Saints and Tombs of Istanbul

Fenâyî Cennet Mehmed Efendi

Fenâyî Cennet Mehmed Efendi (d. 1075/1664) was a seventeenth-century mystic poet of Jelveti disposition who used the pen name "Fenâyî" in his verse. Attached to the tradition of Aziz Mahmud Hüdâyî, he completed his Sufi formation and became known for his hymns and mystical utterances. His grave lies within the tomb-and-cemetery complex of the Hüdâyî lodge in Üsküdar. Although his name is sometimes confused with the contemporary Jelveti sheikh Fenâî Ali Efendi, the two are distinct figures.

Himmet Efendi (of Bolu)

Himmet Efendi (d. 1095/1684), born in Bolu, was a mystic of Bayrami-Shamsi origin regarded as the founder (pîr) of the Himmetiyye branch. Having studied the religious sciences in Istanbul and served as a professor, he turned to Sufism and became a disciple of Hacı Ahmed Efendi of Bolu. He preached at the Davud Paşa Mosque in Üsküdar and for a long period at the Kasımpaşa Mosque, becoming known for his distinctive method of dhikr. He died on 3 February 1684 and was first buried at the tomb of Bezcizâde Muhyiddin Efendi in Divitçiler, Üsküdar; his grave was later relocated to the courtyard cemetery of the Küçük Selimiye Mosque.

Hâşim Baba (Bandırmalızâde Mustafa Hâşim Efendi)

Bandırmalızâde Seyyid Mustafa Hâşim Efendi, known as Hâşim Baba (d. 1197/1783), was born in 1718 in Üsküdar as the son of the Jelveti sheikh Yûsuf Nizâmeddin Efendi. Raised in Jelveti discipline, he later established contact with Bektashi circles and became the head of his father's lodge in İnâdiye. After his death his followers formed the Hâşimiyye branch of the Jelvetiyye in his name. His tomb lies in the cemetery of the Bandırmalızâde (Hâşimî) lodge at İnâdiye, Üsküdar, and was relocated to a new spot within the same property during a road adjustment.

Karaca Ahmet Sultan

Karaca Ahmet Sultan is a semi-legendary saint of the Khorasan dervishes (abdalân-ı Rûm) tradition, held to have been active in the fourteenth-century Islamization of Anatolia. No fixed date of death is recorded in the sources, and traditional accounts link him to the era of Orhan Gazi. Numerous tombs and stations (makam) are attributed to him, and scholarly debate continues over his identity and true burial place between Üsküdar and Manisa/Akhisar; in this respect the Üsküdar site is largely regarded as a station (makam). The extensive Karacaahmet Cemetery in Üsküdar is named after this saint, and his tomb possesses a deep-rooted tradition of visitation.

Zâkirzâde Abdullah Efendi

Zâkirzâde Abdullah Efendi (d. 1067/1657) was a Jelveti sheikh known by this epithet as the son of Osman Efendi, the chief chanter (zâkirbaşı) of Aziz Mahmud Hüdâyî. After serving as a deputy in Manisa he returned to Istanbul, holding the sheikhship of the Zeyrek and Kasım Çelebi lodges and preaching at the Kılıç Ali Paşa and Fatih mosques. Renowned mystics such as Atpazarî Osman Fazlı were among his disciples. He died in 1657 and was buried near the Miskinler lodge in the Karacaahmet Cemetery of Üsküdar.

Divitçizâde Mehmed Tâlib Efendi

Divitçizâde Mehmed Tâlib Efendi (d. 1090/1679) was the son of the Üsküdar Jelveti sheikh Devâtî Mustafa Efendi. Leaving the scholarly path, he received his licence from Fidancı Şeyh Mehmed Efendi and, upon his father's death in 1660, became sheikh of the lodge at Bülbülderesi. For a time he also served as head of the Aziz Mahmud Hüdâyî lodge. He left works including Mecâlis, a Ta'bîr-nâme, a Dîvân-ı İlâhiyât and a commentary on the Qasîda al-Burda; on his death he was buried beside his father in the courtyard cemetery of the Şeyh Devâtî Mosque.

Ka'b al-Ahbar

Ka'b al-Ahbar was a prominent successor (tabi'i) of Yemeni origin, renowned for his mastery of the sciences of the People of the Book, who embraced Islam during the caliphate of Umar. He holds an important place in early Islamic scholarship for his transmissions of Isra'iliyyat and exegetical material. Most sources record that his actual grave is in Homs (and by one account in Bab al-Saghir, Damascus). The station attributed to him in the Toklu Dede graveyard in Ayvansaray, Istanbul, is a symbolic pilgrimage site whose status as an actual grave is historically disputed. It was preserved in the Ottoman period as part of the culture of visiting the companion-stations along the city walls. It is therefore recorded here as a maqam whose grave-identity is contested.

Abu al-Darda (Uwaymir ibn Zayd al-Khazraji)

Abu al-Darda was a distinguished companion of the Khazraj tribe, renowned for his wisdom and asceticism. During the caliphate of Uthman he served as the first judge (kadı) of Damascus and, because he taught the Qur'an to its people, was called "the Qur'an teacher of Damascus." According to TDV sources his actual grave is in the Bab al-Saghir cemetery in Damascus; stations attributed to him also exist in Üsküdar and Konya Ereğli. The station on Zal Paşa Avenue in Eyüp, Istanbul, is a symbolic pilgrimage site repaired under Mahmud II (with an inscription dated 1251/1835). It is therefore recorded here as a maqam whose grave-identity is contested, with the actual burial in Damascus. It should not be confused with the separate Abu al-Darda tomb in Bartın.

Jabir ibn Abdullah al-Ansari

Jabir ibn Abdullah al-Ansari is known as one of the long-lived companions and a prolific transmitter of hadith. According to TDV sources he died and was buried in Medina. The station attributed to him inside the Atik Mustafa Pasha (Hazreti Câbir) Mosque in Ayvansaray, Istanbul, is a symbolic site belonging to the Ottoman culture of visitation; sources are divided over whose station it is (Jabir ibn Abdullah or Jabir ibn Samura). The tradition that he took part in the sieges of Constantinople rests largely on Ottoman popular lore. It is therefore recorded here as a maqam of contested grave-identity, with the actual burial in Medina. The separate station at Düğmeciler in Eyüp belongs to his son Jabir ibn Muhammad al-Ansari and should not be confused with it.

Abdullah Nidai al-Kashghari

Abdullah Nidai al-Kashghari came to Istanbul from Kashgar in East Turkestan and became one of the leading sheikhs of the Naqshbandi order. Writing Sufi poetry under the pen name "Nidai," he gathered a wide following through his learning and spiritual guidance. He carried out guidance for many years at the Kashgari Lodge named after him in Nişanca, Eyüp. He died in 1174/1760 and was buried in his tomb in the cemetery of that lodge. His tomb stands in the same complex as the grave of the lodge's founder, Yekçeşm Ahmed Murtaza Efendi, and is visited to this day.

Yekcesm Ahmed Murtaza Efendi

Yekcesm Ahmed Murtaza Efendi was a representative of the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi path and a khalifa of Ahmed Yekdest Curyani. Although he held various posts in state service, his true identity lay in his Sufi guidance. He founded the lodge in Nişanca, Eyüp that bears his name and ensured its continuation as the Kashgari Lodge. He died in 1160/1747 and was buried in the cemetery of the lodge he had founded. His grave lies in the same complex as the tomb of the lodge's first resident sheikh, Abdullah al-Kashghari.

Sertarikzade Mehmed Emin Efendi

Sertarikzade Mehmed Emin Efendi was born in 1098/1687 and became one of the leading sheikhs of the Cerrahi branch of the Halveti order. As a guide who continued the path of Nureddin Cerrahi, he was so influential in the order's development that he came to be called its "second pir." He carried out spiritual guidance at the Sertarikzade Lodge named after him in Nişanca, Eyüp. He died in 1173/1761 and was buried in his tomb in the cemetery of that lodge. His tomb is among the visited sheikhs' graves of Eyüp today.

Sheikh Muhammad Murad al-Bukhari

Sheikh Muhammad Murad al-Bukhari was born in Samarkand in 1050/1640 into a sayyid family. He is the principal figure who carried the Mujaddidi branch of the Naqshbandi order into Ottoman lands, having received it from the khalifas of Muhammad Ma'sum, son of Imam Rabbani. After long travels he settled in Istanbul and carried out guidance at his lodge in Nişanca, Eyüp. He died in 1132/1720 and was buried in his tomb in Eyüp. His tomb should not be confused with the Murad Molla Lodge in Çarşamba.

Abd al-Majid Sivasi

Abd al-Majid Sivasi was born in Zile in 971/1563 and became the pir of the Sivasiyye branch of the Semsiyye line of the Halveti order. Coming to Istanbul, he became influential in the scholarly and guidance circles of his time and was known for his sermons and writings. He stood out especially as the foremost scholar who defended Sufism against the anti-Sufi views of the Kadizadeli movement. He died in 1049/1639 and was buried in his tomb in Eyüp. His tomb was built over his grave by Kösem Valide Sultan and is visited to this day.

Jamal al-Din Ushshaqi

Jamal al-Din Ushshaqi was born in Edirne and became known as the pir of the Cemaliyye branch of the Ushshaqiyye line of the Halveti order. He came to Istanbul in 1155/1742 and began his guidance activity, soon gathering a wide following. He served as sheikh at the Cemalizade (Savaklar) Lodge near Eğrikapı. He died in 1164/1751 and was buried in his tomb in the cemetery of that lodge. The site of the lodge lies on the Eğrikapı line at the boundary between Eyüp and Fatih (outside/inside the land walls); while sources support Eyüp, in modern administrative classification it may be attached to Fatih.

Sheikh Abu'l-Wafa (Muslihuddin Mustafa)

Sheikh Abu'l-Wafa, whose given name was Muslihuddin Mustafa, was born in Konya during the Karamanid period and completed his education in Edirne. He became a disciple of Abdüllatif al-Qudsi, a leading khalifa of the Zeyniyye order, and founded its Vefaiyye branch. Under the patronage of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror he settled in Istanbul, where the sultan built him a mosque and bathhouse in the district now known as Vefa. Beyond the religious and rational sciences, he was deeply learned in music, astronomy and mathematics. Many statesmen, scholars, poets and calligraphers became his disciples. He died in 896/1491 and was buried in his tomb in the cemetery of the mosque built in his name.

Ahmed Âmiş Efendi of Tirnova

Ahmed Âmiş Efendi of Tirnova was born in 1807 in Tırnova, Bulgaria, and after completing his studies entered the path of Sufism. He became known as a Melami-minded guide belonging to the Kusadaviyye-Ibrahimiyye branch of the Sabaniyye order. Because he served for many years as the tomb-keeper (türbedar) of the Fatih Mosque, he was known by the epithet "Keeper of the Conqueror's Tomb." He guided many scholars and thinkers of his era; Babanzade Ahmed Naim, Ahmet Avni Konuk and Ismail Fenni Ertugrul were among those formed in his company. He died at a very advanced age in 1338/1920 and was buried in the courtyard cemetery of the Fatih Mosque.

Süleyman Hilmi Tunahan

Süleyman Hilmi Tunahan (1888 Silistra – 1959 Istanbul) was one of the last Ottoman-trained Sunni scholars and a Naqshbandi-Khalidi/Mujaddidi sheikh. Educated in the classical Ottoman madrasa tradition, he preached in Istanbul's mosques during the Republican era and from the 1940s onward established circles of students teaching the Qur'an and religious sciences under difficult conditions. The community that formed around him grew into a wide network of Qur'an courses and student lodges across Turkey and Western Europe. He died on 16 September 1959 and was buried in the Karacaahmet Cemetery in Üsküdar, where his grave is a frequented place of visitation.

Hizir Bey (Hizir Bey Çelebi)

Hizir Bey was born around 810/1407 in Sivrihisar near Eskişehir, the son of the kadı Celâleddin Efendi. He taught in Sivrihisar, Bursa and at the Üç Şerefeli Mosque Medrese in Edirne, and was called "the second Ibn Sina" for his mastery of theology and logic. Immediately after the conquest of Istanbul in 1453, Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror appointed him the new capital's first kadı (chief judge). Because he regulated municipal, security and urban-development affairs as well as the judiciary, he is also remembered as Istanbul's first "mayor." He left works on kalam, most famously the "Kaside-i Nuniyye," and raised scholarly sons such as Sinan Paşa and Ahmed Paşa. He died in Rebiulevvel 863 (January 1459) and was buried in the cemetery in the Vefa-Zeyrek quarter.

Shaykh al-Islam Mehmed Refik Efendi

Shaykh al-Islam Mehmed Refik Efendi was born in 1814 in the town of Rogatica in Bosnia and received his ilmiye (scholarly) education in Istanbul. After serving as a müderris and in various judgeships, he rose to the highest rank of the scholarly hierarchy. He held the office of Şeyhülislam (Grand Mufti) of the Ottoman State between 1866 and 1868. Known for his depth in jurisprudence, he authored "Nukulü'l-Fetava'l-Feyziyye." When he died in 1288/1871 he became the first person buried in the Fatih Mosque cemetery after it was converted from a garden into a hazire. At his funeral Ahmed Cevdet Paşa is reported to have said, "Today we are burying here a treasury of fiqh."

Jamal al-Khalwati (Chelebi Khalifa)

Jamal al-Khalwati, known as Chelebi Khalifa (d. 899/1494); his birthplace is disputed in the sources (Amasya or Aksaray). A disciple of Muhammad Baha al-Din al-Arzinjani, he founded the Jamaliyya branch of the Khalwatiyya and, as the order's first great representative in Istanbul under Bayezid II, headed the Koca Mustafa Pasha lodge. He died near Tabuk in 899/1494 while travelling to Mecca for the hajj; the TDV encyclopedia does not firmly specify his grave, and since he is held to have been buried where he died, his Istanbul lodge counts as a maqam and no coordinates are given. (Sources: TDV 'Jamal al-Khalwati'; TDV 'Khalwatiyya'.)

Sultan Bayezid II

An Ottoman sultan; he is called Bâyezîd the Saint for his piety and his turning to works of charity. He was born in 1448 at Didymoteicho. His mother was Gülbahar Hatun. Experienced statesmen such as Çandarlı İbrâhim and Yahyâ Pasha acted as his tutors; he took his lessons in calligraphy from Shaykh Hamdullah . He came to the throne upon the death of his father Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror on 3 May 1481; he settled the struggle with his brother Cem Sultan by the battle of Yenişehir on 22 June 1481. Cem Sultan afterwards took refuge with the knights of Rhodes. Kili and Akkerman were conquered in 1484. The war with the Mamluks, which began in 1485, lasted six years and ended in 1491. The wars with Venice resulted in the conquest of Modon and Coron. In his reign some of the Jews fleeing the cruelty of the Inquisition in Spain took refuge in Ottoman lands and were settled in various cities. The earthquake of Istanbul which began on 11 September 1509 and lasted forty-five days, called the little apocalypse , caused great destruction. In his last years the revolt of Şahkulu (1511) and the struggle among his sons for the throne grew severe; on 24 April 1512 he left the throne to his son Sultan Selim I and withdrew. He died near Çorlu on 10 June 1512. His Circle of Influence — He gave his protection to scholars and artists; he supported poets such as Necâtî and had Ottoman histories written in Turkish and Persian. He founded the school of the Galata Palace and established a second office of the treasury. He corresponded with Leonardo da Vinci about designs for bridges. His Poetry and Sufi Line — In his poems he used the pen name 'Adlî ; his collected poems, most of them ghazals, contain some 125 pieces and were printed at Istanbul in 1308. He was called a saint because in his reign he turned to worship and to works of charity. His Tomb and Complex — He built great complexes at Istanbul, Edirne and Amasya. He was buried beside the mosque he had built in the square that bears his name, Beyazıt Square; a tomb was afterwards raised over his grave.

Hafiz Osman

A Turkish calligrapher who opened a new era in the six scripts ( aklam-ı sitte ). He was born in Istanbul in 1052 (1642). His father was Ali Efendi, muezzin of the Haseki Sultan Mosque. He memorised the Qur'an while still young; the title hafiz came to serve almost as his first name, and he was known as Hafız Osman . While being educated in the household of Köprülü Fazıl Mustafa Paşa he conceived an interest in calligraphy. It is related that his first teacher, Derviş (Büyük) Ali , unable through age to attend to him properly, consented to send him to Suyolcuzade Mustafa Eyyubi , reckoned the most distinguished of the calligraphers he had trained. His going to his lesson barefoot on a snowy winter's day, walking from Haseki to the district of Eyüp, further increased Suyolcuzade's affection and regard for him. He received his licence at eighteen. In his youth he is seen writing in the manner of Derviş Ali. Then, to learn the style of Şeyh Hamdullah , he became a pupil once more — beginning again from the alphabet — of Nefeszade Seyyid İsmail Efendi, who knew that style most perfectly in his day. This shows that already in the first period of his artistic life he grasped that the advance he would make years later in the six scripts could find its source only in the school of Şeyh Hamdullah. He then began to study Şeyh Hamdullah's works, increasing his facility by copying the mushaf of his that was kept in the palace. He went to Egypt in 1083 (1672) and to the Hijaz for the pilgrimage in 1087 (1677), and to Edirne and Bursa many times. That he always noted his location when signing pieces written outside Istanbul makes his travels easy to establish. In 1106 (1695) he was appointed teacher of calligraphy to Sultan Mustafa II , and was granted a post and later its revenue. He also taught calligraphy to Ahmed III while the latter was still a prince. He was a man of dervish temperament. It is related that the sultan would first have him write out the phrase he wished to write and then try to imitate it; and that, while his exemplar was being prepared, the sultan would sit beside his teacher and hold the inkwell in his hand, paying him "royal homage" . Famous is his reply to the sultan who expressed his admiration by saying "No second Hafız Osman Efendi will ever be raised up" : "So long as there come sultans who hold the inkwell for their teacher as Your Majesty does, many more Hafız Osmans will be raised up, my sovereign." Three or four years before his death he suffered a stroke; but as the treatment given him made the illness a light one, no decline is seen in his writing. He had taken initiation from Seyyid Alaeddin Efendi, a shaykh of the Sunbuliyya order. He died on 29 Jumada I 1110 (3 December 1698) at his house in the Sancaktar quarter of Kocamustafapaşa, and was buried in the graveyard of the Sünbül Efendi lodge . The celi sülüs inscription on his grave was written by his colleague and admirer Ağakapılı İsmail Efendi, in the words: "We came to know beautiful writing — our Osman Efendi wrote it." His Poetry and Sufi Line — The sources contain nothing of his having occupied himself with poetry; it is notable, however, that the colophons he placed at the end of his pieces are mostly in rhymed prose. As to his art: even in the period when his art had reached maturity he showed the value he placed on Şeyh Hamdullah by putting his own signature beneath pieces in which he imitated him. After years spent seeking the most beautiful form in the six scripts, he found his own style from 1090 (1679) onwards. Just as Şeyh Hamdullah had interpreted the beauties he saw in the works of Yaqut al-Musta'simi and so attained a personal style, Hafız Osman made the same interpretation upon Şeyh Hamdullah's writing, and Ottoman calligraphy thereby moved towards refinement and purity. Though his style was at first criticised and at times envied, it soon won acceptance and caused Şeyh Hamdullah's style to be forgotten. From 1100 (1689) he made the letters of the nesih script smaller still; his most admired period is the decade 1679-1689 . His Works — He produced work continuously throughout a career of forty years; that he did not lay down his pen even on the months-long pilgrimage journey, so as not to lose his facility, is evident from the practice sheets and sections written at various halting-places on that journey which survive to the present. From 1069 (1659) to the end of his life he wrote twenty-five copies of the Qur'an .

Mehmed Emin Tokadi

The Sufi regarded as the most important exponent of Istanbul Nakşibendî-Müceddidism in the eighteenth century. He was born in 1075 (1664) at Tokat. He belonged to a Nakşibendî family: his father Hasan Efendi was a tailor and a disciple of Azîz Mahmûd-ı Urmevî. After Urmevî's execution in 1048 (1639) the family settled at Tokat, where Mehmed Emin passed the years of his youth, and in 1110 (1698) he went to Istanbul. In Istanbul he entered the Pîrî Paşa Medrese at Zeyrek and studied the religious sciences under Şeyhülislâm Mirzazâde Şeyh Mehmed Efendi. He practised the sülüs, nesih and ta'lîk scripts under Hâşimîzâde Seyyid Abdullah Efendi; he afterwards studied music at Edirne with such masters as Buhûrîzâde Mustafa Itrî Efendi, Küçük Müezzin Mehmed Efendi and Yahyâ Nazîm Çelebi. In Rajab 1114 (November 1702) he met at Mecca Ahmed Yekdest-i Cüryânî, who was leading a circle of remembrance beside the Kaaba; he became his disciple and remained in his service about three years. Later, at Medina, he received investiture in the Nakşibendiyye-Müceddidiyye through Abdürrahîm-i Buhârî. He returned to Istanbul around 1117 (1706); he served as secretary to Kımıl Mehmed Bey and taught at the Şehzade Mosque. After the death of his patron he held for a short time, in 1132 (1719-20), the custodianship of the tomb of Eyüp Sultan. For decades he occupied himself with spiritual guidance without being attached to any lodge. In 1156 (1743) he was appointed by Şeyhülislâm Mustafa Efendi as sheikh of the Emîr Buhârî lodge at Ayvansaray; he accepted this office on the condition of not residing in the lodge . He died on 15 Sha'bân 1158 (12 September 1745) and was buried in the graveyard of the Pîrî Paşa (Soğukkuyu) Mosque at Zeyrek in Istanbul. His Circle of Influence — The most visible channel of his influence is his disciple Müstakimzâde: it was through him that the ground was prepared for the translation of Imâm-ı Rabbânî's Mektûbât into Turkish. The relation he formed with Lâ'lîzâde Abdülbâki of the Bayramî-Melâmî circle points to an independent conception of Sufism that did not close itself within a single circle. His Poetry and Sufi Line — He stands on the Nakşibendî-Müceddidî line; he rejects ostentation in the practices of the lodge. What is striking about him is that he defended the devrân , a contested practice — this runs counter to the established Nakşibendî understanding and is the subject of one of his treatises. His Works — What he wrote consists essentially of treatises on the Nakşibendî path: İrşâdü's-sâlikîn , Risâle fî sülûki't-tarîkati'n-Nakşibendiyye , Sıyânet-i Dervîşân der Bahs-i Deverân-ı Sûfiyân (a defence of the devrân), Şerh-i Kelimât-ı Hâcegân and Vasiyyetnâme . He also rendered into Turkish such works as Ibn al-Jazarî's introduction to the readings of the Qur'an and Ubeydullah Ahrâr's Risâle-i Vâlidiyye . His Tomb and Complex — His grave is in the graveyard of the Pîrî Paşa (Soğukkuyu) Mosque at Zeyrek. The inscription on his gravestone was written in the ta'lîk script by Kâtibzâde Mehmed Refî and contains the chronogram composed by his disciple Müstakimzâde.

Hayreddin Barbarossa

Celebrated Ottoman seaman and grand admiral (kapudan-ı derya). His original name was Hızır ; he is known as Barbaros after the name Barbarossa , which Europeans first gave to his elder brother Oruç because of his carrot-red beard, and as Hayreddin (Khayr al-Din), a title given him by Sultan Selim I. He was the son of a sipahi named Yakub who came from Vardar Yenicesi and settled on Lesbos (Midilli) after its conquest; he is estimated to have been born around 1478. According to his own account in the Gazavat-ı Hayreddin Paşa , he was the third of four brothers. In his youth he began trading between Lesbos, Salonica and Euboea with a ship he had built. When the flight of Muslims forced to leave Andalusia under Spanish pressure upset the balance of the region, he turned with his brother Oruç to the western Mediterranean; the two brothers began to appear on the North African coast after 1504. When Oruç Reis fell as a martyr in the battle of Tlemcen in 1518, Hızır, now alone, turned to the Ottoman sultan with the petition of the people of Algiers dated October 1519. Sultan Selim I sent a noble rescript recognising him as ruler of Algiers, saying “Hızır Reis is the victory of the faith (nasr al-din), the good of the faith (khayr al-din).” Algiers, where the Friday sermon was now read in the sultan's name, thus joined the Ottoman lands, and Hızır came to be called Hayreddin Pasha . The Muslims of Granada , subjected to many kinds of pressure and oppression, found great support in him: these Muslims forced to leave their homes (the Moriscos) were carried on Turkish ships to the African coast, and the number of Andalusian Muslims brought to Algiers reached 70.000. In the inscription of the mosque he built in Algiers (April 1520) his title is given as “al-Sultan al-mujahid mawlana Khayr al-Din ibn al-amir al-shahir al-mujahid Abi Yusuf Ya'qub al-Turki.” Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent summoned him to Istanbul to command the fleet; he was received by the sultan on 11 Jumada al-Akhira 940 (28 December 1533) and appointed grand admiral with the rank of beylerbeyi of the Aegean Islands (Cezayir-i Bahr-i Sefid) (6 April 1534). The office of grand admiral was thereby raised to the rank of beylerbeyi. In 1538, off Preveza, he routed the allied Crusader fleet under Andrea Doria; with this victory Turkish supremacy was established in the central Mediterranean after the eastern. His last great campaign was the Nice expedition of 1543, undertaken after a decision for joint action with France. Thereafter he was occupied mostly with the affairs of the arsenal. He died after a short illness on 6 Jumada al-Ula 953 (5 July 1546) and was buried in his tomb beside the madrasa he had built during his lifetime in Beşiktaş . The chronogram “Mata ra'is al-bahr” (The chief of the sea has died) was composed for his death; its abjad value is 953. His son Hasan also served as beylerbeyi of Algiers. According to contemporary sources he was of large build with a tawny complexion; having spent his life at sea he knew the Mediterranean languages well — Greek, Arabic, Spanish, Italian and French — and he also loved music. His Circle of Influence — In his time Ottoman naval power reached its peak, and thanks to the able seamen trained in his school and the organised arsenal this power endured for some time longer. At Preveza he had given the right wing to Turgut Reis and the left to Salih Reis; returning from the Nice expedition he freed Turgut Reis, then a captive in Genoa. In later periods it became a tradition for the fleet setting out for the Aegean to anchor at the Hayreddin Pier in Beşiktaş. His Works — During his lifetime he dictated his memoirs to Seyyid Muradi. These memoirs, entitled Gazavat-ı Hayreddin Paşa , were composed in two forms, one in prose and one in verse; the prose version was translated into French, Italian and partly into Arabic, and has also been published in simplified form. His Tomb and Complex — The tomb in Beşiktaş, opposite the Sinan Pasha Mosque and next to the Naval Museum, is a work of Mimar Sinan ; according to its inscription it was built in 948 (1541-42), near the waterside mansion where Barbaros lived in his last years; the mansion later disappeared. The inscription over the entrance reads “This is the tomb of the conqueror of Algiers and Tunis, the late gazi kapudan Hayreddin Pasha, God's mercy be upon him — year 948” ; in the arch above it, in monumental thuluth, is the phrase “Allahumma'ftah lahu abwaba rahmatik” (O Lord, open to him the gates of Your mercy). The tomb is octagonal in the classical manner and built of cut stone; before the door is a portico resting on two columns. In the centre of the dome, in a medallion, verse 89 of Surat al-A'raf is written in gilt together with the basmala. In the four cenotaphs inside lie Cafer Pasha, Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha, Cezayirli Hasan Pasha and Barbaros's wife Bala Hatun. The tomb also holds a hair from the Prophet's beard (sakal-ı şerif), a wooden Qur'an case and a calligraphic panel signed by Seyyid İbrahim and dated 1816. Over time a large graveyard had formed around the tomb; when a Barbaros monument was decided upon here around 1944, the surroundings were cleared, the graveyard removed and the tomb restored.

Ibn Kemal (Kemalpaşazade)

Ottoman şeyhülislam, historian and many-sided scholar; he is counted among the greatest representatives of Ottoman learning and culture in the first half of the XVI century. His real name was Şemseddin Ahmed ; he is known as Kemalpaşazade, Kemalpaşaoğlu or Ibn Kemal after his grandfather Kemal Paşa, tutor (lala) to Prince Bayezid (Bayezid II). He was born on 3 Dhu al-Qa'da 873 (15 May 1469); his birthplace is disputed (see Multiple Perspectives). His father was Süleyman Çelebi, who had taken part in the conquest of Istanbul and was appointed warden of Amasya in 879 (1474); his mother was the daughter of Küpelioğlu Muhyiddin Mehmed, one of the military judges of the reign of Mehmed the Conqueror. After becoming a hafiz of the Qur'an and studying Arabic language and literature, logic and Persian with the scholars of Amasya, he first entered the military profession and took part in Bayezid II's campaigns as a cavalryman of the six regiments. As Taşköprizade relates from him, at an assembly of the grand vizier Çandarlı İbrahim Paşa he saw Molla Lutfi, professor at Filibe, seated above the famous raider commander Evrenosoğlu Ahmed; concluding that the standing of the ulema was higher than that of the commanders, he resolved to join the learned profession. He attended the lessons of Molla Lutfi at Edirne and then of scholars such as Kestelî Muslihuddin Mustafa, Hatibzade Muhyiddin, Muarrifzade Sinaneddin Yusuf and Müeyyedzade Abdurrahman, completing his education. With Müeyyedzade's support he became professor at the Ali Bey (Taşlık) Madrasa in Edirne; meanwhile he was charged with writing an Ottoman history in Turkish. He taught at the İshak Paşa Madrasa in Skopje (911/1505), at the Halebiye and Üç Şerefeli madrasas in Edirne, at the Sahn-ı Seman in Istanbul (914/1508) and at the Sultan Bayezid Madrasa in Edirne (917/1511). Under Selim I his fame grew with an epistle he wrote against the Safavids; in 921 (1515) he was made judge of Edirne and on 14 Sha'ban 922 (12 September 1516) military judge of Anatolia. On the Egyptian campaign, in which he took part in this office, he won great favour with the sultan and served as assistant to Hayır Bey in the survey of Egypt. It is related that on the return from the campaign mud splashed from his horse's hoof soiled the sultan's kaftan, whereupon Selim I said that “the mud splashed from the feet of the ulema is a source of adornment and a cause of pride”, and willed that this kaftan be laid over his coffin after his death. In 924 (1518) he was charged with the survey of Karaman and the next year removed from the military judgeship; early in 926 (1520) he became professor at the Darülhadis of Edirne, in 928 (1522) at the Sultan Bayezid Madrasa, and in 930 (1524) moved to the Fatih Madrasa in Istanbul. Finally, in Sha'ban 932 (May 1526), he was appointed şeyhülislam in succession to Zenbilli Ali Efendi. He died in this office on 2 Shawwal 940 (16 April 1534) and was buried in the graveyard of the Mahmud Çelebi lodge outside Edirnekapı. In his testament he had asked that his funeral be conducted in dervish fashion and that no tomb be built over his grave, only a stone set up. The chronogram composed on his death, “Irtahala al-'ulum bi al-Kamal” (With Kemal the sciences, too, have died), expresses his scholarly stature. His Circle of Influence — Among the scholars he trained were Muhyiddin Mehmed b. Pir Mehmed, Sa'di Sadullah Efendi, Muslihuddin Mustafa, Celalzade Salih Çelebi and Şeyhülislam Ebussuud Efendi. Among the Ottoman ulema he was called “the first teacher” (al-mu'allim al-awwal) for his scholarly power, and his pupil Ebussuud Efendi “the second teacher”; for his skill in giving fatwas he received the epithet “mufti of the two worlds” (mufti al-thaqalayn). Taşköprizade says that he made the scholars before him forgotten; al-Tamimi likens him to al-Suyuti for the number of his works and judges him superior in grasp of questions, reasoning and disputation. His classification of jurists into seven ranks according to their competence in ijtihad (mujtahid in the law, mujtahid in the school, mujtahid in particular questions, ashab al-takhrij, ashab al-tarjih, ashab al-tamyiz and muqallid) influenced later Hanafi literature; Arab scholars such as Ibn Nujaym, al-Haskafi and Ibn 'Abidin also cited his views in their works. Through his efforts to bring the kanunnames into line with the sharia, his role in drafting the kanunname of Egypt and the first independent treatise that can be identified on the legitimacy of cash waqfs, he led the way in establishing many practices in Ottoman society. His Poetry and Sufi Line — According to the source he was not opposed to Sufism: he held that the Sufi path is sound, that one should believe in the states of the saints and hope for help from their spiritual presence, and he advised seeking their prayers. He made the soundness of Sufism conditional, however, on its not exceeding lawful bounds; he stated that saying “my shaykh said so” cannot count as Sufism, and issued severe fatwas on the whirling (devran), dance and audition in dhikr (see Multiple Perspectives). In the Arabic fatwa he wrote on Muhyi al-Din Ibn 'Arabi, which was inscribed on his tomb together with the fatwa of al-Firuzabadi, he used very respectful language towards him and defended the Fusus al-Hikam and al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya . This fatwa influenced Selim I, who on his return from Egypt built at Damascus a tomb over Ibn 'Arabi's grave, with a mosque and an imaret beside it. At the order of Süleyman the Magnificent he examined İbrahim Gülşeni's Ma'navi and reported that the people of the outward cannot grasp its meaning and that the work contains many divine secrets. His Works — He wrote in Turkish, Arabic and Persian in many fields; it is hard to give a firm figure for their number: Jamil al-'Azm ascribes to him 214 works, Brockelmann 179, Nihal Atsız 209, Şamil Öçal 226. His principal work in history is the Tevarih-i Al-i Osman : written at the wish of Bayezid II, whom he presented with a history in eight volumes reaching the events of 916 (1510), it was later continued at Süleyman's request to the end of the Mohács campaign, that is, to 933 (1527), becoming a work of ten books. His other principal works include the Divan , containing more than 400 ghazals; the mathnawi Yusuf u Zeliha in 7777 couplets; the Kaside-i Bürde Tercümesi , a translation of al-Busiri's ode; the Nigaristan , modelled on Sa'di's Gulistan ; the Afdaliyyat Muhammad 'ala Sa'ir al-Anbiya' ; the gloss he wrote on Hocazade's Tahafut ; and the Akaid-i İslam , dealing with the foundations of faith, worship and ethics. His fatwas, too, are important documents reflecting the religious, legal, political and social life of the Ottoman society of his day.

Molla Gürâni (Ahmad al-Kurani)

Teacher of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror, Ottoman scholar and mufti (d. 893/1488). His original name was Shams al-Din Ahmad ibn Isma'il ; some sources use the title Sharaf al-Din or Shihab al-Din instead of Shams al-Din. The sources give differing information on his place and year of birth. After completing his early education at home he studied the seven readings, theology, exegesis, grammar and jurisprudence in Baghdad with Zayn al-Din Abd al-Rahman ibn Umar al-Qazwini, and Arabic language and literature in Hasankeyf with Jalal al-Din al-Hulwani. Around 830 (1426-27) he moved to Damascus and studied with scholars including Ala al-Din Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Bukhari. By way of Jerusalem he went to Cairo in 835 (1431-32); there he became a student of Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani and received his licence (ijaza). He also learned hadith, Qur'anic readings, exegesis and jurisprudence from scholars such as Zayn al-Din al-Zarkashi, al-Maqrizi, Kamal al-Din Ibn al-Barizi and Ali ibn Ahmad al-Qalqashandi. Having distinguished himself in these sciences he entered the inner circle of the Mamluk sultan al-Malik al-Zahir Chaqmaq, took part in the learned gatherings held in the sultan's presence, and became professor of jurisprudence at the Barquqiyya Madrasa in Cairo. In 844 (1440), when a dispute between him and the Hanafi judge of Damascus was brought before the sultan as a complaint, he was imprisoned, punished, removed from his teaching post and exiled to Damascus. Meanwhile he met Molla Yegan , one of the scholars of the reign of Murad II, and came with him to Anatolia. Going with Molla Yegan to Edirne, he met Murad II and became professor first at the Kaplıca and then at the Yıldırım madrasas in Bursa. Al-Sakhawi records that after coming to Anatolia he changed from the Shafi'i to the Hanafi school. In 847 (1443) he was appointed tutor to Prince Mehmed (the Conqueror) in Manisa. When his pupil came to the throne the second time he was offered the vizierate; he declined, saying “Those who serve at your gate hope in the end to reach the office of vizier. If someone other than them becomes vizier, their loyalty to you will weaken and the order of your sultanate will be disturbed.” He was thereupon appointed military judge (kazasker) in 855 (1451). During the conquest of Istanbul he sat in the Conqueror's council, took part in the conquest with the army, and was among the group that encouraged the sultan in the hardest days of the fighting and so ensured that the siege continued. After the conquest he wrote the Arabic letter of victory (fethname) sent to the Mamluk sultan. Because he acted in appointments without consulting the sultan he was assigned the judgeship of Bursa and the administration of its endowments; having rejected as contrary to the Sharia a proposal from someone close to the sultan, he was removed from the judgeship in 859 (1455). Setting out on pilgrimage, he went to Aleppo and Damascus and from there to Jerusalem (860/1456), and performed the hajj in 861 (1457). In 862 (1458) he returned to Istanbul and was appointed judge of Bursa a second time. In 885 (1480) he was made mufti of Istanbul , then the highest post of the learned hierarchy, which later became the office of Shaykh al-Islam, and he held it for eight years, most of them in the reign of Bayezid II. Towards the end of his life he fell ill and died in Istanbul. He is described as humble yet dignified, and unafraid to state his convictions openly. His Works — His most important work is the Qur'an commentary Ghayat al-amani fi tafsir al-kalam al-rabbani , also cited in some sources as Ghayat al-amani fi tafsir al-sab' al-mathani : he began writing it in Jerusalem at the end of 860 (1456) and completed it in 867 (1462-63), dedicating it to the Conqueror. Among its main sources are Zamakhshari's al-Kashshaf and Baydawi's Anwar al-tanzil , and the author at times criticises views found in these two commentaries. Copied at the order of some Ottoman sultans and sent as a gift to the Khanate of Bukhara and elsewhere, the work was taught as a textbook in Ottoman madrasas. His other works: al-Durar al-lawami' fi sharh Jam' al-jawami' , a commentary on Taj al-Din al-Subki's book on legal theory; Kashf al-asrar on the Qur'anic readings, dedicated to Bayezid II; al-Kawthar al-jari , a commentary on al-Bukhari in which he criticises some interpretations of his teacher Ibn Hajar and of al-Kirmani; al-Abqari , Fara'id al-durar and Raf' al-khitam on the readings; al-Murashshah on grammar; and Risala fi al-wala' , written to criticise Molla Hüsrev's treatise of the same name. He also has an Arabic ode of 600 couplets on prosody, al-Shafiya , dedicated to the Conqueror. His Tomb and Complex — In Istanbul he built two mosques, two masjids, a dar al-hadith madrasa, as well as a school of Qur'an reciters, a khanqah, a bath and a primary school, and endowed many revenue-bearing properties for them; the endowment deed he drew up is dated Rabi al-Awwal 889 (April 1484). He was buried in the graveyard of the mosque he had built in the Aksaray quarter.

Ebussuud Efendi

Shaykh al-Islam of the reign of Süleyman the Magnificent, jurist and Qur'an commentator. He is known by the titles "Mufti of mankind, sultan of the commentators, seal of the commentators, the second teacher, Hoca Çelebi, the second Abu Hanifa". Since in the preface of his commentary he calls himself Ebüssuûd Mehmed , his actual name was Mehmed ; Ebüssuûd is a kunya or title. According to the common view he was born on 17 Safar 896 (30 December 1490) in the village of Metris (Metris-Müderris) near Istanbul. His father, Muhyiddin Muhammad, known as Shaykh Yavsi and a nephew of Ali Qushji, had been born in the village of İmad (Direklibel) near İskilip; he had won the friendship of Prince Bayezid during his governorship of the sanjak of Amasya, and when Bayezid became sultan he was invited to Istanbul and a lodge was built for him near Sultanselim (later known as the Sivasi Tekke). Because of his closeness to Bayezid II he was also called the "sultan's shaykh". Ebüssuûd received his first education from his father, reading with him works of al-Sayyid al-Sharif al-Jurjani on theology and rhetoric as well as various commentaries. He then studied with Müeyyedzade Abdurrahman Efendi, Mevlana Seydi-i Karamani and, according to some sources, Kemalpaşazade. He married Zeyneb Hanım, daughter of his teacher Seydi-i Karamani. Under Selim I he was appointed in 922 (1516) to the Çankırı madrasa and, when he hesitated to go there, to the İshak Paşa madrasa at İnegöl. When his term there ended in 926 (1520), he taught the following year at the Davud Paşa madrasa, a year later at the Mahmud Paşa madrasa, and then at the madrasa of the vizier Çoban Mustafa Paşa at Gebze (931/1525). After the rank of Bursa Sultaniye he became in 934 (1528) professor at the madrasa of the Sahn-ı Seman known as the "Mufti Madrasa". Five years later he became judge first of Bursa and then, in Rabi al-Akhir 940 (November 1533), of Istanbul. In Rabi al-Awwal 944 (August 1537) he became chief military judge of Rumelia and at once joined the campaign; he was with the sultan on the Moldavian, Esztergom and Buda campaigns and led the first Friday prayer in Buda after its conquest. After eight years as military judge he became Shaykh al-Islam in Sha'ban 952 (October 1545). As military judge and Shaykh al-Islam he sought to bring the scholarly ranks and grades into a systematic order: he fixed the number of candidates ( mülazım ) that scholars of each rank might nominate and made a seven-yearly mülazemet procedure law. In his time the office of Shaykh al-Islam rose above all other scholarly institutions: the daily salary of 200 akçe was raised by 300 akçe to 500 akçe when he presented part of his commentary to Süleyman, and by a further 100 akçe to 600 akçe when he completed it; the power to appoint senior professors and judges of the major cities was given to the Shaykh al-Islams. The İlmiye Kanunnamesi was probably also drafted by him. The source notes that the first signs of decline in the scholarly profession likewise began to appear during his tenure. The sources describe him as tall, cheerful of face and dignified; it is related that as a professor he never neglected his lesson except in the festival holidays, and that as mufti he issued hundreds of fatwas every day. Süleyman held him in great respect and had him lay the foundation of the Süleymaniye Mosque for blessing; his opening a letter from the Szigetvár campaign with "my companion in state, my peer in years, my brother in the hereafter" shows this esteem. His saying, in response to a decree issued in favour of the tenants of the Hagia Sophia endowments, "No! By the sultan's command what is unlawful does not become lawful; what is forbidden cannot become permitted" is, according to the source, proof that he upheld the dignity of his learning. He made his weight felt in certain political events and supported the opening of the Cyprus campaign with his fatwa. After 28 years and 11 months as Shaykh al-Islam he died on 5 Jumada al-Ula 982 (23 August 1574). His funeral prayer was led in the Fatih Mosque by Muhashshi Sinan Efendi, and he was buried in the enclosure of the primary school he had built near the Eyüp Mosque. Funeral prayers in absentia were also held for him in the Two Holy Sanctuaries, and many elegies and chronograms were composed on his death. He had three sons, Ahmed, Mehmed and Mustafa, and three daughters, Hatice, Rahime and Kerime. Ahmed Efendi, professor at the Şehzade madrasa, died in 970 (1562-63) aged twenty-six and was buried in the enclosure where his father was later buried; Mehmed Çelebi (d. 971/1563-64) rose to be judge of Aleppo and Damascus, and the youngest, Mustafa Çelebi (d. 1008/1599), became military judge of Anatolia and Rumelia. His line continued through Mustafa Çelebi for ten generations until the middle of the XIX century; the most important documents on this are two Arabic endowment deeds dated 973 (1565) and 977 (1569) held by his descendants. His Circle of Influence — He was the teacher of many scholars who served as Shaykh al-Islam, military judge and in other scholarly posts under Süleyman, Selim II, Murad III and Mehmed III. Among his students are counted the Shaykh al-Islams Kadızade Ahmed Şemseddin, Malulzade Mehmed, Abdülkadir Şeyhi, Hoca Sadeddin, Bostanzade Mehmed, Ebülmeyamin Mustafa and Sunullah Efendi, together with Zenbillizade Fudayl Çelebi, Cenabi Mustafa Efendi, the poet Baki, the biographer Aşık Çelebi and Kınalızade Hasan Çelebi. His Poetry and Sufi Line — Ebüssuûd's line is scholarly and juristic. According to the source his fatwa collections show an understanding of law of practical rather than doctrinal value, able to produce different solutions as conditions changed; he tried to solve problems by preference ( tarjih ) and derivation ( takhrij ) among the differing views within the Hanafi school. The source links his insistence that courts follow the established Hanafi views to the aim of judicial unity and equality before the law. He adopted the view that a girl who has reached puberty may marry only with her guardian's consent, and issued fatwas permitting coffee-drinking and the shadow play on condition that it be watched for edification. He objected to a sultanic permission concerning the testimony of müstemin s with the words "There is no sultanic command for what is unlawful" . His systematizing of the principles of the miri land regime and casting them as fatwas made him stand out as the architect of that regime; eight of the nine fatwas in the preamble of the kanun-ı cedid are his. In exegesis he stands at the head of the Ottoman scholars who commented on the whole Qur'an. He was the son of a Bayrami shaykh who wrote a commentary on Shaykh Bedreddin's Varidat ; according to the source he always showed respect for Sufism in conformity with the rulings of the Sharia and for Sufis who stayed within its bounds, believed that extraordinary states such as tayy al-makan appeared in great Sufis, and accepted that such states had been seen in his own father; for him what the shaykhs call tariqa and haqiqa is the essence and quintessence of the Sharia. He wrote poems in Turkish and Arabic, but the source says it is hard to attribute artistic talent to him; the best known of his Arabic poems is al-Qasida al-mimiyya , written in emulation of Abu al-Ala al-Ma'arri. His Works — ① Irshad al-aql al-salim ila mazaya al-Kitab al-Karim : his famous commentary, begun after he became Shaykh al-Islam and completed in about twenty years (probably 953-973/1546-1566), and presented to Süleyman. Some rank it above the commentaries of al-Zamakhshari and al-Baydawi; the author himself drew extensively on these two and on the commentaries of al-Razi and al-Nasafi. A critical edition based on the author's copy was published by İSAM in nine volumes (Istanbul 2021). ② Fetava-yı Ebüssuûd Efendi : collections of fatwas attributed to him; M. Ertuğrul Düzdağ arranged and published two of them (Istanbul 1972, 1983). ③ Ma'ruzat : fatwas submitted to Süleyman which, carrying the sultan's will, bound the judges. ④ Laws and Fatwas on Kharaji and Ushri Lands . ⑤ Risala fi waqf al-manqul wa-l-nuqud : on cash endowments. ⑥ Bida'at al-qadi : a collection of deed formulas on the procedure judges were to follow. ⑦ A treatise on the tithe. ⑧ Galatat-ı Ebüssuûd : on words commonly misused among the people. ⑨ al-Qasida al-mimiyya and his Arabic odes, his Turkish elegy for Süleyman and his Münşeat . He also wrote glosses on al-Hidaya , commentaries on individual suras and treatises on legal theory. His Tomb and Complex — In his complex at Eyüp Sultan, consisting of a lodge ( zaviye ), a primary school and a fountain-house, lies the family enclosure that also contains his own grave; his son Ahmed Efendi was buried there as well. Besides this he built in Istanbul a fountain and a bath bearing his name in the Macuncu Odabaşı quarter; in İskilip, next to his father's tomb, a mosque, a soup kitchen and a school (its Arabic endowment deed dated 977 is registered with the Istanbul Evkaf Administration); a mosque in Kefe, a masjid in Lepanto (İnebahtı) and a primary school in Şehremini.

Musa Topbas Efendi

Musa Topbas Efendi (1917-1999), born in Kadınhanı, Konya, a Naqshbandi-Halidi sheikh and a leader of the Erenköy community. He studied the Qur'an under Elmalili Hamdi Yazir and pioneered many charitable and publishing institutions including the Aziz Mahmud Hüdayi Foundation. He died in Istanbul in 1999 and was buried in the family plot at Sahrayicedid Cemetery, Kadıköy (no person-specific independent coords → unpinned). (Sources: TDV; İslam ve İhsan.)

Abu Shayba al-Khudri

Abu Shayba al-Khudri, a Companion whom early sources record as having died before the walls of Constantinople; per Dr. Mehmet Efendioğlu, one of only two Istanbul Companion graves with a genuine historical basis. A maqam attributed to him stands in the Toklu Dede and Companions cemetery in Ayvansaray; the physical presence of his body is uncertain (maqam). (Sources: İstanbul Ansiklopedisi; Kültür Envanteri.)

Ismail Rumi

Founder of the Rumiyya branch of the Qadiriyya order; because of his role in the spread of the order in the Ottoman lands he is known by the title pir-i sani ("the second founder"). The branch named after him is called Rumiyya from his epithet "Rumi", and also Isma'iliyya after his name; it was through this branch that the Qadiriyya was first represented in Istanbul. He was born in the village of Bansa near Tosya. His father, Çoban Ali, moved to Tosya so that his son might be better educated. While studying the madrasa sciences he began to attend the gatherings of Ahmed Efendi, one of the shaykhs of the Khalwatiyya. One night he saw 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani in a dream and, at his spiritual prompting, set out for Baghdad. There he went to the central lodge of the Qadiriyya and introduced himself to its shaykh, the naqib al-ashraf of Baghdad, Sayyid Feyzullah Efendi . After a time he entered retreat for a forty-day seclusion; having completed his spiritual training, he left Baghdad on his guide's advice. Before reaching Anatolia he stopped in Egypt and received a licence also from Ahmed-i Mısri, whose gatherings he attended. According to the article on the Rumiyya, before coming to Istanbul he had lodges founded in cities such as Kastamonu, Tosya, Bursa, İzmir, İzmit, Manisa, Tekirdağ, Edirne, Salonica, Crete, Štip, Constanța, Plovdiv, Serres and Timișoara, and in Egypt. In 1020 (1611) he came to Istanbul; he stayed for a time at the Sofular Mosque, beginning his work of guidance, and then had a lodge built at Tophane on land belonging to a certain Hacı Piri: the Kadirihane . After the founding of this lodge the Qadiriyya began to spread in Istanbul and, together with the Eşrefiyye branch founded at Bursa in the XV century, played an important part in the order's spread in the Ottoman lands. At the invitation of Ahmed I he performed, with his dervishes, the Qadiri remembrance after the Friday prayer at the opening ceremony of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque. The recitation of the Qadiri litanies after the Friday prayer in this mosque became a tradition, which is still kept today by a dervish appointed by the shaykh of the Kadirihane. He died in 1041 (1631) and was buried in the graveyard of the lodge he had founded. While still alive he had appointed his deputy and son-in-law Şerif Halil Efendi as shaykh of the Kadirihane. His Circle of Influence — The shaykhship of the Kadirihane was carried on by his deputy and son-in-law Şerif Halil Efendi . Son of Feyzullah Efendi, shaykh of the Qadiri lodge in Baghdad, Halil Efendi was the first representative of the family of shaykhs known as the "dynasty of the Şerifs", which held the lodge's shaykhship until 1925. His deputy Ahmed Efendi of Strumica founded the İsmail Rumi Lodge (Hamam Tekke) at Bursa in 1038 (1628). From its founding until the closure of the lodges in 1925 the Kadirihane remained attached to the Rumiyya and held the status of chief lodge in the Ottoman capital not only of this branch but of the Qadiriyya in general; licences given by Qadiri shaykhs in Anatolia and Rumelia, and even by other Qadiri branches, were ratified by the shaykh of the Kadirihane. His Tomb and Complex — The Kadirihane is a complex centred on a mosque- tevhidhane , in the Tophane quarter of Beyoğlu, on the Kadiriler Slope, which takes its name from the lodge. On the left of the path following the main gate, on a retaining wall, stand İsmail Rumi's tomb and the graveyard; the tomb evidently took its final form during the restoration under Mahmud II. It belongs to the group of open tombs and consists of six slender marble columns, metal grilles between them and an onion dome on a metal frame. On the curved marble lintel, a relief of the Qadiri rose sits at the centre of a medallion crowning a couplet in ta'liq script dedicated to İsmail Rumi; the tops of the corner columns and the dome carry finials in the form of the Qadiri-Rumi crown. A glazed opening in the porch of the mosque- tevhidhane is arranged as a prayer window facing the tomb; in the western gallery of the prayer hall a hair of the Prophet's beard and some belongings of İsmail Rumi are kept. When the lodge was destroyed in the Tophane fire of 1179 (1765) it was rebuilt by Mustafa III, and when it was ruined again in the fire of 1239 (1823) it was restored by Mahmud II. After 1925 the mosque- tevhidhane was used only as a mosque; the mosque- tevhidhane and the men's quarters were ruined in a fire in 1997.

Murad Molla

One of the foremost reciters of the Mesnevî in Istanbul; the third postnishin of the Murad Molla Nakşibendî lodge and Friday preacher at the Sultanahmet Mosque. 🔴 This record rests on an indirect source : the figure has no independent encyclopaedia article; what follows is the information given by the article on the Mesnevîhâne lodge that he founded. The Mesnevîhâne lodge was established by him. The construction of the lodge was completed in 1260 (1844), and it was opened on Friday 9 Muharram 1261 (18 January 1845) at a ceremony attended by Sultan Abdülmecid. He died on 27 Shawwâl 1264 (26 September 1848). His Circle of Influence — At the opening ceremony of the lodge he gave Cevdet Paşa a licence to recite the Mesnevî. He endowed his books to the library of the Murad Molla lodge, thus leaving to the circle he had trained a foundation of books as well. His Tomb and Complex — A tomb was built over his grave.

Nureddin Cerrahi

Founder of the Jarrahiyya branch of the Khalwatiyya-Ramadaniyya order. He was born in Istanbul, in the Yağcızade mansion opposite the Cerrahpaşa Mosque. His father, Abdullah Agha, held the office of master of the horse at the palace under Mehmed IV. He began his schooling at the Cerrahpaşa primary school and took lessons in calligraphy from his teacher Yusuf Efendi. During his studies at the Süleymaniye madrasa he became the pupil of Yenişehirli Abdullah Efendi, later şeyhülislam; in these years he profited in literary matters from the poet Nabi, whom he came to know. He was appointed to the judgeship of Egypt (Cairo). When he went to take leave of his maternal uncle Hacı Hüseyin Efendi, a man of state, at his mansion at Toygartepe in Üsküdar, his uncle took him to the Selami Ali Efendi lodge opposite. Its shaykh was Ali Alaeddin Efendi of Küstendil , a Khalwati-Ramadani who had served for a time as mufti there. Moved to ecstasy during the ceremony, and touched by the warmth the shaykh showed him, Nureddin took initiation from him on the spot and gave up going to Cairo. For seven years he crossed from Cerrahpaşa to Üsküdar to attend his shaykh's lodge, entering seclusion from time to time with his permission, and at the beginning of 1115 (1703) was appointed his deputy. His shaykh told him that a muezzin, İsmail Efendi, had built a retreat for him beside the Canfeda Hatun Mosque at Karagümrük, and asked him to go there with his disciples Süleyman Veliyyüddin and Mehmed Hüsameddin. Following dreams seen by the Chief Black Eunuch Hacı Beşir Agha and by Ahmed III, the mansion beside the Canfeda Hatun Mosque was bought and demolished by order of Ahmed III, and a lodge was built on its site in Nureddin Cerrahi's name. Opened with ceremony on 6 Rajab 1115 (15 November 1703), it was the seat of his guidance for eighteen years. After an illness of forty days he died on 9 Dhu'l-Hijja 1133 (1 October 1721). Following the funeral prayer led by Şeyhülislam Molla Mehmed Efendi at the Fatih Mosque, he was buried in his lodge. His Circle of Influence — His chain of transmission reaches Ramazan Efendi Mahfi (d. 1025/1616), the founder of the Khalwatiyya-Ramadaniyya, through Ali Efendi of Küstendil, Ali Efendi of Lofça, Debbağ Ali Rumi, Mestçizade İbrahim of Edirne and Mestçi Ali Rumi. He trained seven deputies — Süleyman Veliyyüddin, Mehmed Hüsameddin, Sertarikzade Mehmed Emin, Yahya Şerefeddin of Morea, Yunus of Mosul, Mustafa of Tekirdağ and Mehmed Çelebi of Bursa — and through their activity and the lodges they founded the Jarrahiyya became one of the widespread orders of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Fındıklılı İsmet Efendi records a further deputy named Ahmed. His Poetry and Sufi Line — A poem of four quatrains is related as his; its first quatrain runs: "What purifies the house of the heart, / what makes the dervish a phoenix, / what reaches the world of divinity — / the remembrance of the Lord is that remembrance." (Source: TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, NÛREDDİN CERRÂHÎ, vol. 33, pp. 252-253.) These lines are his own words; but since Mürşid-i Dervişan has not been read in this series, no section of counsels has been opened. His Works — He left a treatise in twelve chapters on the usages and observances of the order, Mürşid-i Dervişan ; two litanies composed for morning and evening; and the poem of four quatrains whose opening is given above. Two manuscripts of a divan belonging to Abdülahad Nuri, held in the libraries of Istanbul University and of Kahramanmaraş, have been wrongly catalogued under Nureddin Cerrahi's name.

Ibrahim Ummi Sinan

Ibrahim Ummi Sinan, pir of the Sinaniyye branch of the Halvetiyye order, a leading Sufi and poet of 16th-century Istanbul. He died in 976 (1568) and was buried in the tomb of the Ummi Sinan Lodge in Düğmeciler, Eyüp. (Sources: TDV 'Ümmî Sinan Tekkesi'; 'Sinâniyye'.)

Mehmed the Conqueror

Ottoman sultan; the conqueror of Istanbul, founder of the Fatih Complex and a ruler remembered by the title Abu al-Fath . He is also known for his closeness to the scholars, for the influence the Bayrami shaykh Akshamsaddin had over him, and for the poems he wrote under the pen-name Avni . He was born in Edirne on 27 Rajab 835 (30 March 1432) , the fourth son of Murad II. In the spring of 1443 he was sent from Edirne to Manisa as governor with his two tutors; late that year, on the death of his elder brother Alaeddin Ali Çelebi, he became the sole heir to the throne. His father, contemplating abdication, summoned him to his side towards the spring of 847 (1444) and in August of that year left the throne to a son who was only twelve. This first reign led to crises at home and abroad; in August 1446 Murad II regained the throne with the help of the Janissaries and Mehmed was sent to Manisa. The five years he spent in Manisa matured him. Specialists were appointed as his tutors so that he might study the various sciences; they came at a set hour each day to teach him. Hocazade Muslihuddin, Molla Gürani, Molla İlyas, Siraceddin Halebi, Molla Abdülkadir, Hasan Samsuni and Molla Hayreddin were among his teachers; in the source's words, “at the beginning Akshamsaddin too had a great influence over him.” He knew Turkish, Greek and Slavic; there is no doubt that he commanded Arabic and Persian. He was familiar with the questions of the philosophy of religion and took a special interest in geography, mathematics and astronomy. News of his father's death reached him on 8 Muharram 855 (10 February 1451); on 16 Muharram 855 (18 February 1451) , aged nineteen, he ascended the Ottoman throne for the second time. At a great consultative assembly he gathered in Edirne he set out the conquest of Istanbul in terms of the tradition of ghaza and the security of the state. At the end of a siege of fifty-four days, between 26 Rabi' I and 20 Jumada I 857 (6 April – 29 May 1453), the city was conquered; the source judges the conquest to be the fundamental event that prepared the definitive foundation of the Ottoman state. His reign after the conquest was spent in continual campaigns in the Balkans, Anatolia and the Black Sea; long wars with Venice and Hungary and the struggle with the Karamanids and the Aqquyunlu ruler Uzun Hasan are the chief themes of the period. He established a centralised and absolute rule; the confiscation of waqf and freehold lands for the treasury affected the scholars, the shaykhs and the old bey families, and Bayezid II restored these properties and endowments to their owners as soon as he came to the throne. At the centre of his religious and Sufi circle in the years of the conquest stood Akshamsaddin , the successor of Hacı Bayram-ı Veli. According to the AKŞEMSEDDİN article, the shaykh had almost always accompanied Hacı Bayram in his dealings with Murad II and so knew Mehmed from his years as a prince, and continued to meet him after his accession; before the conquest he went twice to Edirne, on the first occasion treating the kazasker Çandarlıoğlu Süleyman Çelebi and on the second one of the sultan's daughters. When the army set out from Edirne in the spring of 1453, Akshamsaddin, Akbıyık Sultan and the other well-known shaykhs of the age joined the campaign with hundreds of their disciples; it is stated that in the most difficult moments of the siege Akshamsaddin's letters announcing that victory was near had a great effect on the achievement of the conquest. After the conquest Akshamsaddin delivered the sermon at the first Friday prayer held in Hagia Sophia, and at the sultan's request it was he who discovered the grave of the Companion Abu Ayyub al-Ansari. According to the same source, after the conquest the sultan wished to leave crown and throne, to bind himself wholly to the shaykh and to learn from him the rules of the path; Akshamsaddin with great wisdom tried to prevent this desire, and when he saw he could not succeed he returned to Göynük, refused the gifts sent after him and, declining the mosque and lodge the sultan wished to build at Göynük, consented only to a fountain. Two letters written by Akshamsaddin to the sultan are known. Not wishing the city to remain empty after the conquest, the sultan allowed the Greeks who paid their ransom or returned within a set period to settle, established the captives who fell to his own share along the Golden Horn, and re-founded the Orthodox patriarchate in the person of Gennadios; he also settled the Armenian patriarch and the Jewish chief rabbi in his capital. He turned eight churches (among them Zeyrek) into madrasas, opened the Hagia Sophia madrasa and in 875 (1470) built the famous Semaniye madrasas around his own mosque. He inspected the madrasas in person, listened to the lessons and gave rewards; he had scholarly debates held at the palace, on campaign and at festivities. His having Hocazade and Ali al-Tusi examine the great dispute between Ibn Rushd and al-Ghazali, and his reviving the controversy between al-Sayyid al-Sharif al-Jurjani and al-Taftazani, are examples of this interest; in the philosophy of religion he himself inclined towards al-Sayyid al-Sharif. Having crossed to Üsküdar for a new campaign, he died between Üsküdar and Gebze at the place called Hünkârçayırı (near Maltepe) on 4 Rabi' I 886 (3 May 1481) . The cause of death is attributed to gout. His body was brought to Istanbul and buried in his tomb in the graveyard before the qibla wall of the Fatih Mosque. After his death the struggle between his sons Cem and Bayezid ended in Bayezid's favour; another son, Mustafa, had died before him in 879 (1474). His two daughters known by name are Ayşe and Gevherhan; Gevherhan Sultan was married to Uğurlu Mehmed Bey, son of Uzun Hasan, and Göde Ahmed, who ascended the Aqquyunlu throne, was his grandson through this daughter. His Circle of Influence — Contemporary Arab sources remember him for showing closeness to the scholars, attaching importance to meeting them and receiving with honour those who came to him. The greatest scholars of his age were Molla Hüsrev, Molla Gürani, Molla Yegan, Hızır Bey and Hocazade Muslihuddin; most of the distinguished men of learning and administration of the next generation were their students. Molla Hüsrev in jurisprudence, Molla Gürani in exegesis and Hocazade in theology wrote works accepted throughout the Islamic world. The great minds of the age representing East and West, such as Amiroutzes, Ali Kuşçu, Georgios Trapezuntios and Hocazade, came together in his presence; Kritovoulos calls him “one of the keenest-minded philosophers.” Patriarch Gennadios wrote his Confession of Faith for him. From 1461 he asked Italy for a painter, and the Venetian Gentile Bellini stayed in Istanbul (September 1479 – January 1481). The source records that in his reign Ottoman culture came into free contact with Western culture and that this was not continued in the following period. His Poetry and Sufi Line — He wrote poems under the pen-name Avni . His clear and fluent style, which succeeded in kneading the poetic language of his age with fine images, is counted among the fine examples of a Turkish poetry not yet drowned in artifice; he preferred Turkish expressions to Arabic-Persian compounds. Love, social life, Sufism and religious inclinations, parables, legends and historical tales are the themes reflected in his poems. The only manuscript containing his poems is in the Millet Library in Istanbul (Ali Emiri Efendi, no. 305); this small work of twenty-two folios, which may count as a divançe, contains seventy ghazals, one muhammes and one kıta, and ends with the parallel poems that twenty-nine poets composed on one of his single verses. His Works — The divançe collecting his poems (Millet Library, Ali Emiri Efendi, no. 305) has been published in ever-widening collections and has been the subject of scholarly study. His Arabic and Turkish endowment deeds , drawn up for his charitable foundations in Istanbul, were published by Tahsin Öz (1935), the General Directorate of Foundations (1938) and Osman Nuri Ergin (1945). The bibliography of the article also records the Kanunname-i Al-i Osman attributed to him. His Tomb and Complex — For the complex the site of the Church of the Holy Apostles, greatly valued by Byzantium, was chosen in the middle of the city on a hill; in 1455 the patriarch, unable to shelter in the ruined church, was granted another church and the land was assigned to the complex. Construction began in Jumada II 867 (March 1463) and lasted until Rajab 875 (December 1470); its architect was Atik Sinan. The buildings, laid out in perfect symmetry — on either side of the mosque the Sahn-ı Seman madrasas and the Tetimme preparatory madrasas, on one side the hospice, on the other the hospital, the first of Istanbul's Turkish period, and further on a market and a bath — formed the most important religious and cultural centre of the city. The mosque, badly damaged in the earthquake of 1509 (the “little doomsday”), was repaired after the earthquakes of 1557 and 1754, but in the earthquake of 1766 its great dome collapsed. Mustafa III first had the tomb and the buildings of the complex rebuilt; the mosque was begun to a new plan on 4 Rabi' I 1181 (31 July 1767) and opened for worship in Muharram 1185 (April 1771). The tomb stands in the graveyard that extends before the qibla wall of the mosque; whether it was built before or after the sultan's death is not known for certain. Ruined in the earthquake of 1766, it was soon repaired; in the Cibali fire of 1782 its interior burned with all its furnishings and the cenotaph, and Abdülhamid I had it repaired, placed an inscription dated 1199 (1784-85) over the renewed door jambs, and the new cenotaph was covered with a Kaaba cloth. Sultan Abdülaziz refurnished the tomb in 1282 (1865-66); the last repairs were carried out in the reign of Mehmed Reşad (1909-1918) and in 1952-1953. The tomb, octagonal in plan and covered by a single dome, has at its entrance a porch on two columns; the square piers supporting the corners and the stepped mouldings are traces of the baroque style. Inside there is no cenotaph other than that of Mehmed the Conqueror; a little further on stands the separate tomb of his wife Gülbahar Hatun. The tomb entered Turkish literature through the passage “Sıfat-ı Mezar-ı Sultan Mehemmed” in the Hevesname written by Tacizade Cafer Çelebi in 1493 and through Abdülhak Hamid's poem “Merkad-i Fatih'i Ziyaret” (A Visit to the Conqueror's Grave), written towards 1877 and published in 1909; a panel of this poem, written out by a calligrapher, was placed in the tomb with ceremony during the First World War.

Sheikh Galib Dede

One of the great poets of the final period of classical Turkish poetry, a Mevlevi shaykh and head of the Galata Mevlevihane; known for his mystical-symbolic masnavi Hüsn ü Aşk (Beauty and Love). He was born in 1171 (1757) in Istanbul, in a house near the Yenikapı Mevlevihane. On the recommendation of the lodge's shaykh Küçek Mehmed Dede and his successor Seyyid Ebubekir Dede he was named Mehmed Esad . His grandfather was a Mevlevi, and his father Mustafa Reşid Efendi had taken the inabe from Peçuylu Arif Ahmed Dede; his mother was Emine Hatun. He received his first education from his father; he benefited from Hüseyin Efendi, who became shaykh of the Galata Mevlevihane in 1780, and learned Arabic from Hamdi Efendi and Persian from Hoca Neş'et. Neş'et Efendi gave him the pen name "Esad", but so as not to be confused with the poets of the day named Esad he later adopted the pen name "Galib". After working for a time in the Divan-ı Hümayun chancery, he went to Konya in 1198 (1784) — though his family did not much approve — entered the retreat ( çile ) at the lodge of Mevlana and attended the gatherings of Çelebi Seyyid Ebubekir Efendi. When his father, unable to bear his son's absence, appealed to the Çelebi, the Çelebi judged it fitting that the retreat be completed at the Yenikapı lodge and sent the young dervish back to Istanbul. Galib completed his retreat in 1201 (1787) at the Yenikapı Mevlevihane and became a "dede"; he benefited from Ali Nutki Efendi and the head cook Şerif Ahmed Dede, and later received his authorization ( hilafet ) from Ali Nutki Efendi . On 5 Rajab 1204 (21 March 1790) he settled in a house he had bought beside the tomb of Yusuf Sineçak Dede in Sütlüce. When the shaykh of the Galata Mevlevihane, Halil Numan Dede, was dismissed and his appointed successor Şemsi Dede died at Kütahya on his way to Istanbul, the shaykhship of the Galata Mevlevihane was given to Galib Dede on 9 Shawwal 1205 (11 June 1791) by order of Mehmed Emin Çelebi, shaykh of the Mevlevi Asitane in Konya. With this appointment his friendship with Selim III grew: the sultan — a composer, a poet with the pen name "İlhami" and a calligrapher — had the lodge repaired after a qasida Galib presented to him (1792); he had a fountain built for the lodge in 1793 and a royal gallery in the semahane in 1794, and had the semahane repaired again in 1795. The office of Masnavi reader at the Yenicami of the Humbarahane-i Cedid was also given to him. In 1793 the sultan, together with his sister Beyhan Sultan, spent 300 gold pieces to have his divan bound and illuminated; and by a decree dated 10 Safar 1209 (6 September 1794) the nomination of Masnavi readers was also entrusted to Şeyh Galib. The source notes that archival records show that, while an opposition to the Nizam-ı Cedid initiative was being led under the guidance of Mehmed Çelebi, shaykh of the Mevlana lodge in Konya, Şeyh Galib supported the initiative. The deaths of his mother Emine Hatun in 1209 (1794) and of his disciple and "companion of the cave" Esrar Dede in 1211 (1796) grieved him deeply; he wrote an elegy for Esrar Dede. A year later he fell ill. His last poem, a response ( nazire ) to a Persian ghazal with the refrain "henüz" given to him by Hamdullah Efendi, contains couplets hinting that his death was near. He died on 27 Rajab 1213 (4 January 1799) . Ali Enver relates that as the body was being washed his father Mustafa Reşid Efendi wept and said, "Ah, my son! That black beard does not befit this board." He had married a shaykh's daughter named Şerife Aişe, and from this marriage had a daughter, Zübeyde, and two sons, Ahmed and Mehmed; upon his death the sultan by decree assigned his children a stipend of 30 akçe each from the Customs revenue. His Circle of Influence — According to the source, Şeyh Galib never fell from view because of the novelty and distinctiveness of his poetry, and has deeply influenced a great many poets from his contemporaries down to the present. The images in his terci-bend s, terkib-bend s, müseddes es and tardiyye s, and his compounds drawing abstract and concrete notions together, herald the poets of the Edebiyat-ı Cedide who would try them a century later. It is said that the strongest critique of the old poetry came from him long before Namık Kemal and Ziya Paşa. His Poetry and Sufi Line — Nearly all critics agree that Şeyh Galib, who grew up at a time when classical poetry had fallen into repetition and imitation, was the last great poet of divan poetry. He was influenced by Hayali Bey, Nef'i, Fehim-i Kadim, Neşati and Fasih Ahmed Dede, and while using the classical conceits he consciously sought innovation. In this effort the influence of the sabk-i Hindi (Indian style), and above all of Shawkat Bukhari, was important; Galib felt a spiritual attachment to this Persian poet to the end of his life. In the "Fahriyye-i Şairane" at the end of Hüsn ü Aşk he sets out the basic principles of his poetics: the claim that nothing new remains to be said is false, for the bounty of God, who grants His servants the gift of speech, is endless; pure poetry is a kind of revelation and demands a fresh voice. Tanpınar described his poetry as "full of colour and light, like a chandelier". His Works — ① Divan : he compiled it in 1781 when he was only twenty-four, and with later poems raised it to 5500 couplets; the divan printed in ta'lik script in 1252 (1836) contains 372 ghazals. ② Hüsn ü Aşk : a mystical, fantastic and symbolic masnavi written in 1783 in the short span of about six months, consisting of 2041 couplets and four tardiyye s; it narrates the spiritual journey of a seeker on the Sufi path. ③ Şerh-i Cezire-i Mesnevi : a commentary written in 1790 for beginners on the 366 couplets Yusuf Sineçak selected from the Masnavi ; it is the author's only Turkish prose work. ④ al-Suhba al-safiya : Arabic glosses written in 1789 on the Arabic treatise al-Tuhfa al-bahiyya on Mevlevi manners and rites by Köseç Ahmed Dede of Trabzon. He also compiled the poems in Esrar Dede's Tezkire-i Şuara-yı Mevleviyye . His Tomb and Complex — His grave lies in the garden of the Galata Mevlevihane in Beyoğlu, which today serves as the Museum of Divan Literature, in the Tomb of İsmail Ankaravi , which also contains four other cenotaphs. The eighteen-couplet chronogram he wrote for the first mukabele held after the repair, on 4 August 1792, was inscribed on the gate of the lodge, and his nine-couplet chronogram for the semahane was inscribed on that building's door.

Nasuhi Mehmed Efendi

Founder of the Nasuhiyya branch of the Khalwati-Shabani order; builder and pir of the Nasuhi Tekke at Doğancılar in Üsküdar. He was born at Toygartepesi in Üsküdar, near the Bulgurlu Mosque; the sources give his birth date differently (see Multiple Views). He was the son of Nasuhi Bey, of a family of sayyid s belonging to the sipahi class; his given name was Mehmed, and he became known by his father's name. After his childhood he began his studies in the Kefçe Dede quarter of Üsküdar, where his family had moved. In his youth, while occupied with learning, he was drawn to Sufism and became a disciple of Shaykh Karabaş Veli , pir of the Karabashi branch of the Shabaniyya, who guided disciples in his lodge beside the Atik Valide Mosque in Üsküdar; he entered retreat in the cell the shaykh assigned him in the lodge. It is recorded that when his father learned that his son had become the disciple of a shaykh he did not know, he came to the lodge at once, but on seeing Karabaş Veli and perceiving his spiritual perfection he consented to his son's staying there. He was about twenty-five when he completed his spiritual journey. At his master's command he went to Mudurnu and began teaching the religious sciences and guiding the people at the Sun'ullah Efendi Zawiya. In the years 1679-1683, when his shaykh Karabaş Veli was in exile on Lemnos, he visited him there several times; Niyazi-i Mısri was also in exile on Lemnos at the time. Nasuhi says that he served them both, that Mısri prayed for him because of his service, and that he always felt the blessing of that prayer upon him. In 1096 (1685), leaving his deputy Abdullah Rüşdü in his place, he returned to Üsküdar with his shaykh's permission. Shortly afterwards Karabaş Veli placed his own crown ( tac-ı şerif ) on him and left Istanbul for the pilgrimage, and died in Cairo in 1097 (1686). At that time Mehmed Nasuhi was continuing his guidance in the Çakırcı Hasan Paşa and Süleyman Paşa mosques at Doğancılar in Üsküdar, and construction of a lodge for him was begun at Doğancılar; when the pasha who had begun it lacked the means to continue, his expenses were repaid to him and the lodge was completed by Mehmed Nasuhi in 1099 (1688) , being opened on the Night of Power of the same year (25 July 1688) in a ceremony attended by Gavsi Ahmed Dede, shaykh of the Galata Mevlevihane. From then on Nasuhi continued his guidance in his own lodge. In 1117 (1705) Ahmed III appointed him preacher ( kürsü şeyhi ) of the Eyüp Sultan Mosque. Because of certain words attributed to him he was exiled to Kastamonu in 1126 (1714), and two years later was permitted to return to Istanbul; his followers interpreted this exile as a spiritual summons from the order's pir , Şaban-ı Veli of Kastamonu. It is recorded that besides the obligatory and sunna worship he attached great importance to retreat, the forty-day seclusion ( erbain ) and i'tikaf ; that in 1108 (1696) he completed ten forty-day seclusions in succession; that for fear of the doubtful he gave up most permissible things; and that he was fond of growing roses, the roses he grew being called "Nasuhi roses". He died on 17 Ramadan 1130 (14 August 1718) and was buried in the graveyard of his lodge. Two of the chronograms composed on his death are: "Alas, my shaykh Nasuhi" ; "At his last breath Nasuhi said 'O Truth' and set out for eternity." After his death his son Ali Alaeddin Efendi (d. 1165/1752) became shaykh of the lodge; the shaykhship, passing from father to son, was then held by Shaykh Mehmed Fazlullah Efendi (d. 1218/1803), Shaykh Abdurrahman Mehmed Şemseddin Efendi (d. 1249/1833), Shaykh Muhyiddin Efendi (d. 1315/1897) and Shaykh Ahmed Keramüddin Efendi (d. 1934). This lineage, known as the Nasuhizades , became one of the most influential shaykhly families of Istanbul. His Circle of Influence — His initiatic chain reaches, through his shaykh Karabaş Veli, the pir of the Khalwati-Shabani order, Şaban-ı Veli; the Nasuhiyya branch named after him is attributed to him. From the Nasuhiyya arose the Çerkeşiyya, attributed to Çerkeşi Mustafa Efendi, and from the Çerkeşiyya the Haliliyya, attributed to Halil Efendi of Gerede, and the Kuşadaviyya (İbrahimiyya), attributed to İbrahim Efendi of Kuşadası; thus the Khalwati-Shabani order has come down to the present through the chain of Mehmed Nasuhi. The Mi'raciyye , one of the major works of religious music, composed by Kutbü'n-nayi Osman Dede, shaykh of the Galata Mevlevihane, came into being at his wish and recommendation; the Arabic section sung at its opening, called the tevşih , is by Nasuhi Efendi, and the Mi'raciyye was first performed at the Nasuhi lodge. Two hagiographies ( menakıbname ) were written about him, one by his follower Senai and one by his grandson Ahmed Keramüddin Efendi. His Works — ① al-Risala al-Rushdiyya fi al-tariqa al-Muhammadiyya : a treatise on the manners of the path written for his deputy Abdullah Rüşdü of Mudurnu, also containing information on his life; it was translated into Turkish by Mahmud Rebii. ② Waridat-i Qudsiyya : contains 180 letters he sent to his disciple İbrahim Ağa, steward of the Enderun; also known as Mektubat or Muraselat-ı Pir . ③ Divançe : contains forty-seven poems. ④ Şerh-i Gazel-i Niyazi-i Mısri : an Arabic commentary on a ghazal of Niyazi-i Mısri. ⑤ Tafsir : reported to contain the commentary of eleven suras; Ömer Nasuhi Bilmen says he saw it in the lodge's library; the library was transferred to the Süleymaniye Library in 1995, but the work was not found there. He is also recorded as the author of Risalat al-waladiyya , Risalat al-Fakhriyya , Majmu'at al-ahadith and Shu'ab al-iman . His Tomb and Complex — The lodge stands on Tunusbağı Street at Doğancılar in Üsküdar and is the asitane and seat of the pir of the Nasuhiyya branch of the Shabaniyya within the Khalwatiyya. Some time after his death a tomb was built over his grave. In the time of the fifth shaykh, Shaykh Mehmed Muhyiddin Efendi, Sultan Abdülmecid had the mosque- tevhidhane , tomb and harem sections rebuilt; these largely wooden buildings burned in 1274 (1857-58), and in 1280 (1863-64) Ebubekir Rüstem Paşa restored the lodge in masonry in its final form. After the closure of the lodges (1925) the mosque- tevhidhane was used as a mosque, and the tomb was kept closed to visitors for a long time. The tomb holds ten wooden cenotaphs belonging to Nasuhi Efendi, his wife and his descendants; his cenotaph is larger than the others, enclosed by a grille of vertical brass rods and emphasised by an eight-pointed star-shaped ceiling medallion directly above it. On the window of supplication ( niyaz penceresi ) is written a couplet by the Shabani shaykh Mustafa Zekai: "It is the station of the saints, the source of grace and opening / Enter with courtesy, O Sufi, this is the lodge of Nasuhi." The recitation of the Mi'raciyye at the lodge on the first Sunday after the Night of the Ascension, with cold milk, sherbet and sugar in a small dish distributed to the listeners, is a tradition peculiar to this lodge.

Zenbilli Ali Cemali Efendi

Ottoman mufti and scholar; he held the office of mufti of Istanbul for twenty-four years under Bayezid II, Selim I and Süleyman the Magnificent. He is also known as Ali Cemali Efendi : he was the son of Ahmed Çelebi, grandson of Cemaleddin Aksarayi, who descended from Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, and he bears the nisba Cemali from this lineage. He became known among the people as “the mufti with the basket, Zenbilli Ali Efendi” because, in order to settle the affairs of those who came for fatwas quickly, he let down a basket from the window of his house, took the questions in it and handed back the answers in the same basket. There is no firm information on the date and place of his birth (see Multiple Perspectives). He received his first education from Mevlana Hamza of Larende, the maternal grandfather of Piri Mehmed Paşa; he then went to Istanbul and attended the lessons of Molla Hüsrev. When Molla Hüsrev was appointed mufti he went to Bursa and studied under Hüsamzade Mustafa Efendi, professor at the Sultaniye; when he completed his studies his teacher made him his assistant (muid) and gave him his daughter in marriage. Under Mehmed the Conqueror he was appointed professor at the Ali Bey (according to Hoca Sadeddin, Taşlık) Madrasa in Edirne; the sultan sent him 5000 akçe together with robes. When Karamani Mehmed Paşa became grand vizier, he exiled him, because of his closeness to his political rival Sinan Paşa, first to the Beylerbeyi and then to the Siraciye madrasa, and reduced his stipend. Ali Cemali thereupon resigned and entered the service of the Khalwati shaykh Mesud-i Edirnevi; later he moved to Istanbul, frequented the lodge of the Konya-born Shaykh İbnü'l-Vefa Muslihuddin Mustafa and met him often. Under Bayezid II he returned to teaching; he served as mufti of Amasya, at the Hüdavendigar and Sultaniye (Yeşilcami) madrasas in Bursa, and at the Bayezid Madrasa of Amasya, completed in 1486. When Prince Ahmed, at the circumcision feast of his sons in 896 (1491), placed his tutor Birgivizade Mustafa Efendi above the local ulema, he left his post and returned to Istanbul; after waiting for a while he was appointed to the Sultan (Bayezid) Madrasa in Istanbul and then to the Sahn-ı Seman. While in this post he went on pilgrimage with his cousin Çelebi Halife; because of disturbances in Mecca he had to wait a year in Egypt and could perform the pilgrimage only the following year. While he was in Egypt the mufti of Istanbul, Efdalzade Hamidüddin Efendi, died (908/1503) and the office of mufti was given to him. Probably around the middle of 910 (1504) he came to Istanbul and took up the seat of the fatwa. Bayezid II also gave him the professorship of the madrasa he had built in 911 (1505-1506), and in 912 (1506-1507) appointed him supervisor of the waqfs of his charitable foundations throughout the country; thereafter it became customary to give this professorship and supervision to the muftis of Istanbul, whose office would become that of the şeyhülislam. Selim I kept him as mufti throughout his reign; under Süleyman he remained in office until his death. He was present at the conquest of Rhodes and led the first Friday prayer in the Cathedral of Saint John, converted into a mosque. When in 929 (1523) he fell too ill to work he appointed, at Süleyman's request, Shaykh Bahaeddinzade Muhyiddin Mehmed as his deputy; this continued until his death, and his tenure as mufti reached twenty-four years. He also had a Sufi side; for this reason some works record him with the nisba “Sufi” and describe him as “one of the people of spiritual states, a possessor of wonders”. Although he had close relatives among Khalwati shaykhs such as Çelebi Halife and İshak Karamani, he was affiliated to Shaykh Muslihuddin Mustafa of the Zayniyya order. His death is estimated to have occurred shortly before Sha'ban 932 (May-June 1526); the heading of the entry gives his death as 932/1526. Of his sons, Muhyiddin Mehmed Şah Efendi (Molla Çelebi) was the author of a Tarih-i Al-i Osman and Ruhi Çelebi of another Tevarih-i Al-i Osman ; Fudayl Çelebi was a scholar with various works in verse and prose, and Cemaleddin Mehmed (Cemal Çelebi) a statesman who served as judge and governor. His daughter Sitti Şah Hatun built a masjid and a madrasa in Istanbul. His Circle of Influence — The sources describe him as a dignified scholar with authority in jurisprudence, legal theory, literature, lexicography, grammar, exegesis and hadith; though he long held the seat of the fatwa, he never gave up his humility to the end of his life and took pleasure in easing people's affairs. It is related that he made no concessions in scholarly matters and told the sultan without hesitation that officials could be punished only within the rules of the law, and that execution was possible only by the mufti's fatwa following a court ruling. According to the source, the first important steps towards the office of mufti of Istanbul taking on a form like that of the grand vizierate, so as to exercise religious oversight, were taken during his tenure. His Works — It is said that he followed scholarly developments and constantly renewed himself, and that he was very fond of books and had works brought from various places. His principal works are: the Mukhtarat min al-Fatawa ( Fetava-yı Ali Efendi ) on Hanafi jurisprudence; the Mukhtasar al-Hidaya , on jurisprudence; and the Risala fi Haqq al-Dawran , which states that Sufi dance performed for the purpose of dhikr is not forbidden, and of which two versions exist, one in prose and one in verse. The Adab al-Awsiya' attributed to him has been established as the work of his son Fudayl Çelebi. His Tomb and Complex — His grave lies in the graveyard of the masjid and school he built at Zeyrek. Known for his charity, he had mosques, masjids and schools built in various parts of Istanbul: the Alaca Masjid on Tersane Street in Galata was demolished in 1957 when Azapkapı Street was opened; the Müftü Ali (Zenbilli Ali) Efendi Mosque in the Küçük Mustafa Paşa quarter was built as a masjid and turned into a mosque in 932 (1525-26); the single-domed, square-planned Ali Cemali Efendi School was built on the Zeyrek slope between 1523-1525. The Müftü Bath near the Müftü Ali Mosque at Fatih Kadı Çeşmesi was removed in 1960; the bath's revenue had been endowed to this mosque, masjid and school.

Sunbul Sinan Efendi

Founder of the Sunbuliyya , an offshoot of the Jamaliyya branch of the Khalwatiyya; shaykh of the Koca Mustafa Paşa lodge. He was born at Merzifon. His real name was Yusuf Sinan ; the epithet Sünbül ("hyacinth") was given him by his shaykh Jamal-i Khalwati. Apart from his father's name (Kayabeyoğlu Ali) nothing is known of his family. After his first schooling in his native town he went to Istanbul and began madrasa studies, becoming the pupil and then the assistant of Efdalzade Hamidüddin, a noted scholar of the day. During his madrasa years he was known as an opponent of Sufism ; then, introduced by a friend, he took initiation from Jamal-i Khalwati , founder of the Jamaliyya, one of the main branches of the Khalwatiyya, and entered the Sufi path. After three years of spiritual training he received his licence and was sent to Egypt to guide. Jamal-i Khalwati, who was directing the Koca Mustafa Paşa lodge, sent him word as he was leaving Istanbul for the pilgrimage that he too should come; but Jamal-i Khalwati died on the road (899/1494) and the meeting never took place. On his return from the pilgrimage Sünbül Sinan came back to Istanbul in accordance with his shaykh's testament, married his daughter Safiye Hatun, and became the shaykh of the Koca Mustafa Paşa lodge. From 899 (1494) until his death he carried on his work of guidance in this lodge, which would afterwards bear his own name. On Fridays he preached at the Hagia Sophia and Fatih mosques, and after the sermons performed the Khalwati devran with his dervishes. Selim I entrusted to him the sermon at the opening ceremony of the mosque he had built — an indication of his standing with the sultan. He lived through the reigns of Bayezid II, Selim I and Süleyman the Magnificent, and died in Muharram 936 (September 1529). His funeral prayer was led at the Fatih Mosque by Şeyhülislam Kemalpaşazade , and he was buried in the graveyard of his lodge. His tomb is among the most important places of visitation in Istanbul. Among the chronograms composed on his death are: "The hyacinth of the garden of asceticism set out for its abode" ; "A Fatiha for the soul of Sünbül Sinan" ; "Master of love." Hüseyin Vassaf notes that the chronogram poem Kemalpaşazade composed on his death was inscribed on tiles and placed in the tomb, and records in his own work this poem of eight couplets, which ends with the line "May the grave of Sünbül Sinan be ever light." His Circle of Influence — After his death Merkez Efendi succeeded him as shaykh; the Sunbuliyya, named after him, was spread by Merkez Efendi and his other deputies. Among his deputies are named Yakub Germiyani, Cem Şah Efendi, Cemal Efendi of Akşehir, Maksud Dede, Alaeddin Ali of Kefe and Şeyh Ahmed Dede of Çavdar. His Works — Five works are recorded. ① Risalat al-tahqiqiyya : it strongly opposes the likening of the devran to an infidel game and its being called dancing, and holds that the claim of ignorant and bigoted persons, who wrote Arabic and Turkish treatises asserting that dancing is forbidden, is the result of mistaken conviction. It is recorded that the author sent a copy of this work to each of the scholars of the day. ② Risale Der Hakk-ı Zikr ü Devran : a Turkish summary of the former; at the end of a copy in the Istanbul University Library there is a legal opinion by Zenbilli Ali Efendi affirming the soundness of what the treatise sets out. ③ Risalat atwar al-sab'a : on the degrees of spiritual wayfaring. ④ Tarikatname . ⑤ Risala fi dawaran al-sufiyya .

Selami Ali Efendi

The founder of the Selâmiyye branch of the Celvetiyye order; the seventh head sheikh of the Azîz Mahmud Hüdâyî mother lodge. He was born in the village of Kozkaya (Kuzkaya) in the district of Menteşe attached to Aydın. His father's name was İlyas. Having completed his medrese studies he became professor at the Kırkakçe Medrese and later mufti of the island of Kos. He turned to Sufism in these years and, going to Istanbul, attached himself to Zâkirzâde Abdullah Efendi , one of the Celvetî sheikhs. Having completed his spiritual training he was sent to Bursa as a successor; there he had a lodge built and occupied himself for a time with spiritual guidance. When Divitçizâde Mehmed Efendi, sheikh of the Azîz Mahmud Hüdâyî mother lodge, died in 1090 (1679), he left the headship of the Bursa lodge to his successor Şeyh Mehmed Efendi of Niksar and took up the office of guidance at the founder's seat in Istanbul as its seventh head sheikh. In 1091 (1680), following a dispute with Vanî Mehmed Efendi, the imperial preacher of the Kadızâdeli party, he was removed from office by Mehmed IV at Vanî Mehmed Efendi's request. After Vanî Mehmed Efendi was exiled to the village of Kestel at Bursa following the defeat at Vienna in 1683, he was restored to the headship of the Celvetî mother lodge by an imperial rescript in 1684 or 1685. He died in Safar 1103 (October-November 1691) and was buried in the burial enclosure of his lodge at Kısıklı. The phrase "hitâb-ı elest" was composed as a chronogram of his death. His Circle of Influence Mehmed Fevzi Efendi of Bosnia, Fenâî Mustafa Efendi, Osman Efendi of Bilecik, Fenâî Ali Efendi and Mehmed Efendi of Niksar are the foremost of the successors trained by Selâmi Ali Efendi. In the seventeenth century the Celvetiyye order was active, besides the Azîz Mahmud Hüdâyî mother lodge, in the lodges he had built. A notable difference in the Selâmiyye, in which Celvetî etiquette and usage were maintained, is that Selâmi Ali Efendi turned the Celvetî cap of thirteen gores into one of seventeen . His Works His only work is his Tarîkatnâme on Celvetî etiquette and usage. Three manuscript copies and one lithograph of the work survive, and it has been published in modern letters. His Tomb and Complex At Üsküdar he had three lodges bearing his name built, together with a bath-house and three fountains, two at Üsküdar and one at Kadıköy. The lodge at Kısıklı was demolished in 1912-1917 and later disappeared; his tomb was repaired in 1957.

Elmalili Muhammed Hamdi Yazir

One of the religious scholars of the late period, known for his Qur'an commentary Hak Dini Kur'an Dili (1878-1942); exegete, jurist, thinker and calligrapher. He signed his writings Küçük Hamdi ("Hamdi the Younger"); with the Surname Law he took the surname Yazır, but he became better known as Elmalılı , after his birthplace. He was born in the district of Elmalı in Antalya. His father Numan Efendi, originally from the village of Yazır in the Gölhisar district of Burdur, was chief clerk of the Sharia court of Elmalı; his forefathers Mehmed, Bekir, Hasan and Bedreddin Efendi belonged to the learned class. His mother Fatma Hanım was the daughter of Sarlarlı Mehmed Efendi. He completed his primary and secondary education and his memorization of the Qur'an at Elmalı, then went to Istanbul with his maternal uncle Mustafa Efendi to continue his studies and settled in the Küçük Ayasofya madrasa (1895). He received his licence from Mahmud Hamdi Efendi of Kayseri , whose lessons he followed at the Beyazıt Mosque; thereafter his teacher was called "Hamdi the Elder" and he "Hamdi the Younger". During his studies he also attended the calligraphy lessons of Bakkal Arif Efendi and Sami Efendi and received licences from them. In 1904 he passed the ruus examination, and he graduated first from the Mekteb-i Nüvvab, which he was attending. By his own efforts he learned literature, philosophy and music. In the hope that it would bring the country to the level of modern science and civilization, he championed constitutional government; he joined the learned section of the Committee of Union and Progress and worked to develop a model of constitutional government in accordance with the Sharia rather than one on the European pattern. After two years as a lecturer at the Beyazıt madrasa he entered the first parliament of the Second Constitutional Period as deputy for Antalya. He played an effective part in the deposition of Abdülhamid II by persuading the fatwa officer Nuri Efendi, who had refused his consent, and by writing the draft of the fatwa. He served in the Correspondence Office of the Şeyhülislam, and taught jurisprudence at the Mekteb-i Nüvvab and the Mekteb-i Kudat, legal theory at the Medresetü'l-mütehassısin, logic at the Süleymaniye madrasa and waqf law at the Mülkiye school. In 1915-1917 he took part in the Ramadan huzur lessons as a respondent. He became a member, and after a while president, of the Darü'l-hikmeti'l-İslamiyye founded in 1918. He served as minister of pious foundations in the first and second governments of Damad Ferid Pasha; on 15 September 1919 he was appointed to the Senate and his scholarly rank was raised to that of professor at the Süleymaniye madrasa. With the proclamation of the Republic the institutions in which he had served were abolished and he was left without office. Because he had served in the Istanbul governments during the National Struggle, the Independence Tribunal sentenced him to death in absentia; he was taken from his house in Fatih to Ankara and held for forty days. At the end of the trial he was found not guilty — according to the source probably because of his membership of the Committee of Union and Progress — and released. After returning to Istanbul he never left his house except to go to the mosque; in this period of financial hardship, having no income, he completed his translation Metalib ve Mezahib . When the Grand National Assembly decided to have a Turkish commentary on the Qur'an prepared, the Presidency of Religious Affairs offered him the task; he accepted, wrote Hak Dini Kur'an Dili , and succeeded in completing it before his death. He died on 27 May 1942 of the heart failure from which he had long suffered, in his son-in-law's house at Erenköy, and was buried in the Sahrayıcedid Cemetery . His Circle of Influence — The source regards him as a scholar who, by thinking independently of other thinkers and scholars and at times criticizing them to put forward different views, contributed to the revival of Muslim intellectual life. His commentary was first published by the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Istanbul 1935-1938) and has since gone through many editions. At a symposium held in Elmalı on 4-6 September 1991 he was presented in all his aspects, and the papers were published as Elmalılı M. Hamdi Yazır Sempozyumu (Ankara 1993). Doctoral theses on his commentary and his exegesis have been written by İsmet Ersöz and Fahri Gökcan. His Poetry and Sufi Line — He wrote poems in Turkish, Arabic and Persian, but his literary side remained little known. In his writings he generally preferred plain Turkish words, while on scholarly and religious subjects he used a heavy, ornate style, at times rhymed, building long sentences of sound logical structure. His artistic personality shows above all in his calligraphy: he wrote panels in thuluth , naskh , ta'liq and jali , was also regarded as accomplished in riq'a and in the licence script, and is counted among the distinguished calligraphers of the late period. He was also concerned with Sufism: the source takes his abundant quotations from Ibn 'Arabi, whom he at times criticized on wahdat al-wujud , and his occasional Sufi-minded style as signs of his Sufi inclination. For him asceticism and piety mean not tormenting the self but drawing it to the line of moderation; to say "every existent is God" is polytheism, but there is no objection to understanding wahdat al-wujud as God being the sole necessary existent and all else contingent beings dependent on Him. In his scholarly line he held that one should benefit from the West's science, not its values; in exegesis he combined the methods of transmission and of reasoned interpretation, drew widely on al-Tabari, al-Zamakhshari, al-Raghib al-Isfahani, Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, Abu Hayyan and al-Alusi, confined himself on legal matters to Hanafi sources, and regarded forced interpretations as a distortion of the Qur'an. He criticized positivism, materialism and the theory of evolution; in theology he was attached to the Sunni school, generally in a Maturidi line, and on the scriptural attributes was seen to have a Salafi inclination. His Works — ① Hak Dini Kur'an Dili : his commentary on the Qur'an, begun at the age of forty-eight and completed at sixty, his most famous work. ② Irshad al-akhlaf fi ahkam al-awqaf : a textbook he prepared for teaching at the Mülkiye school (Istanbul 1330 r./1914). ③ Hz. Muhammed'in Dini İslam : a treatise consisting of the answers he gave on behalf of the Şeyhülislam's office to the questions of the Anglican Church. ④ Metalib ve Mezahib (Istanbul 1341): a translation of Paul Janet and Gabriel Séailles' Histoire de la philosophie ; the introduction and the extensive analytical and critical footnotes he wrote are of great philosophical value. ⑤ İstintaci ve İstikrai Mantık : a translation, from the French version, of a work by Alexander Bain, which he gave to students at the Süleymaniye madrasa as lecture notes. Besides these he has more than twenty articles published in the journals Beyanülhak and Sebilürreşad under the signatures "Küçük Hamdi" or "Elmalılı Küçük Hamdi".

Mahmud Baba (Qadiri)

Mahmud Baba, a Qadiri Sufi who lived in Kadıköy under Sultan Abdülmecid. He long served as administrator of the Osmanağa Mosque and later guided disciples at a lodge built for him by the Sultan. He died around 1850; his tomb in Hasanpaşa, Kadıköy, near the old Kuşdili Meadow, is still visited. (Sources: Kültür Envanteri; Gazete Kadıköy.)

Merkez Efendi (Musa Muslihuddin)

A Halvetî-Sünbülî sheikh; the figure to whom one of the best known places of visitation in Istanbul belongs. He was probably born in 868 (1463) in the village of Sarı Mahmudlu in Denizli. His real name was Mûsâ and his epithet Muslihuddin. After studying fifteen years at Bursa he went to Istanbul. At first he wished to become a disciple of Habîb Karamânî, but was not accepted. He thereupon attached himself to Mirza Baba, the sheikh of the Mirza Baba lodge, and married his daughter. His joining the lodge came about when Sünbül Efendi entered his room in a dream and gave him the epithet Merkez . It is stated that he received the title Merkez from Sünbül Efendi's compliment: "You are … the centre of this circle of ours…" . He was sent to Manisa by Hafsa Sultan and served at the complex there. On the death of Sünbül Efendi in 936 (1529) he succeeded him at the Koca Mustafa Paşa lodge. He formed a close relationship with Süleyman the Magnificent and in 943 (1537) was appointed sheikh of the army . He married Şah Sultan, the daughter of Selim I; Ahmed Çelebi was born of this marriage. From his first marriage he had children named Derviş Çelebi, Ali Çelebi and Ümmü Hatun. He died in 959 (1552). His Circle of Influence — He founded lodges and dervish houses at Eyüp, Davutpaşa, Yenikapı and Tire. One of his prominent deputies was his son Ahmed Çelebi. His Works — He left no composed work; there are hymns written under the pen name Merkezî . His Tomb and Complex — He was buried outside Mevlânâkapı beside the lodge that bears his name. His tomb is one of the important places of visitation in Istanbul.

Yahya Efendi of Besiktas

Shaykh Yahya b. Umar al-Bashiktashi

A professor and sheikh known for his lodge at Beşiktaş; he is said to have been the foster-brother of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. He is also called Beşiktaşî Yahyâ Efendi, Müderris and Molla Şeyhzade. He was born in 900 (1495) at Trabzon. His father was Şâmî Ömer Efendi and his mother Afîfe Hatun. During the period when Ömer Efendi served as judge at Trabzon, Prince Selim, son of Bayezid II, was the district governor of Trabzon. The birth of Prince Selim's son Süleyman a few days after Yahyâ Efendi's own birth drew the two families still closer; it is stated that when the milk of Prince Süleyman's mother did not suffice, Afîfe Hatun nursed the prince as well, and that Yahyâ Efendi and Sultan Süleyman thus became foster-brothers . He spent his childhood and early youth at Trabzon. Atâî states that during this period he often withdrew into seclusion in a cave outside the town, and that this lasted seven years . After the accession of Sultan Selim I he went with his family to Istanbul in the retinue of Prince Süleyman, and completed his studies under Zenbilli Ali Efendi. On his teacher's death he took up a professorship at the Canbaz Mustafa Medrese at 15 akçe a day. He then taught at the Hacıhasanzâde and Efdâliye medreses, at the Çoban Mustafa Paşa medrese in Gebze, at the Mihrimah Sultan medrese in Üsküdar, and in 960 (1553) at the Sahn-ı Semân medrese. Two years after this appointment, on account of a petition he wrote to Süleyman asking that Mâhidevran Sultan — mother of Prince Mustafa, expelled from the palace after her son's killing — be readmitted, they fell out and he was removed from office; he was then pensioned off at 50 akçe a day. After leaving office he bought with his own means a large plot of land at Beşiktaş and spent the rest of his life at the lodge he founded there. It is stated that, at the indication of a person he saw in a dream, he went to the area on the shore of the Bosphorus which he named Hıdırlık — held to be the place where Moses and Khidr met — and there founded his lodge. Kınalızâde Hasan Çelebi writes that he had a mosque, a medrese and a bath built at Yoros in Anadolukavağı. He died on the night of the Feast of Sacrifice, 9 Dhû al-Hijja 978 (4 May 1571) . His funeral prayer was led after the festival prayer by Ebüssuûd Efendi at the Süleymaniye Mosque, and he was buried on the site of his lodge. A great crowd of state dignitaries, scholars and common people attended the funeral, and by order of Selim II a tomb was built on the site of the lodge. His Circle of Influence — Sultan Süleyman addressed Yahyâ Efendi, born a few days before him, as elder brother , and visited him from time to time; the first mosque Süleyman had built in Istanbul bears the name of Yahyâ Efendi's mother Afîfe Hatun. Yahyâ Efendi wrote petitions to Süleyman on many matters, making requests or offering advice. Selim II likewise showed him great respect, visited him and consulted him on certain matters. He was also in contact with leading viziers such as Rüstem Pasha, Sokullu Mehmed Pasha and Semiz Ali Pasha; he frequently wrote letters of intercession to the palace and acted as a mediator in settling the affairs of those who applied to him. This conduct, however, was perceived as interference in state affairs, and certain tensions arose with Rüstem Pasha and Semiz Ali Pasha. His Poetry and Sufi Line — He is said to have been versed in mathematics, geometry, philosophy, astronomy and medicine; it is related that he cured an illness of Süleyman's daughter Mihrimah Sultan. According to Evliya Çelebi another of his occupations was the goldsmith's craft: during his time at Trabzon he learned this craft together with Prince Süleyman from a non-Muslim subject named Kostanta.

Aziz Mahmud Hüdayi

Mahmud b. Fadlullah al-Uskudari

He is the pîr (founding master) of the Celvetiyye order, one of the most widely influential Ottoman Sufis, and a major voice of Turkish tekke poetry. His given name was Mahmûd, son of Fazlullah b. Mahmûd; the pen-name "Hüdâyî" was bestowed on him by his master Üftâde, while the epithet "Azîz" (saintly) before his name arose from the reverence of the people. He was born in 948/1541 in Şereflikoçhisar. After his first schooling he went to Istanbul and entered the Küçük Ayasofya Madrasa; upon completing his studies he became the muîd (assistant) of his teacher Nâzırzâde Ramazan Efendi. While studying tafsîr, hadîth and fiqh he also attended the gatherings of Nûreddinzâde Muslihuddin Efendi, the Halvetî shaykh of the Küçük Ayasofya Mosque — so his contact with Sufism reaches back to his madrasa years. When his teacher was appointed professor at the Selimiye Madrasa in Edirne and then judge (kadı) in Egypt and Damascus, he kept Hüdâyî at his side. While in Egypt, Hüdâyî received "usûl-i esmâ" training from Kerîmüddin el-Halvetî of the Demirtaşiyye branch of the Halvetiyye. Returning from Egypt in 1573, he was appointed professor at the Ferhâdiye Madrasa in Bursa and deputy judge at the Câmi-i Atîk court. In the third year after his arrival in Bursa his teacher died. The depth of that loss led him to leave his official posts and to become a disciple of Muhyiddin Üftâde, whose sermons and gatherings he had already been attending (984/1576). Üftâde asked him to renounce first his property, then his office; and, to break his pride, to sell liver on a pole through the streets of Bursa while still dressed in his judge's robes. Hüdâyî hesitated at none of it. Under strict spiritual discipline he completed his seyr ü sülûk in about three years. Üftâde appointed him deputy (halife) to Sivrihisar; he could stay only about six months and returned to Bursa to see his master. When Üftâde died he crossed to Rumelia; after some time in Thrace and the Balkans he came to Istanbul. Through the intercession of Şeyhülislâm Hoca Sâdeddin Efendi he served eight years as shaykh of the Küçük Ayasofya lodge, while also preaching at the Fâtih Mosque and teaching tafsîr and hadîth. In 1589 he purchased the site in Üsküdar where the Hüdâyî lodge stands today, moving his residence near the Rum Mehmed Paşa Mosque so as to follow the construction closely. The lodge was completed in 1595 and served at the same time as a tevhidhâne; in 1007/1598-99 its own founder turned it into a mosque by adding a minbar. In 1599 he gave up preaching at the Fâtih Mosque and began Thursday sermons at the Mihrimah Sultan (İskele) Mosque in Üsküdar. At the opening of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (1616) it was he who delivered the first Friday sermon, and he agreed to preach there on the first Monday of every month; TEİS records that he also attended the foundation ceremony (1018/1609) together with Sultan Ahmed I and the şeyhülislâm. During his Üsküdar years he had a retreat cell (çilehâne) and a bath built in Bulgurlu; the village of Bulgurlu where the retreat stood, the Ilısuluk fields and part of Gaziler hill were registered in his name by an imperial decree of Ahmed I. He died in Safer 1038 (October 1628) in Üsküdar. He had eleven children, six of them daughters; his line continued through his daughters Ümmügülsüm (d. 1641), Zeyneb (d. 1642) and Fatma Zehrâ (d. 1675). The chronogram poems written for his death are numerous enough to fill a small divan. Circle of Influence Hüdâyî's influence reached from the common people to the palace. He wrote letters of counsel to sultans such as Murad III, Ahmed I and Osman II; he girded Murad IV with the sword of state; he joined Ferhad Paşa's Tabriz campaign. Evliya Çelebi relates that seven sultans kissed his hand and that he gave the pledge (irâdet) to 170,000 disciples. His lodge overflowed with people of every rank: Grand Vizier Halil Paşa of Kayseri, Dilâver Paşa, Hoca Sâdeddin Efendi, Sun'ullah Efendi, Şeyhülislâm Hocazâde Esad Efendi, Okçuzâde Mehmed Şâhî Efendi, Sarı Abdullah Efendi, Nev'îzâde Atâî and Olanlar Şeyhi İbrâhim Efendi were among its affiliates or regulars. It is related that at his death he had close to sixty deputies. Through him and his deputies the Celvetiyye left a deep mark on the religious and Sufi life of Anatolia and the Balkans; his lodge became one of Istanbul's foremost centres of Sufism and culture, producing many scholars, shaykhs and musicians. The most famous author of that lodge's tradition is İsmâil Hakkı of Bursa, author of Rûhu'l-beyân; he quotes Hüdâyî often and, comparing him with Mahmûd of Ghazna, says: "Two Mahmûds came to this world / one the famous Mahmûd of Ghazna / the other the Mahmûd of inner meaning." That histories and bibliographies of his own time and after refer to him with titles such as "kutbü'l-aktâb" (pole of poles), "sâhib-i zamân" and "mürşid-i kâmil" shows that his fame outlived him. Poetry and Sufi Line Belonging to popular Sufi literature, Hüdâyî wrote plain, aphoristic tekke poems; his poems, mostly in the ilâhî (hymn) form, are numerous enough to form a divan. He used sometimes syllabic and sometimes aruz metre. He adhered to the doctrine of the unity of being (vahdet-i vücûd) as systematised by Ibn al-'Arabî, and this is plain in his works, poems and letters — the TDV author notes that it is hard to claim he treated that doctrine as deeply as Yûnus Emre, yet he versified the vast spirit of Sufism with sincere expression. Some of his hymns were set to music by himself, others by his admirers and affiliates; these compositions were sung in the lodges for centuries and became inseparable from the gatherings of dhikr. Many Sufi poets wrote imitations (nazîre) of his Yûnus-style hymns. His verses on devotion to his master sum up this line: "The nightingale of the garden of love is Hazret-i Üftâde / the physician of grieving lovers is Hazret-i Üftâde." The Celvetiyye he founded divided into four branches — Selâmiyye, Hakkıyye, Fenâiyye and Hâşimiyye; in the years just before the closure of the lodges there were about thirty tekkes of these branches in Istanbul. Works He left around thirty works in Arabic and Turkish, writing most in Arabic in keeping with the convention of his age. Chief among the Arabic works: Nefâisü'l-mecâlis — a Sufi commentary on selected verses; its best and oldest copy in the Süleymaniye Library, Şehid Ali Paşa 172-174 Câmiu'l-fezâil ve kâmiu'r-rezâil — scholarly, practical and moral virtues; oldest copy Köprülü Library 1853/3; translated into Turkish by H. Kâmil Yılmaz as "İlim Amel ve Seyr ü Sülûk", Istanbul 1988 Miftâhu's-salât ve mirkātü'n-necât — the merits and wisdom of the ritual prayer, also citing Ibn al-'Arabî and Suhrawardî; oldest copy 1010/1601, Murad Molla Library 1314/4 Hulâsatü'l-ahbâr fî ahvâli'n-nebiyyi'l-muhtâr — creation, being and the Muhammadan reality; oldest copy 1037/1627, Hacı Selim Ağa Library, Hüdâî Efendi 258 Habbetü'l-mahabbe — love of God, the Prophet and the Ahl al-Bayt; translated by Ahmed Remzi Akyürek as "Mahbûbü'l-ahibbe", published in modern letters by Rasim Deniz, Kayseri 1982 Keşfü'l-kınâ' an vechi's-semâ' — a defence of the lawfulness of semâ; 1016/1607 copy in the Köprülü Library 1583/7; Yılmaz's translation in MÜİFD no. 4 [1986], pp. 273-284 Besides these he wrote Hayâtü'l-ervâh ve necâtü'l-eşbâh, el-Fethu'l-ilâhî, Tecelliyât, et-Tarîkatü'l-Muhammediyye, Fethu'l-bâb ve ref'u'l-hicâb and el-Mecâlisü'l-va'zıyye. The Vâkıât, composed of the notes he took at his master Üftâde's gatherings, is generally attributed to him as well. Chief among the Turkish works: Divan — Dîvân-ı İlâhiyyât; some 255 hymns together with quatrains and fragments — published separately by Kemaleddin Şenocak and Ziver Tezeren, Istanbul 1970 and 1986 Necâtü'l-garîk fi'l-cem' ve't-tefrîk — the terms cem' and fark in verse Tarîkatnâme — the etiquette of the Celvetiyye Mektûbât — 152 Turkish letters, most to Murad III, and some twenty-two Arabic ones; Süleymaniye Library, Fâtih 2572 Nesâih ve Mevâiz — 237 folios in forty-three chapters; the only known copy in the Hacı Selim Ağa Library, Hüdâî Efendi 266 Mi'râciyye — Hüdâî Efendi 262 The first three Turkish works were printed as "Külliyyât-ı Hazret-i Hüdâyî" (Istanbul 1287), and Mehmed Gülşen Efendi (d. 1925), one of the last shaykhs of the Hüdâyî âsitâne, reissued the same collection with a fuller biography and the addition of et-Tarîkatü'l-Muhammediyye (Istanbul 1338). The many copies of his works in Istanbul libraries, and the commentaries and glosses written on many of them by Celvetîs and members of other orders, attest how widely they were embraced. Tomb and Complex The complex founded between 997 and 1003 (1589-1595) at Doğancılar in Üsküdar, in the Ahmet Çelebi quarter, became the âsitâne and "house of the pîr" of the Celvetiyye; Ottoman sources call it "Hazret-i Hüdâyî Âsitânesi" and "Pîşvâ-yı Tarîkat-ı Aliyye-i Celvetiyye", among other names. In the fire of 1266/1850 every building except the tomb was lost, and the complex was rebuilt by Sultan Abdülmecid in 1272/1855-56. At the centre of the tomb's rectangular chamber rises a wooden dome resting on four marble columns, divided on the inside into thirteen segments like the crest of the Celvetî cap; beneath it stands the pîr's wooden sarcophagus enclosed by gilded iron screens, surrounded by ten sarcophagi of his children and one grandchild. Above the chamber door is an Arabic inscription in ta'lîk script giving the date of his death (1038/1628), and around the upper walls runs a thuluth frieze of Sûrat al-Mulk from the pen of the calligrapher Mahmud Celâleddin. From his death until 1925 the tomb was visited collectively by members of the Celvetiyye on the eves of religious festivals, led by the shaykh of the âsitâne; it has kept to this day its standing among the most frequented saints' tombs in Istanbul. His prayer for his affiliates, lovers and the visitors of his tomb — "that they not drown at sea, that they not see poverty at the end of their lives, and that they not depart before their faith is secured" — placed his tomb among the most visited in Istanbul after Eyüp Sultan, Sünbül Efendi and Yahyâ Efendi.

Abu Ayyub al-Ansari

Khalid b. Zayd b. Kulayb al-Ansari

A Companion known by the title "Host of the Prophet" because he received the Prophet as a guest in his house at Medina; he died during the first Muslim siege of Constantinople and was buried near the walls. He belonged to the Banû al-Najjâr branch of the Khazraj tribe. His father was Zeyd b. Küleyb al-Ansârî and his mother Hind (Zehrâ) bint Sa'd b. Kays. He embraced Islam about two years before the emigration, together with his wife Umm Ayyûb, and was among the first of the Helpers to accept Islam. He was present at the Second Pledge of Aqaba in the thirteenth year of the prophethood (622). After the emigration the Prophet established a bond of brotherhood between him and Mus'ab b. Umayr. When the Prophet emigrated to Medina, every one of the Muslims of the city wished to receive him in his house. So as not to offend them by making a choice, he said he would lodge in the house nearest to the place where his camel knelt. The camel first knelt in one spot, then rose and knelt again a little further on. The Prophet settled in the house of Ebû Eyyûb, which was nearest to that place and whose owner was also related to him through the mother of his grandfather Abdülmuttalib, and stayed there as his guest for seven months . That house served as a school where Islam was taught; there the Prophet fed the poor emigrants and distributed among the needy the gifts presented to him. He took part with the Prophet in all the expeditions, foremost among them Badr, Uhud, the Trench, Khaybar, the conquest of Mecca and Hunayn. In battle he would not leave his side lest harm come to him, and on some nights even kept watch around his tent. As one of the scribes of revelation he served in the gathering together of the verses of the Qur'an. Being known also for his learning, he gave many legal opinions on the religious questions put to him. He joined the campaigns of Abû Bakr's time and the Syrian, Palestinian and Egyptian expeditions under Umar; he was also present at the Cyprus campaign (28/648-49). When Medina fell into the hands of the rebels and Uthmân was prevented from leading the prayer (35/656), he led the prayers for a time on Ali's advice, since he was loved and respected by all. When Ali went to Iraq during his caliphate he left him as his deputy in Medina. He could not endure injustice. Seeing that the Companion Uqba b. Âmir, governor in Egypt, was leading the evening prayer late, he warned him not to set a bad example to the people by giving rise to the belief that the Prophet had prayed the evening prayer late. He opposed Marwân b. al-Hakam, governor of Medina, who did not lead the prayers at their recommended times, and told him plainly that he would follow him if he followed the Messenger of God, and otherwise would speak against him. Although he never left the Prophet's side from the Medinan period onwards, only 150 hadiths are transmitted from him, for two reasons: his great scrupulousness in transmitting hadith, and the passing of his life in campaigns. His travelling from Medina all the way to Egypt in order to hear a hadith he did not know directly from Uqba b. Âmir is an incomparable example of that scrupulousness. He believed that everyone in good health should take part in fighting in the way of God, and explained the peril spoken of in the verse "Do not cast yourselves into destruction by your own hands" (al-Baqara 2/195) as staying away from battle and busying oneself with one's own affairs. For this reason he strove to be present at a campaign every year even in old age. The last of the expeditions he joined was the first Muslim siege of Constantinople; he fell ill while the siege was still in progress and died in 49 (669) . Yazîd b. Mu'âwiya led his funeral prayer. In accordance with his testament a military detachment carried him to a spot near the walls and buried him there. The sword-girding ceremonies at the accession of the Ottoman sultans were held before the tomb of Ebû Eyyûb al-Ansârî, at a ceremony attended by the shaykh al-islâm and especially the naqîb al-ashrâf.