Abstract
<jats:p>The Spirit of Justice The Treatise of Defense (Müdâfaa Risâlesi) Analysis, Translation, and Critical Edition This study presents the critical edition and analysis of Müdâfaa Risâlesi, authored by Taşköprülüzâde Ahmed Efendi (d. 968/1561), one of the most prolific figures of the sixteenth-century Ottoman intellectual tradition. Written in 958/1551, shortly after his resignation from the office of judge in Istanbul, the treatise reflects the authors judicial experience and stands not merely as a response to accusations directed against him, but as an original manifesto of judicial ethics integrating jurisprudence, ethics, and Sufism. In the introduction, Taşköprülüzâde analyzes the ontological structure of the human being through the duality of the soul (realm of command) and the body (realm of creation). According to him, the first condition of justice is that the judge must establish the dominance of the soul over the carnal faculties -such as anger and lust- within his inner world. Building on this metaphysical foundation, he addresses criticisms including his preference for forbearance over anger, his reliance on the outward reliability of witnesses, and his refusal to comply with the rulers policy-oriented notion of siyāsa. In doing so, he employs both rational and juristic arguments, emphasizing that the judge must rule independently of political authority and solely on the basis of the soundest interpretations of the Sharīʿa, thereby underlining judicial independence and the supremacy of law. The Conclusion (Khātima) extends this vision of personal and institutional justice into a social framework. Taşköprülüzâde argues that the duty of commanding right and forbidding wrong (amr bil-maʿrūf wa nahy ʿanil-munkar) is the guarantee of the ideal social order. Here he carefully distinguishes the authority of the judge from that of the muḥtasib (public moral inspector), stressing that adjudication is the judges task, whereas the supervision of public morality falls under administrative responsibility. With this comprehensive approach, the treatise emerges not only as a personal defense but also as a fundamental text on sixteenth-century Ottoman thought concerning justice, ethics, and society. Keywords: Sufism; Judicial Ethics; Ottoman Moral Thought; Philosophy of Justice; Taşköprülüzâde Ahmed Efendi</jats:p>