AN ANALYSIS OF THE TAFSĪR-AL SŪRAH QĀF BY DEBRELI VILDAN FAIK EFENDI (1853-1925) IN TERMS OF ITS TAFSĪR (EXEGESIS) METHOD AND QUR’ANIC STUDIES

Debreli Vildan Faik Efendi (1853-1925) is known as a late Ottoman scholar and lecturer on spiritual teachings in the presence of the Ottoman Sultan. He taught in many madrasas, primarily as a professor of tafsīr, as well as in many other fields. In addition to his lectures, he is also noted for his works in fields such as Arabic language and tafsīr. For this reason, Faik Efendi occupies an important place in Ottoman tafsīr studies. One of his works on exegesis is the manuscript entitled Tafsīr-al Sūrah Qāf. In addition to the place and importance of the work he wrote within the field of tafsīr, both Debreli Vildan's approach to exegesis and his identity as a mufaṣṣir (exegete) stand out as subjects that deserve careful examination in terms of the scientific heritage and tafsīr tradition of the late Ottoman period. In this article, therefore, the method and the evaluation of the manuscript titled Tafsīr-al Sūrah Qāf by Debreli Vildan Faik Efendi, one of the nineteenth century Ottoman scholars, are discussed in terms of Qur'anic studies. In this context, the study is limited only to the related work and covers the author's method, the category of tafsīr type, in which the work is categorized and the determination of the Qur'anic studies used. The study is important in terms of showing the method, purpose and content of the sūrah tafsīr in the Ottoman tafsir tradition in general and the characteristics of the tafsīr of a sūrah towards the end of the period in particular. This study aims to introduce a manuscript of scholarship to the world with a special focus on the tafsīr by Debreli Vildan Faik, a late Ottoman scholar, and to provide the field with determinations about the Qur'an and tafsīr understanding, approach and methods of the period. The work is briefly introduced and instead of each verse of the sūrah, the verses that clearly show the points of the author's tafsīr method, the Qur'anic studies he used and the type of tafsīr category he is in are selected and analyzed, the text-means are given in footnotes and only the parts explained by the author are included in the text of the article. As a result, it is seen that the work has a method in the Sufi tafsīr genre.