The Introduction of Khojazada ’ s Tahafut Investigation , Translation and Evaluation

This article evaluates the Introduction of Tahafut, written by the Ottoman Kalām scholar Khojazada Muslih al-Din Mustafa on the request of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror. As a follower of the philosophy of al-Ghazali, Khojazada’s work has contributed greatly to both Ottoman and the wider Muslim World. This article gives a brief overview of the life of Khojazada, his work and provides details regarding the copies of the Tahafut and library catalog records. From an examination of three copies of the Tahafut, the Arabic text of the introduction is presented together with an English translation. This introduction and his book are of great importance since they present Islamic Philosophy during the Ottoman period and this article is one of the first studies on this topic. The content of which is subsequently evaluated from a philosophical perspective contrasting it with the other Muslim philosophical works.

Hizir Beg to serve in the court of Sultan Murat II, 2 where he was welcomed and then appointed to serve as a Judge in the Kestel 3 district of Bursa.
After Khojazada came to the Sultan's presence, he joined the ranks of popular ulama. In those meetings, the Sultan listened to the Sharī'ah scholarly talks of the scholars. The Sultan admired Khojazada's style and even assigned him as a personal teacher. Khojazada made the Sultan read texts from Izzeddin Al-Zencani's "fi al-Tasrīf," and write a commentary to this book. As a result, he got a chance of being so close to the Sultan that he was subject to the jealousy of the grand vizier Mahmut Pasha. 4 Then, the Sultan assigned Khojazada as a Sultaniye teacher in Bursa. Khojazada's preference, however, was to be a Qadi 'Asker. 5 Later on, the Sultan assigned him to a madrasah (school) in Istanbul and Khojazada worked as a teacher there with great zeal and eagerness. 6 He managed to complete his work on Tahafut in the madrasah. Then, he worked as a qadi (judge) in Edirne and Istanbul. Later on, he worked in a madrasah and as a qadi in Iznik until the death of Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror. During the reign of Beyazid II 7 , he was appointed as the head of the Sultaniye Madrasah in Bursa. After he was appointed in a fatwa office, Sultan Beyazid requested a commentary to be written on Ici's "Sherhu al-Mewakif''. However, he could not fulfill Beyazid's request as his right hand and both legs were paralyzed. Fortunately, he continued to write his fatwas with his left hand until his death on the age of seventy-nine in Bursa (893AH/ 1487CE). 8

Khojazada's Work
Tahafut was written by Khojazada upon the request of Mehmet the Conqueror following the conquest of Constantinople. Sultan Mehmet assigned great importance to Islamic science and assigned two important scholars for reevaluating the philosophers' works because they were declared as nonbelievers in Imam Al-Ghazali's book Tahafut al-Falasifah (The Incoherence of Philosophers). The scholars assigned to this task were Muslih al-Din Khojazada and Ala al-Din 'Ali al-Tusi. Khojazada  Hukama," while al-Tusi completed his "al-Dukhur" 9 in six months. Sultan Mehmet gave each scholar the sum of ten thousand dirhams for their efforts, but, believing Khojazada's work to be superior, the Sultan also presented him with a magnificent caftan. Khojazada's book consists of twenty-two topics and provides solutions to many philosophical problems through the use of commentaries and comparisons. The book evaluates its topics with clarity and distinctness, leaving little room for confusion.

The Book of Tahafut
After searching in the international libraries specializing in philosophical manuscripts, we found several copies of the book Tahafut for Khojazada, in several places and different countries and we tried to gain access to most of them. Out of the many manuscripts we have chosen the three oldest manuscripts in terms of their written date. We have taken into consideration the number of pages and whether the manuscript was complete or not and have only selected complete manuscripts. Also, the proximity of the copyist of the manuscripts to Khojazada was taken into consideration. However, in choosing the manuscript we did not take into account the calligraphy nor the writing style and its readability, we rather focused on the date of writing. We were able to compare and confirm the introduction of the Tahafut with more than three manuscripts but we were afraid of repetition and the large margin. In addition, after looking at the other manuscripts, we did not find a clear difference from the three manuscripts that we chose. Therefore, we did not feel the necessity to mention them and we were satisfied with three manuscripts. We will explain the characteristics of each manuscript as follows:

First Copy
This copy was found in the Jarullah section of the Suleymaniye Library in Istanbul. It was written by the author himself with the title Tahafut Khojazada. The text concludes with the lines: "With divine guidance and assistance, this book was completed in 883". Since the work was started ten years before the death of the author, it is assumed as an original copy of Khojazada's book. Consequently, the commentators used this copy as the basis of their investigation and accepted it as the original copy. Certain words of the calligraphy are black. The words and phrases "then, I know, section, if you said, according to who says and to object" are red. This copy is housed in Istanbul Suleymaniye Library, Jarullah section in microfilm number 1277.
If we look at the time when this manuscript was written, we would find that it was written in the life of Khojazada before his death. It is customary in the manuscripts that the transcriber writes his name at the end of the manuscript. But this copy of the manuscript did not contain the name of the transcriber, rather the date of its writing was only written on the last page, which indicates that the manuscript writer was likely to be its true author, JOURNAL OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT AND CIVILIZATION Volume 11 Issue 1, Spring 2021 Khojazada. Therefore, he merely mentioned his name at the beginning and did not mention him again in the end.

Features of this Copy
This copy consists of 98 folios. Writing appears on both sides of each folio to make a total of 196 pages. Each page contains 21 lines written in an orderly manner. Each line includes an average of 11 words. Each page is 17.1 centimeters in length, with a width of 12.4 centimeters. The text on each page is 13.3 cm length and 8.4 cm in width. The calligraphy type is Nasta'liq-Farisi script. This copy is dated to 883AH / 1473CE.

Second Copy
This copy, housed in the Suleymaniye Library in Istanbul, is denoted as text "B" in this paper. It was written by the Khojazada's students, and the name of the book was clearly stated as Tahafut al-Falasifah lil-'Allame Khojazada. At the end of the manuscript, we find the statement "With the help of al-Malik, al-Wahhab, completed in the mid of Jumada al-Awwal in the year 914 after hijra." This copy was written twenty-one years after the author's death. The calligraphy is black, each page is framed in red, thin fine lines and small words are used. Words and phrases such as 'later,' 'I know' and 'section' are written in red. This copy is housed in the Istanbul Suleymaniye Library, Laleli section in microfilm number 2169.
This manuscript comes in chronological order after the first manuscript which is "A." The date of its writing was explicitly mentioned at the end of the manuscript, which is 21 years after the death of Khojazada. But the copyist's name was not clear because of the age of the manuscript. Some parts of the last paper of the manuscript have eroded. Thus, it is likely that its transcriber was a student of Khojazada or someone who have heard from him because there are not many differences in the words of the first manuscript, and are almost rare, except for some spelling differences. This is normal because they were written with liquid ink pens.

Features of this Copy
It contains 97 folio. Writing appears on both sides of each folio to make a total of 194 pages. Each page contains 21 lines written in an orderly and clear manner. Each line carries an average of 11-12 words. Each page is 17.8 centimeters in length, with a width of 12.8 centimeters. The text on each page is 13.2 cm length and 7, 2 cm in width. The calligraphy type is Nasta'liq-Farisi script. It has a cardboard cover. This copy is dated to 914AH/1508CE. The writer of this copy is unknown.

Third Copy
This copy is in the Ayasofya section of Istanbul Suleymaniye Library and is denoted by "C" in this paper. It is clearer, and the handwriting is more precise when compared to the previous two copies. This copy is titled Kitab al-Tahafut li-Khojazada, while the second DEPARTMENT OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT AND CIVILIZATION Volume 11 Issue 1, Spring 2021 page provides the names of the book's donator, Sultan Ghazi Mahmud Khan, 10 and the transcriber, stating; "it was transcribed by the humble Ahmad Shaikh Zadeh, the inspector at the Awqaf of al-Haramayin." 11 Black calligraphy is used throughout with the exception of section titles, which are written in red. Each page is framed with a thin red line. This copy is kept in the Suleymaniye Library in microfilm number 2204.
We can determine the time when this manuscript was written by the name of its transcriber, where he wrote it when he was working in the judiciary in Makkah. By comparing between Khojazada's death and the date of the transcriber's employment in Makkah, we find that it is 130 years. It is thus considered a much later manuscript as it was written at the very least 130 years after Khojazada's death. This is fully evident in its clear script and large handwriting. Naturally, the copyist of this manuscript must have had written it from an older manuscript. From our search through the manuscripts, we did not find a copy that is earlier than the one written 10 years before the death of Khojazada, which we have adopted for this paper as the main manuscript "A." It is likely that he would have relied on this version while making this copy, or it is possible that he relied on a different manuscript written after Khojazada's death. In both cases, the researcher benefited from this manuscript in clarifying what was unclear in the previous manuscripts "A" and "B," all of which is mentioned in the footnotes.

Features of this Copy
It contains 113 folio. Writing appears on both sides of each sheet to make a total of 226 pages. Each page contains 21 lines written in an orderly manner without any mistake. Each line contains an average of 11-12 words. Each page is 17.5 centimeters in length, with a width of 12 centimeters. The text is of 12.8 cm length and an 8 cm width on each page. Calligraphy Type: Naskh script. Although no date has been indicated in the copy, it is believed to have been written in 1023AH from the time Ahmed Sheikhzadeh worked in Makkah. 11 Sultan Mahmud donated this book to the library during his reign. The above words in italics are thought to be written by bookstore workers either during the reign of the Sultan or after his reign. In this sense, the Sultan's service to science and the ulama is emphasized. The Farisi calligraphy indicates that these lines were added by the workers while the original text is written in nesih calligraphy. 12

Copies of The Introduction (Three Copies)
The first page of the copy displayed in the Jarullah section of Istanbul Suleymaniye Library (A): The first page of the copy displayed in the Laleli section of Istanbul Suleymaniye Library: (B): The first page of the copy on display in the Ayasofya section of Istanbul Suleymaniye Library: (C): DEPARTMENT OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT AND CIVILIZATION Volume 11 Issue 1, Spring 2021

Translation of the Introduction
O Allah! The endower of goodness and generosity, we turned to you and faced your door. We adhered ourselves to your power, and held ourselves to you, O the Founder of every being and the end of all purposes! Bestow upon us from the lights of your saints.
Give us your forgiveness, He whose demander cannot be disappointed. He Whose righteousness and peace can't be interrupted. O You who clarifies the right ways, and reveals the facts, we beg You with your mercifulness that cannot be ended, reconciled us to your perfect path and show us pictures of the facts of things as they are in the light of your guidance. And dedicate the master of your prophets and honor of your purest persons, Muhammad, whom You sent to guide the humankind to your perfect way, with Your best prayers. And dedicate his family and companions guided by You and the torch of success with best regards, you are all-powerful to do what you want and worthy to accept the wishes of all believers. Then: The mind 13 and the transmission are identical to the best of what the human-power can attain, and the worthy thing that everyone competes in is the knowledge of the principle and the heaven and what in between them. In this respect, the commander of believers, Ali -May God exalt his face-said: "may Allah's mercy be upon him who known himself and is ready for his death, knows where he came from, and where he is and where he will go to." 14 There were various views on these issues and the wants and desires were conflicted. Opinions were disturbed, and the passions clashed, so that the people of time do not hope to match these opinions, or the type of human being reconciles them, as the illusion opposes the mind in its discussion. He who follows what Islam brought, he becomes righteous and guided, and he who left these guides and took his gods gets lost and seduced.
Among those who violate the laws of the prophets are those belonging to wisdom and philosophy, even though they are right in their engineering, computational and logical sciences because of the confusion and delusion between the right and falsehood in its principles, as it is easy to comprehend and the mind does not oppose it, rather it supports it. They, however, have made little mistakes in the scientific side while in theology they have made huge errors. Even though they worked hard with their minds in order to exert diligence, they found ways to reach the natural knowledge in the fullness of access. This is 13 The mind: is the power that distinguishes between good and bad things. See Abu Yusuf Ya'kub Ishak al-Kindi, Risalah fi Hudūd al-Ashyaa' wa Rusumiha, Ed. Muhammed Abu Ride (Egypt: Dar al-Fikr al-Arabi, 1950), 165; Ibn Sina, Kitab al-Hudūd, trans. and review: Aygün Akyol, İclal Arslan (Ankara: Elis Yayınları, 2013), 27. 14 Abdullah Sa'd al-Din Masud Al-Taftazani, Sharh al-Maqasid fi 'Ilm al-Kalām (Pakistan: Dar al-Maarif, 1981), 1:5; Prophet Ali's words are narrated as in the following: "God shows his mercy to who knows himself, prepares his tomb, who goes to his bed before its late before death comes before silence comes before speech recedes before the human migrates." See Ali bin Ahmad Al-Qalqashandi, Subhu al-Aʽsha fi Sina'at al-Insh (Damascus: Dar al-Fikr, 1987), 13:20.

JOURNAL OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT AND CIVILIZATION
Volume 11 Issue 1, Spring 2021 because of the fact that Islamic principles are far from philosophy and delusions, and the ways to reach these principles are hidden from insights and understandings.
Then, the greatest scholars of religion and the Ummah recorded ʿIlm al-Kalām (theology), and classified books on it, and wrote lengthy and brief explanations, and investigated the rules of the tenets of Islam. And they responded to all those who disagreed with them from the people of innovation and misguidance, especially the philosophers who became led by their imaginations in following ideas and statements and surrounded themselves with their own ideas and evidence. Then these scholars [of theology] became well aware of their [philosophers'] goals and all their knowledge became visible to them. Those scholars have exposed where the philosophers have violated the Divine laws and where they have become misguided and confronted every little or big mistake. May God reward them for their labor and effort, and grant them their wishes, as they have protected the foundation of religion, which became well established and protected from any change and alteration.
The great Imam, Hujjat al-Islām, Abū Hāmid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali -May God's mercy be upon him-invented and formulated a bright path through them. He wrote an incredible book that refuted and defeated the opinions of the philosophers and showed their flaws and named it Tahafut al-Falasifah (Incoherence of the Philosophers).
In it he showed the inconsistency of their beliefs, the weaknesses of their rules, and the invalidity of their thoughts, and removed the oddity of their ideas, which were lurking under false assumptions. He has paved a way for those who came after which was hidden from sight, may the Almighty Allah reward him on behalf of all the Muslims for his great deeds the best reward in the Hereafter.
Then, I was appointed by the Sultan to whom they necessarily obey and whose assent was needed. The supreme Sultan who made the order; the honorable and wise Hakan; the shelter of all Arab and Persian people; morally justified; worthy owner of the caliphate throne; God's shadow on earth; savior of justice, religion, and the earth; shelter of all humans Abu al-Fath Sultan Muhammed Khan the Son of Sultan Murad Khan. His supreme door is still the shelter for people, his supreme place is protected with the prophet and his family until the Day of Judgment. He knocked down the trust and safety of the proud. He raised the flags of knowledge and perfection to enlightenment. He raised the buildings of virtue and beauty when they were perishing into darkness. He reinforced the laws of justice and mercy. He shattered cruelty and wildness. He erased the trails of the unbelievers and the deviants. He changed the houses of their idols into mosques. The writer wanted to describe him in the way he deserves to be described, but he was measuring the sky with a hand span. Only praising him conceals from his praise, the incapability to describe him qualifies him, May God render his reign eternal and support the endurance of the state and the order of Sharī'ah. May God endow whoever says Amin with joy and happiness until the Day of Judgment.

DEPARTMENT OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT AND CIVILIZATION
Volume 11 Issue 1, Spring 2021 I was ordered to write a book like Al-Ghazali's. For this purpose, I worked and tried as much as I could and did whatever was needed. I tried to write as much as I was able to, despite my incompetence in this area, scarcity of knowledge, weakness, and lack of resources, and all the work that has to be done. If it was approved and accepted, my desire would be fulfilled. Otherwise, I am not the first that could not reach what he desired.
If my hope is true and the best, I will be living the best life. 15 I hope that someone whose nature has been brought to justice will be tempted, and a period of self-abstinence will excuse me for the mistakes because the exploration of the secrets of the minutes and clarification of the lights of facts are among the impossible things with obstacles, especially if the idea is weak together with its shortcomings. Thus whomever rules that it is mistaken, neither for envy and stubbornness, nor for a whim he deviates from the true path, perhaps he would find a valid way out if he scrutinized the perspective profoundly, and the clear method if he notices the considered intent. As for whosoever deviates from the path of justice and fairness practices crimes and abstinence, refrains from accepting with his arrogance, even if he is given the explicit truth, which falsehood does not contradict. Nevertheless, I do not absolve myself of deficiency and negligence, nor do I commend it to be above blame and reproach; for humans have imperfections and were created as such, thus the Ummah is pardoned for mistakes and forgetfulness.
Moreover, if there is any evidence indicating the oversight of the pen from Hujjat al-Islām, this is not contempt for him by highlighting his lapses or a situation of lowering his status by showing his mistakes. And how can I do that and I admit that I am benefiting from his eminence, guided by his significance, and benefit from his knowledge, and uniqueness, and guided by his lights, and traced his effects. Rather, the explanation of his work shows the goal according to what it means to me of response, acceptance, rejection, and confirmation. I attribute these mistakes in his work only to the fault of the copyist and not the writer or that he has devoted too much attention to the discussion and explanation.
He might not get enough time to review and repeat, even though the classifications of the previous writers and the latest writers' works were not free from mistakes like his work. Allah says in the Qur'ān: "If it had been from [any] other than Allah, they would have found within it much contradiction." 16 I beg Allah to guide me on the path of righteousness and protect me from what is deaf to error and turmoil, Allah is my countenance and the best agent.
It should be known that philosophers classified beings into species and genus. They investigated species and genus and their states within the power of their intellect. This way JOURNAL OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT AND CIVILIZATION Volume 11 Issue 1, Spring 2021 they reached many sciences and different forms of scholarship. The holistic explanation of that is in dividing Philosophy into theory and practice at the first stage. This is because if we have an effect on something then it belongs to practice; if we don't, it belongs to theory. Practical Philosophy is either related to a person or not. If this philosophy is about a person, then this is moral philosophy. The philosophy that is not about a person is either the science of "Tadbir al-Manzil" on the cooperation of the household (House Management), or the science of "Tadbir al-Madinah" (City Government).
The theoretical is about things that are abstracted from corporeal matter. The first of these is the most supreme science and is also called the "universal science," "first philosophy," "metaphysical science" and "divine science." This science, if confirmed by abstract knowledge in mind, it is "al-Hikmah al-Wusta," that is, intermediate philosophy. This is also called the science of mathematics. But natural science is also termed the lowest science. These are the principal divisions of philosophies.
When we come to the sub-branches of science, the most superior sciences are about the qualities of the revelation and the conditions of spiritual eternity. The sciences such as integration and differentiation (Jami and tafrīq), algebra, comparison, measurement, weighing, minuscule instruments, optics, mirrors (maraya), 17 water carriage, the science of astronomy (zijat), 18 calendars, sciences of vocal devices, sciences of mechanical engineering which is from the sub-branches of mathematics. While sciences like medicine, astronomy, physiognomy, dream interpretation, sorcery, spells (al-Niranjiyat), 19 and chemistry which are the sub-branches of the natural sciences.
In this book, our purpose is not to cancel out all the sections, but only two of them, namely natural and divine sciences. Because it contradicts with the Sharia laws and religious tenants are limited to these two. When we come to intermediate wisdom (al-Hikmah al-Wusta), issues about engineering and mathematics are not related to sharī'ah. There are no mistakes since the rules of these are dominated by rational principles. But in astronomy, many subjects like the greatness of the heavens, the magnificence of their creation, and the creativity in their construction are pointed out as determined by the sharī'ah laws and the religious dogma. Some issues are explained and analyzed by sharia sciences: the multiplicity of the east and the west, the variety of the point of rising, the issue of the Kiblah, prayer times, and many other issues. Most of these require thinking on the creation of the earth and the heavens to see the evident wisdom in Allah's creation.
Even though there is an apparent contradiction with sharī'ah, they tried to explain this by divine and natural introductions that are of a type that cannot be proved. Issues that are based on astronomy cannot be proved and we won't examine them independently.
In this book, we will explain the opinions [of the philosophers] mentioned by the Imam Hujjat al-Islām on theology and the laws and rules of nature with their evidence and add to them. Then, for glorifying justice and for the punishment of those who have committed crimes, we will try to refute the mistakes of the philosophers' and in support for those on the right path, "…and it was due from Us to aid those who believed." 20 It consists of twenty-two chapters: • The first: to invalidate their saying: "The first principle is obligatory, not an act of choice of choice." Chapter one: On the refutation of the philosophers' view that "the first origin is necessary because of the nature and not an act of choice of choice." Chapter two: On the refutation of the philosophers' concepts "the universe is the first existence." Chapter three: On the refutation of the philosophers' concepts on the endless of the universe. Chapter four: On the refutation of the philosophers' concepts "One can be given only by one."; Chapter five: On the refutation of the philosophers' concepts on how the complicated world emerges from the one principle; Chapter six: On the incapability of the philosophers to prove The Creator's existence; Chapter seven: In stating philosophers' inability to establish evidence of the oneness of duty; Chapter eight: On the nullifying of the words of the philosophers "one is not capable and effective of one thing."; Chapter nine: In invalidating philosophers' rejection of Allah's adjectives; Chapter ten: In the philosophers' inability to prove their saying: "The first body cannot be divided by type and form."; Chapter eleven: The inability of the philosophers to prove their saying: "The first existence is the body of its being."; Chapter twelve: On the fact that the philosophers cannot prove the words "the first Being is not a body."; Chapter thirteen: On the refutation of the words of the philosophers that "the first Being knows of others." Chapter fourteen: On the fact that the philosophers are incapable of proving their words "the first Being knows itself."; Chapter fifteen: In invalidating the philosophers' saying: "The first does not know the details in the sense of being part of the details."; Chapter sixteen: On the refutation of the words of the philosophers "the sky rotates on its will."; Chapter seventeen: To nullify what the philosophers mentioned of the motives of the rotation of the sky.; Chapter eighteen: In invalidating the philosophers' saying: "The souls in the heavens are acquainted with all the details that happen in this universe." ; Chapter nineteen: On the refutation of the words of the philosophers that "the obligation to conjugate and refrain from separating between ordinary causes and causers." ; Chapter twenty: The philosophers' inability to prove their concepts "the human soul is the pure JOURNAL OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT AND CIVILIZATION Volume 11 Issue 1, Spring 2021 essence of its own." ; Chapter twenty-One: The invalidation of philosophers' saying "the impossibility of annihilation of human souls." ; Chapter twenty-two: The invalidation of philosophers' denying the resurrection and the gathering of bodies. Allah guides to the truest of the paths.

Philosophical Evaluation of The Introduction
Khojazada's Tahafut al-Falasifah functions as a philosophical evaluation of Al-Ghazali's earlier work of the same name which was written as a refutation on the writings of other philosophers. Khojazada's purpose in writing this text was not to criticize Al-Ghazali or indicate faults or defects in the methods or arguments Al-Ghazali utilized in Tahafut al-Falasifah. In writing this work, Khojazada adopted Al-Ghazali's method and provided evaluations in terms of his argumentation. In this sense, he considered Al-Ghazali's views on theology and the laws and regulations of nature together with their evidence; and tried to refute errors made by the philosophers which Khojazada believed to be based on superstition. According to Kübra Şenel, Khojazada's approach is the same as the aim that Al-Ghazali put forward in his Maqasid al-Falasifah. 21 But, even though Khojazada claims that he followed Al-Ghazali and tried to refute the views of the philosophers by using Al-Ghazali's method, the content of his work also includes passages that oppose Al-Ghazali.
Kemal Pashazadeh, who was among the Ottoman philosophers, stated that he doubted those inconsistencies Khojazada pointed out in terms of philosophies and Kalām. 22 Despite being influenced, and in general, aligning himself with Al-Ghazali's philosophical ideas, Khojazada focused on his evaluations and provided his original thoughts and comments.
For instance, according to Muhammed Fatih Kılıç, Khojazada, in parallel with al-Jurjani, distinguishes between cause ('illa) and reason (sabab) when discussing causality. What is more, he attaches the adjective "common" before reason in order to emphasize this distinction. By doing so, he provides a conceptual base that enables him to display the different levels of causality on the physical plane. In addition, Khojazada  In Ibn Sina's philosophy, Necessary Existence refers to (i) The existential essentialness or necessity of a necessary existence (ii) without no reason (iii) Oneness (Accepting no other party) (iv) Unity or Simplicity (rejection of Plurality). 28 Khojazada used the mentioned concept in accordance with the definitions provided by Ibn Sina. However, Al-Ghazali presented various views about the usage of the expression "Wajib al-Wujūd" for Allah and while accepting that this is an unclear concept, he did not refrain from using it. 29 Khojazada's introduction begins by grounding the intellect-tradition relation, which has been a problematic issue in the history of Islamic thought. He put forward that these two areas that are particularly compatible with the subjects of origin and eternity (almabda' and al-ma'ād). 30 For instance, when intellect and tradition oppose one another, the explanation of many intellectual issues will be difficult. The particular point that Khojazada wishes to emphasize when claiming that intellect and tradition are 'compatible was beyond their being compatible.' Essentially, the intellect that does not accord with the tradition merely produces doubt and superstition. In this sense, he gives weight to the intellect that agrees with the tradition, and argues against thoughts that do not align with those of the tradition. For Khojazada, this indicates that the intellect does not have any position. Khojazada used to think in terms of Kalām doctrines. 31 When writing his thoughts and evaluating philosophers, Khojazada puts emphasis on religious arguments and gives priority to "hidayah" (guidance) and "dalalah" (misguidance), which are the symbolic concepts of faith and impiety. Among these concepts frequently used in the Qur'ān, hidayah refers to be in the true path and direction. Dalalah refers to having deviant thoughts and actions. The intellectual Islamic thought should not oppose hidayah and should be distant from dalalah. In this sense, two main trends can be identified in Islamic intellectual history: the thoughts of those who follow hidayah and the thoughts of those who are in dalalah. The thoughts of those who follow hidayah confirm the truth; the thoughts of those who are in dalalah represent superstition that which is not real. In this respect, it can be said that Khojazada evaluated the views of DEPARTMENT OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT AND CIVILIZATION Volume 11 Issue 1, Spring 2021 the philosophers as in the direction of dalalah. While he evaluated the views of the Kalām scholars and especially Al-Ghazali's views to be in accordance with hidayah.
Khojazada's introduction classifies the sciences into natural and divine sciences following the traditional distinction and argues that knowledge obtained through nature is correct and indisputable. The truths concerning the divine sciences cannot always be determined and not everyone can put forward ideas in this field. In this respect, Khojazada believes that the masters of wisdom and philosophy can only provide arguments and theories in the field of natural sciences and that these would be accepted a priori. The arguments and theories of those who are in dalalah cannot be given credit. Their wisdom and philosophy are against the Sharī'ah brought by the prophets, that is, the traditions. Therefore, such views cannot be accepted. It should be pointed out that Khojazada shows little distrust of philosophers when they operate in the natural sciences. But when these philosophers enter the realms of the divine sciences. He showed little regard for their ideas with the distinction between philosophers whose ideas are acceptable in the natural sciences but unacceptable in the divine sciences. Khojazada prepares an intellectual ground for the philosophers and indirectly infers that Al-Ghazali was correct in his criticisms of the philosophers.
According to Khojazada, if there is a science that will be against the philosophy. That science is Kalām. Kalām defends Islamic dogma and refutes the superstition. Khojazada, gave the science of Kalām the role of indicating the fatal flaws in philosophy. He believed that the power of Kalām would nullify the deviant nature of philosophy.
Khojazada regarded Al-Ghazali as one who fought against philosophers and upheld the ideas of sharia. In his Tahafut al-Falasifah, Al-Ghazali pointed out the contradictions in the philosophers' faith, the weakness and invalidity of their arguments and shed light for the later generations. Khojazada's views show that he accepted most of Al-Ghazali's views directly and indisputably and that he wrote his work to support Al-Ghazali.
In the course of history, Al-Ghazali has been criticized in this respect. Despite being a Kalām scholar, Al-Ghazali was involved in a philosophy that was supporting Islamic thought. Therefore, a refutation of philosophy cannot be written by someone who is involved in philosophy. 32 According to Ibn al-Malahimi of the Muʿtazili Kalām scholars, both the Islamic philosophers and Al-Ghazali included a great number of esoteric interpretations in their works. Al-Ghazali, by emphasizing intellectual esoteric interpretations, was working within the same systems as the philosophers. He was criticizing; therefore, his idea cannot be respected. 33  But Ibn Taymiyyah opposed Al-Ghazali in some points. He claimed that the only way to acquire knowledge of any certainty is by logic. As a result, he placed logic to the highest place in the Islamic sciences. He believed that the best way to refute the views of the Islamic philosophers was not by criticizing their ideas but by refuting their ideas through logic. 34 As can be seen, Al-Ghazali's mission did not meet with approval among the Kalām and Salafi scholars.
Khojazada noted that the Islamic philosophers distinguished beings into species and genus and they made investigations in terms of the species and genus of beings. In this sense, philosophical progress in the scientific area is possible in terms of evaluating beings in terms of categorical classifications. If collectible science and investigation are the purposes, this requires a process and scientific activities carried out in terms of several stages. In this sense, philosophical activities have two axes: Theoretical and practical sciences. House management and city government are examples of practical sciences. Theoretical sciences are subjects of these two.
Even though Khojazada wrote his work following Al-Ghazali, according to him, when the thoughts are weak, it is not easy to reach brilliant ideas, the lights of truth. This is important since Khojazada provides information on the structure of thought in his period. He believed that during his time his society did not have the necessary intellectual background to make philosophical evaluations. Thus, Khojazada argues that, since the errors in his work do not result from jealousy, stubbornness or whim, they may be accepted for what they are and corrected if necessary. A person can make mistakes, but the Ummah may tolerate them. He assigned a significant meaning to the notion of Ummah, and stressed that although individuals can make mistakes, Islamic society as a whole does not make mistakes and will warn and punish those who do.
It must be noted that the goal of Al-Ghazali in writing his book, The Incoherence of Philosophers as he said: is to show the contradictions of the philosophers in their discussion of the divine and natural sciences, and as for mathematics, there is no sense in denying or contradicting it because it is about arithmetic and geometry. 35 Al-Ghazali, in this, does not disagree with the philosophers in their ideas which based on facts and definitive rational evidence; but he contradicts their interpretation and analysis of divine and natural sciences which are based on illusions and assumptions without definitive evidence.
Even though Khojazada mentioned the intellectual incapability of his period, when considered in terms of the intellectual paradigm that he defends, it can be seen that he was in a contradictory situation. Because Al-Ghazali, apart from being a scientist and a Kalam DEPARTMENT OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT AND CIVILIZATION Volume 11 Issue 1, Spring 2021 scholar, is known to bring the philosophical and intellectual activities in the history of Islamic thought to a standstill and is portrayed as a deactivating mind in the face of a tradition. 36 Therefore, while Khojazada notes the intellectual insufficiency on the societal level, he followed Al-Ghazali's paradigm and states that he did not follow the philosophers but Al-Ghazali in writing his work, which constitutes an inconsistency.

Conclusion
Khojazadeh was considered as one of the popular Islamic philosophers in the Ottoman era, and no one has written any counter argument or contradiction to his ideas or his book. In the Tahafut tradition, there are three important works. Al-Ghazali's Tahafut al-Falasifah which began this tradition, followed by Ibn Rushd's Tahafut al-Tahafut (the Incoherence of the Incoherence), and finally, Khojazada's Tahafut. Khojazada's work was a significant achievement in Ottoman Islamic thought. It left lasting influences on the following Ottoman scholars, who wrote commentaries on Khojazada's work include Hakim Shah al-Qazwini (Hashiyah 'ala Tahafut Khojazade) and Ibn Kemal (Hashiyah 'ala Tahafut al-Falasifah).
Khojazadeh's approach with his ideas is very similar to the approach of Al-Ghazali, describing him as Hujjat al-Islām (authority of Islam). As for other philosophers, he described them as erring in their natural sciences a little, and in the Divine sciences a lot. The purpose of Khojazadeh in writing his book was to nullify the arguments of philosophers both on the natural and divine fronts. He did not discuss Al-Ghazali's stance towards the philosophers and their takfīr (declarations of apostasy), and he did not give his opinion on this issue, neither by acceptance nor in rejection, but rather in the introductory part of his book he limited himself to exposing the errors of the philosophers. There is greater significance in Khojazada's work, when compared with al-Tusi's Kitab al-Dukhur, Khojazada's Tahafut contains original philosophical content. Despite accepting Al-Ghazali's work as a standard when he wrote his work, he also provided his own views and opinions. Khojazada's work can be considered as the thought of Islamic Philosophy in the Ottoman period, as it was accepted amongst his peers. It is also important in indicating the positive outlook in the Ottoman Empire towards philosophy in continuing the tradition of Tahafut writing.