An Analysis of Sirrī Pasha’s Translation of Sharḥ al-ʿAqāʾid with a Focus on the Issue of Free Will

Abstract

This paper analyzes Girīdī (the Cretan) Sirrī Pasha’s (1844-1895) translation of Sharḥ al-ʿAqāʾid al-Nasafiyya by al-Taftāzānī (d.792/1390). The paper begins with contextualizing this translation by alluding to the background of Sirrī Pasha and his other works. I particularly pay attention to the translator’s prolegomenon which reflects his conception of kalām. Then the paper shows how a translation expands this classical Māturīdite kalām text for the nineteenth century Ottoman readers, by including all different opinions from other commentaries and glosses on Sharḥ al-ʿAqāʾid. Collection of views in the translation enables us to compare all different positions. Sirrī Pasha did not only translate the text and quoted other interpretations but put forward his own comments. Thus, I call it “commentarial translation”. This study also analyzes the views on the concept of human free will, which was regarded as the main conflict between Māturīdī and Ashʿarī schools. Sirrī and his sources hold fast to the Māturīdī position in their discussion of the particular free will (al-irāda al-juzʾiyya).