Some Observations on the Approach of Ittibāʿ in Mamluk Egypt and Its Transmission to Anatolia “The Case of Jamāl al-Dīn al-Aksarāyī and Ibn Abī al-ʿIzz al-Ḥanafī”

Abstract

Ittibāʿ is a concept in Islamic legal thought that denotes adherence to a legal opinion or practice on the basis of its evidential foundations. As a technical term, it refers to following the view of a scholar or a legal school while taking into consideration the sharʿī proofs upon which it is based, thereby distinguishing it from taqlīd, which is generally regarded as adherence independent of evidence. In classical fiqh literature, ittibāʿ signifies a conscious and evidence-based commitment, particularly for individuals who are not mujtahids but possess a certain level of scholarly competence, whereas taqlīd is often defined as adopting a legal opinion without examining the nature of its evidence. For this reason, many legal theorists regarded ittibāʿ as an approach that encourages the preference of opinions supported by stronger evidence. This study examines the transmission of the concept of ittibāʿ, which emerged in Mamluk Egypt, to Anatolia through the examples of Jamāl al-Dīn al-Aqsarāyī (d. 791/1389) and Ṣadr al-Dīn ʿAlī b. ʿAlī b. Muḥammad Ibn Abī al-ʿIzz al-Ḥanafī (d. 792/1390). Representing a balance between adherence to legal schools and direct engagement with scriptural sources, ittibāʿ became a significant methodological issue in later Islamic thought. The findings indicate that it was not an anti-madhhab movement but rather an approach that provided flexibility against rigid madhhab partisanship.