İhvân-ı Safâ Risalelerinde Avam, Havas ve Ara Sınıf Tasnifi Üzerine Bir Değerlendirme

The aim of this study is to evaluate the views of the Ikhwân as-Safâ Treatises, written by a group of thinkers among the early Muslim philosophers, based on their efforts to classify people in society as common people, elites and intermediate classes in terms of their level of understanding and comprehension. The detailed treatment of this subject in treatises written during the formation period of Islamic sciences was effective in choosing the subject. The authors of the treatises generally divide people in society into three main groups in terms of their level of understanding and comprehension: common people, elites and those in between. According to them, the common people consist of children, women, slaves, those with limited intelligence and mentally disabled people. The elite people are those who are deep in knowledge, guided by reason and on the journey to perfection in theory and practice. The intermediate class is the group that has some aspects similar to common people and some aspects similar to elites. The views determined in the treatises on the subject have been classified and evaluated under a total of twelve headings. In the study, both the original Arabic and Turkish translations of the treatises were used. No study directly related to the subject was found in the literature review. Therefore, it is possible to evaluate this study as an pioneering study in the field.