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."