Thread by @AkpinarMcan

A new discovery:
1)This is as one of the earliest UNKNOWN copies of al-Ghazālī's Iḥyāʾ, and the EARLIEST copy of the 2nd volume (al-ʿādāt) (afa I can determine).

No one knew it was one of the earliest copies—except those who STOLE it in 2000.

Thankfully we have microfilms ++

The reason this copy was not recognized as one of the earliest manuscripts is that the catalog lists a later copy date of 689 AH (1290 CE)

while the first 184 folios were actually copied in 571 AH (1175 CE)👇

Those who stole this earliest copy of the second volume removed the first 184 folios and left the remaining 163, which were possibly copied in 689 AH (1290 CE).

Neither Brockelmann, nor Badawī, the editor of Iḥyāʾ, nor M. Çağrıcı, the author of the entry on the work in the Turkish İslam Ansiklopedisi, were aware of the copy in the Yusuf Ağa Library, where the theft occurred.

The earliest fragment of Iḥyāʾ is considered to be an abridged version of the Iḥyāʾ (Mukhtaṣar Iḥyāʾ), copied in 502 AH/1108 CE, i.e. during al-Ghazālī's life time (Süleymaniye, Hacı Mahmud Efendi Collection)

The Yusuf Ağa manuscript is not an abridged version.
It contains the first four chapters of the second volume of Iḥyāʾ,
covering the following topics: (1) manners of eating and drinking, (2) marriage, (3) earnings, trade, and commerce, and (4) permissible and prohibited things.

We are fortunate to have a microfilm copy of this stolen manuscript.
It may have ended up in a private collection or in a European or U.S. library, as has been the case with other manuscripts stolen from the Yusuf Ağa Library.

Not all the manuscripts stolen from the Yusuf Ağa Library have microfilm copies; in fact, they are a minority.
I will continue posting about those stolen manuscripts with microfilm images to raise awareness and ensure they are recognized if they come into the hands of experts.

Here is the full list of some 120 manuscripts stolen from Yusuf Ağa Library in 2000.

Unfortunately, there is no English publication that lists all these valuable manuscripts.

I am preparing a detailed one and should be ready soon.
kvmgm.ktb.gov.tr/TR-44517/yusuf…