according to the conclusion of this study, our recommendation is that the work includes long narratives, more repetitions and extraordinary details that will not present much to today's reader. I am of the opinion that It would be better than not to translate them, and it will be useful to pay attention to these points in a possible translation in order to benefit from the work more effectively.
More...
