Saints and Tombs of Konya

Husam al-Din Chalabi

Husam al-Din Chalabi was born in 622 AH (1225) in Konya into a family that had migrated from Urmia to Anatolia. As the closest deputy and scribe of Mevlânâ Celâleddîn-i Rûmî, he was the inspiration for the composition of the Mathnawi, which Rumi sometimes called the 'Husam-nama.' After Rumi's death he succeeded to his place and is regarded as the first sheikh of the Mevlevi order and its first Mesnevihan (reciter of the Mathnawi). He died on 12 Sha'ban 683 AH (24 October 1284) in Konya and was buried at the head of Rumi's grave within the Mevlânâ complex. (Sources: TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 'Hüsâmeddin Çelebi'; Konyapedia, 'Hüsameddin Çelebi')

Ulu Arif Chalabi

Ulu Arif Chalabi was born on 8 Dhu al-Qa'da 670 AH (6 June 1272) in Konya; his given name was Feridun. He was the grandson of Mevlânâ Celâleddîn-i Rûmî and the son of Sultan Veled, his mother being Fâtıma Hatun, daughter of Selâhaddîn-i Zerkûb. After his father's death he held the post of leadership and, through his travels across Anatolia and western Iran, played a major role in spreading the Mevleviyye order. He died on 24 Dhu al-Hijja 719 AH (5 February 1320) in Konya and was buried within the Mevlânâ Mausoleum. (Sources: TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 'Ârif Çelebi'; semazen.net / Hz. Mevlânâ Külliyatı)

Sheikh Karim al-Din (Bektemuroğlu)

Bektemuroğlu Sheikh Karim al-Din was a senior Mevlevi figure who, after Rumi's death, led spiritual guidance at the Mevlevi lodge for about seven years and contributed to the upbringing of Sultan Veled. Sultan Veled is said to have drawn spiritual nourishment from him alongside Shams, Rumi, Selâhaddîn-i Zerkûb, and Hüsâmeddîn Çelebi. He died around 1291 and was buried among the tombs of leading Mevlevi figures inside the Mevlânâ Mausoleum. His name is recited in the prayer following the Mukabele-i Şerif. (Sources: Konya Metropolitan Municipality, 'Mevlevihaneler/Mevlevilik'; Konyapedia, 'Mevlevilik')

Sayyid Harun al-Wali

Sayyid Harun al-Wali (d. 23 Rabi al-Awwal 720 / 3 May 1320) was a Sufi saint regarded as the founder of Seydişehir. According to the Makalat-i Sayyid Harun, his lineage descends paternally from Imam Musa al-Kazim and maternally from Uways al-Qarani. He reached the Konya region around 1302 and around 1305 founded Seydişehir, building a mosque, madrasa, lodge and bathhouse near Mount Küpe. His tomb, built in the year of his death, adjoins the north facade of the Seyyid Harun Veli Mosque. (Sources: TDV Encyclopaedia of Islam, 'Seyyid Hârun', vol. 37, 2009; TDV İA, 'Seydişehir')

Pir Esad Sultan (Pisili Baba)

Pir Esad Sultan was a renowned sheikh of the Anatolian Seljuk period and a contemporary of Mevlana (Rumi); he is popularly known as 'Pisili Baba' (the cat-lover) for his great affection for cats. According to the inscription on his tomb he died in 662/1263 and was buried in the complex he built in the second half of the 13th century, comprising a small mosque, tomb and dervish lodge, in the neighbourhood that bears his name. Of the complex only the tomb survives; the tomb and lodge were rebuilt in 1440 by Musa Pasha, an emir of the Karamanid dynasty. The tomb stands in Karatay district beside the Pisili Mosque. (Sources: TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, 'Pir Esad Kulliyesi'; Cultural Inventory; Konya Saints and Scholars)

Tavus Baba (Tavus Mehmed al-Hindi)

Tavus Baba, whose full name is recorded as Tavus Mehmed al-Hindi, was a Sufi figure of Indian origin. He is said to have lived in the 13th century during the reigns of the Anatolian Seljuk sultans Rukneddin Suleymanshah and Alaeddin Keykubad, settling in Konya. His tomb stands on a hill overlooking the Meram stream in the Yorganci neighbourhood of Meram district; as it bears no inscription, his exact birth and death dates are unknown, though the structure is dated to the late 13th century. The tomb was restored in 1905 and again in 1958. (Sources: Sahip Ata Vakif Museum; Cultural Inventory; Konya Saints and Scholars)

Khwaja Ahmad Faqih (Hoca Fakih)

Khwaja Ahmad Faqih (Hoca Fakih) is regarded as one of the leading Sufis of the Anatolian Seljuk era, a dervish of Khorasanian origin, and the author of the 'Çarhnâme', an early monument of Turkish-language verse. Tradition holds that he was a disciple of Bahaeddin Veled, the father of Rumi, and that he established a dervish lodge in Konya. His death year is disputed: the monument's inscription tradition gives 618/1221, while İbrahim Hakkı Konyalı and the TDV biographical article favour 650/1252 on chronological grounds. He is buried at the Hoca Fakih Mosque and Tomb in the Meram district. (Sources: TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi, 'Hoca Fakih Mescidi ve Türbesi' and 'Ahmed Fakih'; Kültür Envanteri)

Shaykh Shuja al-Din

Shaykh Shuja al-Din (d. 749 / 1349) is a Seljuk-Karamanid era figure whose tomb stands in the Musalla Cemetery of Konya. According to İ. Hakkı Konyalı, he was the freedman of Uğurlu b. Abdullah, who belonged to Hond Fatma Hatun, daughter of the Seljuk Sultan Izz al-Din Kaykavus II. The date 749/1349, read by abjad reckoning on the sarcophagus inside his square, sixteen-ribbed domed tomb, is taken as both his death year and the year the tomb was built. The tomb was restored by Konya Metropolitan Municipality in 2010. (Sources: Konyapedia, 'Şeyh Şücaeddin Türbesi'; Kültür Envanteri, 'Şeyh Şücaeddin Türbesi')

Shaykh Sharaf al-Din

Shaykh Sharaf al-Din is the saint regarded as the founder of the Şerâfeddin Mosque on Konak Square in Konya, said in the sources to have lived in the 13th century (his exact death year is not documented; dates given are estimates). The mosque he founded was later repaired in 1444 by the Karamanid Ibrahim Bey II and rebuilt in 1636 by Mehmed Çavuşoğlu Memi Bey. The shaykh's tomb adjoined the south facade of the mosque; it was demolished by the municipality in 1924-1925 and faithfully reconstructed by the Regional Directorate of Foundations in 2010. (Sources: Turkish Wikipedia, 'Şerâfeddin Camii'; Konyapedia, 'Şerafeddin Türbesi')

Shaykh Halili (Halili al-Marashi)

Halili al-Marashi (d. 998/1589) was a sixteenth-century Khalwati Sufi poet whose full name was Halili bin Yusuf bin Hayreddin al-Marashi, writing under the pen name 'Halili'. A grandson of the famed calligrapher Hayreddin al-Marashi, he produced religious and mystical works including a Divançe, Ravzatü'l-İman and Etvar-ı Seb'a. He settled in Konya, where he died and was interred in the Musalla Cemetery. His octagonal domed tomb bears an inscription dated 998/1589. (Sources: Kültür Envanteri 'Şeyh Halîlî Türbesi'; Konyapedia 'Musalla Mezarlığı')

Shaykh Osman Rumi

Shaykh Osman Rumi was a thirteenth-century Sufi counted among the companions of Mevlana Jalal al-Din Rumi; he was the brother of Shaykh Hasan Rumi. According to Sipehsalar he was present at a gathering in Damascus alongside Shams-i Tabrizi, Sadr al-Din al-Qunawi and Awhad al-Din Kirmani. Late in life he came to Konya and had a dervish lodge built for himself. His death year is undocumented; his tomb is dated on architectural grounds to the second half of the 13th century. His tomb stands in the Sahibata neighbourhood of the Meram district. (Sources: Kültür Envanteri 'Şeyh Osman Rûmî Camii ve Türbesi'; Anadolu Selçuklu Mimarisi database)

Tahir Büyükkörükçü

Tahir Büyükkörükçü (1925-2011) was a Konya scholar and preacher popularly titled 'Sultanü'l-vaizin' (Sultan of Preachers). He studied under leading Konya teachers such as Hacıveyiszade Mustafa Efendi, served as Provincial Mufti of Konya from 1965 to 1973, and preached for many years in Konya's mosques, most notably the Kapu Mosque. He died in Konya on 5 March 2011 and, in accordance with his will, was buried beside his teacher Hacıveyiszade in the Üçler Cemetery. As grave-level coordinates are not documented, no pin is assigned. (Sources: TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi 'Büyükkörükçü, Tahir'; Wikipedia 'Tahir Büyükkörükçü')

Haci Veyiszade Mustafa Efendi (Mustafa Sabri Kurucu)

Haci Veyiszade Mustafa Efendi (1887–1960) was one of the most celebrated Islamic scholars raised in Konya. Born into a pious family in the Sedirler quarter of Konya, after completing his religious education he taught tafsir, hadith, fiqh and Arabic in madrasas and at the Konya Imam-Hatip School, and was renowned for supporting his students materially and spiritually. He died on 5 February 1960; following the funeral prayer at the Kapi Mosque he was buried, with tens of thousands in attendance, in the Ucler Cemetery in the south-east of the city, and his grave has become a place of visitation. (Sources: TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, 'Haciveyiszade Mustafa'; Konya Saints and Scholars; Konyapedia)

Atashbaz-i Wali (Yusuf b. Izzeddin)

Whose real name was Yûsuf b. Izzeddin, Âteşbâz-ı Velî was the cook of the lodge of Mevlânâ Celâleddîn-i Rûmî and a venerated figure in the Mevlevî tradition. According to legend, when the kitchen ran out of firewood, at Mevlânâ's playful remark he cooked the food with flames issuing from his feet; his epithet "âteşbâz" (one who plays with fire) derives from this account. In Mevlevî lodges the kitchen hearth was named after him as the "station of Âteşbâz-ı Velî," and he was remembered with respect in the blessings recited after meals. He died in 684 (1285), and his tomb, built in the Seljuk architectural style, stands near Aşkan hill on the Meram road in Konya. It is regarded as the first shrine in the world raised for a cook.

Sadr al-Din al-Qunawi

Muhammad b. Ishaq Sadr al-Din al-Qunawi

Stepson and foremost follower of Ibn al-Arabi, a great mystic and scholar who systematised the doctrine of the unity of being. He taught for many years in Konya and was a contemporary and friend of Mawlana. He died in Konya in 1274.

Shams-i Tabrizi

Shams al-Din Muhammad b. Ali al-Tabrizi

A travelling mystic from Tabriz, regarded as the spiritual companion and guide of Mawlana Rumi. His meeting with Mawlana in Konya (1244) is among the most discussed encounters in Sufi history. The place and date of his death are disputed in the sources; his shrine in Konya is a place of visitation.

Mawlana Jalal al-Din al-Rumi

Mawlana Jalal al-Din Muhammad b. Baha al-Din Walad

Mystic, scholar and poet born in Balkh (1207); his family migrated to Anatolia and settled in Konya. His meeting with Shams of Tabriz transformed his life. His works, foremost the Mathnawi and the Divan-i Kabir, are summits of Sufi literature. He died in Konya in 1273 and is regarded as the patron of the Mevlevi tradition.