The Role of the Schools and Scholastic Islam in the Religious Politics of the Ottoman Government Case Study the Formation period up to the End of Murad I Period

The ruler-oriented attitude in the historiographical reports of the Ottoman period has caused the government to be portrayed as an impressive institution and the school, like most other institutions of the society, as impressionable in the portray presented of the relation between the Ottoman government and the school institution. Similarly, in the researches made, this same formal attitude of the traditional Ottoman historiography has been accepted due to lack of attention to this issue. Whereas, since the establishment of schools in the Ottoman territory from the middle of the first half of the eighth/fourteenth century and the formation of scholarly-religious trend resulting from it (the scholastic Islam) and its presence in the political arena, a considerable change gradually appeared in the conducts and policies of this government. Along with the development of their presence in the society, the graduates of the schools monopolized many of the important political, administrative, and judicial positions and by playing roles in policy-makings of the Ottoman government, they turned into important influential elements in this respect. According to the findings of the present research, it can be said that, contrary to the above-mentioned supposition, the impact of government and school in the Ottoman period (the early period of formation discussed in this article) was reciprocal and the school institution had tangible impact on both the structure of the government and its policies.