Şihabetdin Märcani

Şihabetdin Märcani (, <small>Cyrillic:</small> , ; 1818–1889) was a Tatar Hanafi-Maturidi theologian and historian. Märcani has been noted for "laying the basis for the theory of a Tatar territorial nation by establishing historical continuity between Volga Bulgaria, the Golden Horde, the Khanate of Kazan and the Tatars of his time". Märcani advocated for the use of the ethnonym "Tatar", in spite of the negative connotation it had during the Russian Empire. Märcani was part of the Naqshbandi Sufi order.

Märcani studied in madrassas of Tashkichu (near Kazan), Bukhara and Samarkand. Beginning in 1850 he served as the imam of the First Cathedral Mosque. Later, in 1867, he became a muhtasib of Kazan. At the same time, in 1876-1884 he lectured on religion in the Tatar Teachers' School. Märcani became the first Muslim member of The Society for Archaeology, History and Ethnography at Kazan State University. In his papers he illustrated his ideas about the renovation and the perfection of the Tatar educational system. As a historian, he was the first Tatar scholar to employ a synthesis of European methodology with the traditions of the Oriental scholars. He was the author of more than 30 volumes about Tatar history.

Name

Full name in Arabic naming system: Shihab al-Dīn ibn Bahāʼ al-Dīn ibn Subḥān ibn ʻAbd al-Karīm ibn ʻAbd al-Tawwāb ibn ʻAbd al-Ghanī ibn ʻAbd al-Quddūs ibn Yedish ibn Yediger ibn ʻUmar.

Modern Tatar: Шиһабетдин Баһаветдин улы Мәрҗани (Şihabetdin Bahawetdin ulı Mərcani). Sometimes spelled Marjani. In Russian Shigabutdin Mardzhani (Шигабутдин Марджани), or Shikhabetdin (Шихабетдин). In Turkish sources Şehabeddin Mercani.

Also known as Shihabaddin Mardjani, Shihabuddin Marjani, Shihab al-Din al-Marjani.

Works

Märcani wrote several works in various Islamic disciplines in Arabic, Turkish, and Persian, including the following:

1. al-Ḥikmah al-Bālighah al-Janiyyah fī Sharḥ al-‘Aqā’id al-Ḥanafiyyah (), a commentary on Abu Hafs 'Umar al-Nasafi's al-'Aqa'id al-Nasafiyyah written in refutation of the more popular commentary written by Sa'd al-Din al-Taftazani.
2. al-‘Adhb al-Furāt wa-al-Mā’ al-Zulāl al-Nāfi‘ li-Ghullat Ruwwām al-Ibrāz al-Asrār Sharḥ al-Jalāl (), a marginalia on Jalal al-Din al-Dawwani's commentary on 'Adud al-Din al-Iji's Aqā'id.
3. Ghurfat al-Ḥawāqīn li-Ma‘rifat al-Khawāqīn ()
4. Ghilālat al-Zamān fī Tārīkh Bulghār wa-Qazān ()
5. Wafiyyat al-Aslāf wa-Naḥiyyat al-Akhlāf (), a seven-volume biographical dictionary of Islamic history. The first volume is titled al-Muqaddimah, a reference to the inspiration the author drew from Ibn Khaldun's Muqaddimah.
6. Muntakhab al-Wafiyyah (), a collection of excerpts from the aforementioned Wafiyyat al-Aslaf.
7. Tanbīh Abnā’ al-‘Aṣr ‘alá Tanzīh Abnā’ Abī al-Naṣr (), a treatise on the differences of opinion between the "Qadimist" scholars of Bukhara and the Jadidist Ghabdennasir Qursawi.
8. Ḥaqq al-Ma‘rifah wa-Ḥusn al-Idrāk bi-Mā Yalzamu fī Wujūb al-Fiṭr wa-al-Imsāk ()
9. Nāẓūrat al-Ḥaqq fī Farḍiyyat al-‘Ishā’ wa-In Lam Yaghib al-Shafaq (), a legal work verifying the Hanafi position on performing the Isha prayer at higher latitudes where the sun does not set.
10. al-Fawā’id al-Muhimmah ()
11. al-Barq al-Wamīḍ fī al-Radd ‘alá al-Baghīḍ al-Musammá bi-al-Naqīḍ ()
12. Kashf al-Ghiṭā’ ‘an al-Abṣār bi-Aghlāṭ Tawārīkh Bulghār wa-Akādhībiha al-Ṣarīḥah li-Dhawī al-I‘tibār ()
13. Mustafād al-Akhbār fī Aḥwāl Qazān wa-Bulghār ()
14. al-Ṭarīqah al-Muthlá wa-al-‘Aqīdah al-Ḥusná ()
15. al-Naṣā’iḥ (), a work on Islamic animal ethics.
16. Khizāmat al-Ḥawāshī li-Izālat al-Ghawāshī (), a marginalia on Sadr al-Shari'a al-Asghar's autocommentary al-Tawdih on the al-Tanqih which proposes a synthesis between the two dominant persuasions of Sunni legal epistemology.
17. al-Mathal al-A‘lá ()
18. Sharḥ Muqaddimat al-Risālah al-Shamsiyyah fī-al-Manṭiq (), a commentary on the Najm al-Din al-Katibi's introduction to his al-Risālah al-Shamsiyyah which concerns the quiddity and subject matter of Arabic logic.
19. Taḥārīr Mufradah ()
20. Jawāmi‘ al-Ḥikam Dharā’i‘ al-Ni‘am min Maqālāt ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib ()
21. Tadhkirat al-Munīb bi-‘Adam Tazkiyat Ahl al-Ṣalīb (), a work on Islamic dietary jurisprudence, specifically the impermissibility of eating meat slaughtered by Christians.
22. Mukhtaṣar al-Nujūm al-Zāhirah fī Aḥwāl Miṣr wa-al-Qāhirah (), an abridgement of Ibn Taghribirdi's chronicle of Egyptian history.
23. Ḥaqq al-Bayān wa-al-Taṣwīr fī Mas’alat Ḥudūth ‘Ālam al-Amr wa-al-Taqdīr (), a treatise on the Islamic creedal doctrine of creatio ex nihilo.
24. al-Ḥaqq al-Mubīn fī Maḥāsin Awḍā‘ Al-Dīn (), a work on the role of Qur'anic miracles in confirming the prophethood of Muhammad.
25. I‘lām Abnā’ al-Dahr bi-Aḥwāl Ahl Mā Warā’ al-Nahr ()
26. Risālah fī Masā’il al-Naḥw ()
27. Risālah Turkiyyah fī Manāsik al-Ḥajj ()
28. Risālah Turkiyyah ()
29. Mashāri‘ al-Uṣūl wa-Mashārib al-Fuṣūl ()
30. al-Riḥlah ()