Vânî Mehmed Efendi

Vânî Mehmed Efendi, known as the Sovereign's sheikh (Hünkâr sheikh), was a sayyid descended from the lineage of our Prophet. He was originally from the town of Hoşab (Güzelsu) in Van; his father was Vânî Bistâm Efendi; his date of birth is not known in the sources. He began his first education in Van, then traveled through the principal centers of learning of the East such as Gence (Ganja), Karabağ (Karabakh), and Tebriz (Tabriz); he learned the Sufi knowledge of the Halvetî (Khalwatî) path from Nûreddîn Şirvânî. He gained depth in the sciences of exegesis (tefsîr), hadith, jurisprudence (fıkıh), and history, and excelled in literature and rhetoric (belâgat). Settling in Erzurum, he gave sermons and counsel in the mosques. When he became known there, his name reached Istanbul thanks to his conversations with the grand vizier Köprülüzâde Fâzıl Ahmed Paşa. By the order of Pâdişâh Mehmed Han IV he was summoned to Istanbul; he became the tutor of the sultan (the Hünkâr sheikh) and the first pulpit preacher of the New Mosque (Yeni Câmii), and he also served as tutor to Şehzâde (Prince) Mustafa. His sermons received great esteem; he was known for his asceticism and piety. It is related in the sources that he took part, together with the Şeyhülislâm, during the interrogation of Sabatay Sevi (Sabbatai Zevi), who claimed to be the Messiah, at a council convened in Edirne. In 1683 he joined the Second Vienna Campaign under the command of Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Paşa as the army sheikh; after the campaign he was sent to the village of Kestel near Bursa. On the Bosphorus he had a mosque and a madrasa built at Vaniköy, which is called by his name, and in Kestel as well he had a large mosque and a school built. He authored works such as Arâis-ül-Kur'ân and Hülâsât-üt-Tefâsîr. He passed away in 1685 (AH 1096) in the village of Kestel, and was buried there at the entrance of the mosque that he himself had had built.