HASAN KAFI PRUŠČAK (1544–1615)

Hasan Kafi Pruščak (1544–1615) is the most fruitful Bosniak writer in the field of traditional Islamic studies and disciplines. Among several hundred of traditional Bosniak authors and famous personalities from the Ottoman period in Bosnia, Hasan Kafi Pruščak is the most prominent, his works are most convincingly visible and they have overwhelmingly survived through many years and ages.

Hasan Kafi Pruščak was educated in Istanbul and specialized in law, theology, logics, political philosophy and Arabic stylistics. He worked as a muderris in madrasas, was a qadi and participated in several military campaigns in northern Croatia and in Hungary.

Pruščak's works are abundantly influenced by classical Islamic academic traditions in the field of the ahlu s-sunnah tradition of Islam, as well as by their commentaries, super-commentaries, glosses, supplements and reviews thereof. The content of his works is classical, we can even say orthodox, exactly because it is the truth (in Pruščak's cale, the truth of Islam), classically defined. Means and methodology of these definitions were borrowed from the proven authorities who were recognized in madrasas of the Ottoman State.

When Hasan Kafi Pruščak appeared, the defined interpretation of the foundation of the Islamic faith at Ottoman colleges and madrasas had been established, standardized, appreciated and respected for centuries already. In brief: everything was well-known, authors, their commentaries, as well as canons of teaching and hierarchical relations among them. For these vera reasons Hasan Kafi Pruščak's works are characterized by clarity, conciseness, determination and authoritative tone in referring to sources.

In terms of topics, Pruščak's oeuvre is theological, philosophical, logical and linguistic-analytical. In his work in Arabic and Ottoman Turkish, Pruščak defended Islamic orthodoxy, expounded it in the context of madrasa-based apologetics, advocated Islamic credo, promoted it, explained it and interpreted the worldview of this credo. To be more effective, Hasan Kafi Pruščak founded a madrasa of his own in his hometown, Prusac, in 1612. 

Still, his most prestigious works were written in the field of theology and logics, the logics which to a large extent served to theological or Ilm al-Kalam discussions.

His best-known works include the following:

1. A series of scholars to the Last Prophet (Niẓāmu l-‘ulamā᾿i ilā ḫātami l-anbiyā᾿i),

2. Heavenly gardens (Rawḍātu l-ğannāt),

3. Light of irrefutable certainty in the foundations of religion (Nūru l-yaqīn fī uṣūli d-dīn),

4. Foundations of wisdom about/in the organization of the world (Uṣūlu l-ḥikam fī niẓāmi l-‘ālam) (so far translated into German, Hungarian, French, English and Bosnian),

5. Summary of al-Kāfī from logics (Muẖtaṣar al-Kāfī min al-manṭiq),

6. Commentary of the summary of al-Kāfī from logics (Šarḥu Muẖtaṣari al-Kāfī min al-manṭiq),

7. Consolidation of the summary (Tamḥīṣu t-talẖīṣ). This work deals with the Arabic stylistics.

Except for the work Foundations of wisdom about/in the organization of the world (Uṣūlu l-ḥikam fī niẓāmi l-‘ālam), which deals with governing, management and economic organization of the state, other works of Pruščak were positioned within Ottoman methodology of expounding traditional knowledge and studies in madrasas. Religion is essentially composed of its foundations, and the foundations need to be explained, while the explanations should leave no doubts. To eliminate any doubt, it is necessary to use logics since it teaches us to think properly, reach conclusions and provide evidence. It was in this way that Ebu Hamid el-Gazali (1058–1111) in the pre-Ottoman epochs, and then Ahmed Taškopruzade (1494–1561) in the Ottoman period expounded fundamental Islamic sciences. In Bosnian circumstances, Hasan Kafi Pruščak can rightly be considered their follower.

Most works of Hasan Kafi Pruščak were textbooks in traditional Bosnian madrasas and it is the main reason why they were written for several disciplines. By their form, his works are short or long compendia, conceived theologically, as well as philosophically and theosophically. His works also include sections which deal with commenting upon the Qur'an, typically in the way of dogmatic methodology, which found it very important to defend, in these commentaries, the ahlu s-sunnah teaching, as it was mandatory to teach it in traditional Bosnian madrasas.  

Out of all Pruščak's works, Foundations of wisdom about/in the organization of the world has experienced the most noted European reception. It was originally written in Ottoman and Arabic, and later translated into Hungarian, German, French and English. In this work Pruščak expounded his views of the organization of state. He believed that the principle of justice is central and the most important. It is justice that ensures permanence and stability of the state. In line with traditional discussion of the topic, Pruščak believed that a just ruler is one who ensures justice in the state.

References:

• Ljubović, Amir, Nametak, Fehim (1999), Hasan Kafija Pruščak, Sarajevo: Sarajevo Publishing.

• Ljubović, Amir (1996), Logička djela Bošnjaqa na arapskom jeziku, Sarajevo: Orijentalni institut u Sarajevu.

• Ljubović, Amir (200), The Works in Logic by Bosnian Authors in Arabic, Brill, Leiden and Boston.

• Mujić, Munir (2007), Arapska stilistika u djelu Hasana Kafija Pruščaka, Sarajevo: Filozofski fakultet u Sarajevu.

• Nizam ul alem. Napisao Hasan Ćafi Pruščak, preveo dr Safvet-beg Bašagić. Glasnik Zemaljskog muzeja u Bosni i Hercegovini, Sarajevo, XXXI, 1919