In this paper, I examine the scriptural hermeneutics of Mollā Muḥammed b. Ḥamza el-Fenārī (d. 834/1431), a key figure in the mystical-philosophical school of Ibn al-ʿArabī as well as in the formative period of Ottoman intellectual history and religious-legal bureaucracy. Fenārī stands out as both a rigorous jurist and a committed Sufi metaphysician who authored major works in both jurisprudential and Sufi strands of Islamic religious knowledge. Despite increased scholarly attention to his works in recent years, a comprehensive and integrative treatment of Fenārī’s scholarship remains lacking.
To contribute to such a comprehensive and integrative approach, I address whether Fenārī’s Quranic hermeneutics exhibits a synthesis of exoteric (uṣūlī and linguistic) and esoteric (Ibn al-ʿArabī-inspired) interpretive frameworks. Through an analysis of Fenārī’s legal theory work Fuṣūl al-badāʿiʿ and his partial Quran commentary ʿAyn al-aʿyān, I argue that a subtle crossover exists between these two strands of Quranic hermeneutics.
In ʿAyn al-aʿyān, Fenārī presents an original definition of exegesis and advocates for the openness of Quranic hermeneutics to continuous reinterpretation. In this respect, he adopts the Sufi notion of the “Quranic plenitude of meaning,” asserting that the Quran is saturated with multiple layers of meaning and that the potential for new interpretation is never exhausted.
In Fuṣūl al-badāʾiʿ, although Fenārī makes no explicit reference to Sufi hermeneutics and refrains from overstepping the mainstream Islamic legal apparatus for scriptural interpretation, I pinpoint at least one key debate that could be associated with his Sufi understanding of the Quran. Specifically, he critiques Ṣadr al-sharīʿa al-Maḥbūbī’s (d. 747/1346) attempt to reorganize the stages of linguistic communication and interpretation in Ḥanafī legal theory. Ṣadr al-sharīʿa proposed a sequence of [1] placement (waḍʿ), [2] use (istiʿmāl), [3] appearance and obscurity of meaning (ẓuhūr/khafāʾ), [4] the way signification occurs (kayfiyyat al-dalāla), whereas Fenārī insists on the classical Ḥanafī formulation found in al-Pazdawī’s (d. 482/1089) foundational legal theory work: [1] placement (waḍʿ), [2] signification (dalāla), [3] use (istiʿmāl), [4] understanding (fahm). While this divergence may appear minor, I find it consequential for Fenārī’s Sufi commitment to the Quranic plenitude of meaning and the inherent openness of Quranic hermeneutics to inexhaustibly diverse interpretations—ideas that Ṣadr al-sharīʿa would strongly reject.
In this paper, I illustrate the relevance of Fenārī’s disagreement with Ṣadr al-sharīʿa in the uṣūlī interpretive framework for Sufi Quranic hermeneutics. This association aims to present a more integrative picture of Fenārī’s Quranic hermeneutics, instead of a split scholarly portrait between legal theory and mystical exegesis. My analysis will also contribute to the understanding of other Muslim scholars in the later periods of Islamic thought who demonstrated similar synthetic commitments.
This paper examines the scriptural hermeneutics of Mollā Muḥammed b. Ḥamza el-Fenārī (d. 834/1431), a pivotal figure in the school of Ibn al-ʿArabī and the Ottoman intellectual tradition. Fenārī was both a jurist and a Sufi metaphysician, producing works in legal theory and Sufi Quranic exegesis. By analyzing Fuṣūl al-Badāʿiʿ and ʿAyn al-Aʿyān, this study argues that there is a subtle crossover between exoteric and esoteric interpretive frameworks in Fenārī's writings. By adhering to classical Ḥanafī legal theory, Fenārī critiques Ṣadr al-Sharīʿa’s alternative understanding of linguistic communication and interpretation, favoring an approach that aligns with Sufi notions of interpretive plurality. This paper aims to contribute to an integrative picture of Fenārī between these traditions within the context of the later periods of Islamic thought.