Saints

Fahreddin-i Acemi

(q.s.)

One of the first Ottoman şeyhülislâms; a scholar who served as mufti of Edirne for over thirty years. Information about the early part of his life does not appear in the sources. He completed his first studies in Iran under Seyyid Şerîf el-Cürcânî . After coming to Ottoman lands he studied hadith at Bursa with Burhâneddin Haydar Herevî and obtained certification. He served as assistant to Mehmed Şah Fenârî at the Sultaniye Medrese; he then taught at various institutions. In 834 (1430) he was appointed mufti of Edirne by Murad II with a daily stipend of thirty akçes. He maintained this position for over thirty years, continuing under Mehmed the Conqueror. His part in the affair of the Hurûfîs is related in the source thus: at the contrivance of Grand Vizier Mahmud Pasha he listened covertly to their views, then publicly refuted them before the sultan, and the fatwa he gave resulted in their execution by burning. It is recorded that he died in 865 (1460-61); the source gives this date with a question mark. His Circle of Influence — He held licences for the transmission of hadith and trained a great many scholars; throughout his long muftiship at Edirne he stood at the centre of the scholarly life of his age. His Tomb and Complex — His medrese at Edirne, near the Üç Şerefeli Mosque, was later demolished and another building put in its place. He himself was buried at the Dârülhadis Mosque.

Hasan Sezai-i Gulsheni

(q.s.)

A Halvetî-Gülşenî sheikh and divan poet; the pîr of the Sezâiyye branch of the order, centred on Edirne. He was born in 1080 (1669) in the town of Gördüs (Corinth) in the north-east of the Morea. His given name was Hasan; the pen name Sezâî , it is related, was bestowed on him by Niyâzî-i Mısrî. His father's name was Ali and his grandfather's Kurtbeyzâde Hasan. When the Morea fell under Venetian occupation in 1098 (1687) he crossed by sea to Istanbul and from there to Edirne. At Edirne he worked in the mukabele office with the help of his relative Ali Bey, accountant of the cavalry. At the Âşık Mûsâ lodge he attached himself to Sheikh Mehmed Sırrî Efendi and entered the Halvetî-Gülşenî path. After Sırrî Efendi's death he completed his spiritual training with Lâ'lî Mehmed Fenâî Efendi and received authorisation. He also received an icâzetnâme from İbrâhim Çelebi, sheikh of the Gülşenî lodge in Egypt. He died on 17 Ramadan 1151 (29 December 1738) at Edirne and was buried at his own lodge. His Circle of Influence — The Sezâiyye branch of the Halvetî-Gülşenî order, which bears his name, spread above all in Edirne and its surroundings and found its real strength in that region. His Poetry and Sufi Line — Sezâî is among the poets who worked Sufi content within the forms of divan poetry; his voluminous divan is the proof of this productivity. His Sufi line comes from the Gülşenî branch of the Halvetiyye, and the bond formed with Niyâzî-i Mısrî appears both in the account of his pen name and in the commentary he wrote on one of his ghazals. His Works — 1. Dîvan. A voluminous collection made up of 396 ghazals, five odes, twelve murabba's and other verse forms. It was printed at Bulak (1250, 1256) and at Istanbul (1276); the edition in Latin letters was prepared by Şahver Çelikoğlu (1985). 2. Mektûbât-ı Sezâî. His letters to his son, his sons-in-law, his disciples and state officials; printed at Istanbul (1289), the edition in modern Turkish was prepared by Cezair Yarar (2001). 3. Şerh-i Gazel-i Niyâzî-i Mısrî. A commentary he wrote on a famous ghazal of Niyâzî-i Mısrî (Istanbul 1276). His Tomb and Complex — A masonry tomb with a dome was later built over his grave.

Shaykh Lutfullah Efendi

(may God sanctify his secret)

A Bayrami sufi saint recorded as one of the disciples and the Karesi (Balıkesir) deputy of Hacı Bayram-ı Velî. He is buried in the courtyard (hazire) of the Şeyh Lütfullah Mosque named after him, built in 1429 and renovated in 1907, where about 100 graves stand.

Kumral Abdal

A dervish of the Anatolian abdals who lived during the foundation period of the Ottoman State. He is remembered as a contemporary of Ertuğrul Gazi and Osman Gazi and a disciple of Sheikh Edebali, and appears in the legends about Osman Gazi's famous dream.

Haddadizade Sheikh Seyyid Ahmed Siyahi Efendi

Sayyid, Sheikh

A saint of the Halidiyye-Nakshibendiyye path in Kastamonu. Because he constantly wore a black turban, he was given the epithet 'Siyahi' by Mevlana Halid-i Baghdadi; he received his authorization and returned to Kastamonu in 1827. He died around the age of ninety-five in 1874 (AH 1291); per his bequest no domed tomb was built over his grave, which lies in central Kastamonu.

Benli Sultan (Sheikh Mehmed Muhyiddin Efendi)

Sultan, Sheikh

A saint whose real name was Muhyiddin, known as 'Benli Sultan' due to a large mole (ben) on his cheek. Believed to have lived in the 16th century, he carried out spiritual teaching and trained students in the region for a long time. His tomb and complex are in Ahlat village near Kastamonu, on the foothills of Mount Ilgaz; the complex was built during the reign of Yavuz Sultan Selim.

Seyyid Sunneti Efendi

Sayyid, Sheikh

The representative of the Khalwati order in Kastamonu before Şeyh Şâbân-ı Velî, and the founder of the first small mosque that stood where the Şâbân-ı Velî complex stands today. The source records his death as 864 (1459) , accompanied by a question mark. It is known that the Khalwatiyya existed in Kastamonu before Şeyh Şâbân-ı Velî, in the time of Seyyid Sünnetî Efendi: the order's activities began for the first time in the Şeyh Sünnetî Efendi Mosque , a small wooden building. Şeyh Şâbân-ı Velî too at first worshipped in this mosque and carried on the order's activities there; but because the mosque lay outside the town in those years, at the people's request he worked for a time in the Honsalar Mosque, and after that mosque burned down he returned to the Şeyh Sünnetî Mosque. According to the inscription above the door of the present mosque, the building was rebuilt in 988 (1580) by Şücâ' Efendi, the spiritual guide of Murad III; the mosque also served as the tevhidhâne of the lodge. Şeyh Seyyid Sünnetî Efendi, the first founder of the mosque, is buried in the burial enclosure in front of the qibla in the courtyard of the complex — that is, not inside the tomb of Şâbân-ı Velî but in the enclosure. The complex lies in the Hisarardı quarter and consists of a mosque, a tomb, a library, a kitchen, a fountain and two lodge houses. Limit of this record: This record rests not on an article devoted to the sheikh himself but on the article about the complex in which his grave lies; the source gives no more about Seyyid Sünnetî Efendi than the above. The text has been kept within what the source provides and has not been padded out with architectural description.

Iskilipli Mehmed Atif Efendi

A Turkish scholar and author; a public lecturer and professor. He was born in 1875 in the village of Tophane in İskilip. His father was Mehmed Ali Ağa and his mother Nazlı Hanım. He was orphaned at six months and was raised by his grandfather Hasan Kethüdâ. After his local studies he went to Istanbul despite his family's opposition. He completed his medrese studies in 1902, passed the ruûs examination, and in 1903 began teaching at the Fâtih Mosque. After graduating in 1905 from the Faculty of Theology of the Istanbul Dârülfünun he taught Arabic at Kabataş High School. Because of his activities he was exiled to Bodrum by a şeyhülislâm; he then travelled to the Crimea and to Warsaw and returned after the proclamation of the Second Constitutional period. In 1910 he served as inspector of medreses; he wrote for journals such as Sebîlürreşâd and Beyânülhak . After the 31 March Incident he was imprisoned for a week. Following the assassination of Mahmud Şevket Pasha in 1913 he was exiled to Sinop, Çorum and Sungurlu for about eighteen months; the authorities later acknowledged his innocence. In February 1919 he became vice-president of the Society of Professors under the presidency of Mustafa Sabri Efendi; when Sabri Efendi became şeyhülislâm he assumed the presidency of the society. In November 1919 the society took the name Teâlî-i İslâm Cemiyeti , published numerous works and opened branches throughout Anatolia. His treatise Frenk Mukallidliği ve Şapka of 1924 was regarded as a text opposing the hat law. He was arrested on 7 December 1925 and tried before the Ankara Independence Court. Although he was at first acquitted, his detention continued; while the prosecutor demanded three years of hard labour, the court passed a sentence of death. On 4 February 1926 he was executed together with Ali Rızâ Efendi, the former mufti of Babaeski. His Works — Mir'âtü'l-İslâm (1332), İslâm Yolu (1338), Tesettür-i Şer'î (1339), Dîn-i İslâm'da Men'-i Müskirât (1340) and Frenk Mukallidliği ve Şapka (1924), which was the subject of his trial.

Yusuf Bahri Efendi

Fakhr al-Muhaddithin (Pride of the Hadith Scholars)

An Ottoman hadith scholar born in Vezirköprü. He studied in Amasya, Kastamonu and Istanbul, then in Egypt; after about 1785 he settled in Çorum, teaching hadith, jurisprudence, exegesis and rhetoric and earning the title 'Pride of the Hadith Scholars'. He died in Çorum in the first half of the 19th century and his grave is in the mosque courtyard at Hıdırlık in Çorum.

Isa Baba

A figure venerated locally as a saint, with a mosque and tomb bearing his name in the Cedit neighborhood of Samsun's Ilkadim district. As no inscription or firm historical record survives, his identity and dates are uncertain; legend holds he was martyred together with his companions.

Shaykh Sayyid Qutb al-Din

(may Allah have mercy on him)

A figure buried in Samsun, popularly held to descend from the lineage of Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani. The mosque and tomb built in his name stand within the historic cemetery in the Kokcuoglu neighborhood of Samsun's Ilkadim district; the structure is of early date and is recorded as having been rebuilt/restored by the Haznedarzade family in the 19th century.

Sayyid Ahmad al-Kabir ar-Rifa'i (Sayyid Kucuk Ahmad)

(may Allah sanctify his secret)

A Sufi of the Rifa'i order, held to have played a role in spreading Rifa'i Sufism in Anatolia. According to tradition he was active in the Ladik (Samsun) region, was martyred there, and was buried in Ladik per his will. His tomb stands in the Koga neighborhood of central Ladik; the square-plan cut-stone-and-brick structure contains seven sarcophagi.

Hasan Rami Yavuz (Çaykaralı Hacı Hasan Efendi)

may God have mercy on him

A scholar and preacher from the district of Çaykara in Trabzon; a teacher who went on training students in the years when the medreses were closed. He was born in 1909 in the village of Akdoğan in Çaykara. His family is traced to a line that came to this region fleeing the pursuit of Shah Ismail in the time of Şehzade Selim. His father Mehmed Zeki Efendi died on the Sarıkamış front in the First World War; his mother was Âkıle Hanım. He read the Qur'an in the village mosque; he studied with Salih Bilgin (Hacı Salih Efendi) and with Veliefendizâde Tayyip Zühdü Efendi. When the medreses were closed in 1923 he had to continue at primary school. In 1938 he completed his study of the religious sciences by receiving authorisation from Tayyip Zühdü Efendi. He memorised the Qur'an and studied the science of the readings under Mehmet Rüştü Âşıkkutlu. His turn to Sufism began with an allegiance he gave in a dream to Ferşad Efendi, a deputy of Gümüşhânevî. He read the works of Gaybî, Niyâzî-i Mısrî and İsmâil Hakkı Bursevî. At Istanbul he received investiture from Mehmet Zahit Kotku . Between 1938 and 1944 he served as imam at Doğançay and Yukarı Kışlacık; between 1944 and 1982 he held the office of preacher at Akçaabat, Of and Çaykara for thirty-eight years. In the periods when the teaching of the religious sciences was forbidden he went on giving lessons in secret. He died on 30 March 1982 of a heart attack in the village where he was born. His Circle of Influence — He graduated about 300 students in twenty-two cycles. Among those he trained are Ali Fikri Yavuz, who served as deputy mufti of Istanbul, and his sons Yunus Vehbi, Yusuf Şevki and Salih Sabri, who became university professors. His Works — His books Müminlere Vaazlar (2007) and Mahrem Sözler (2007) have been published.

Ferşad Efendi (İbrahim Hakkı Uysal)

may God have mercy on him

A scholar and preacher who ran a medrese for forty years in the eastern Black Sea region; a guide on the Nakşibendî-Hâlidî line. He was born in 1866 in the village of Yeşilalan in the district of Çaykara in Trabzon. His real name was İbrâhim Hakkı . In childhood he worked as a shepherd; he then studied the religious sciences with Huşolu Numan Efendi. As a young man he travelled through the neighbouring provinces preaching, and left a powerful impression on his hearers. He held short terms as imam in the Trabzon area; he then went to Istanbul and preached at the Hagia Sophia Mosque during Ramadan. He visited the Gümüşhânevî lodge and received Sufi training under Yûsuf Şevki Efendi. He married his master's daughter, strengthening this bond. He later entered seclusion under İsmâil Necâti Efendi at the Istanbul lodge and attained the rank of deputy . When he was offered the headship of the lodge he declined, considering fame a calamity , and continued teaching and spiritual guidance in his home region. After returning home he founded a medrese and taught there for forty years. He served as mufti of Of and as a teacher at a secondary school in Samsun. During the occupation period he worked for the recovery of confiscated manuscripts and administered endowed libraries. He died on 1 July 1930 and was buried beside his medrese. His Circle of Influence — At the medrese he founded he issued certificates to more than 300 students. Among those he trained are Hasan Râmi Yavuz and Mehmet Rüştü Âşıkkutlu .

Dursun Nuri Feyzi Güven (Çalekli Hacı Dursun Efendi)

may God have mercy on him

A scholar and public lecturer (dersiâm) who trained hundreds of students in the eastern Black Sea region; he is known as Çalekli Dursun Efendi . He was born in 1883. He was the grandson of Abdülaziz Efendi and the son of Yâkub Efendi. He came to be known by this name because his family, which had migrated from Van, settled at Büyükköy in the district of Of in Trabzon. He began memorising the Qur'an at seven and completed it at nine with Ahmed Efendi of Hemşin. He then studied Arabic with Karakaş Ahmed Efendi, the religious sciences with Tayyib Zühdü Efendi, and the science of inheritance shares with Velizâde Hasan Hilmi Efendi. In 1922 he graduated from the Theology and Philosophy branch of the Süleymaniye Medrese and gained the title of dersiâm . In Sufism he attached himself to Ferşad Efendi and entered the Nakşibendî path. He received investiture from Vizena Ahmed Efendi; in 1957 he also became a deputy of Ali Haydar Efendi . After working in the Office of the Şeyhülislâm he served as a regimental imam. In 1925 he took over the directorship of the İmam-Hatip School opened at Of. From 1939 he began teaching at the medrese unofficially. He died on 22 February 1977 in his village. His Circle of Influence — He trained hundreds of students. Among them are counted the scholar of Qur'anic readings Mehmet Rüştü Âşıkkutlu , Remzi Yavuz, who served in the Presidency of Religious Affairs, Osman Niyazi Atay, Hüseyin Hatipoğlu, Hüsnü Lostar and Kâmil Küçük. His Works — Münkızü'l-felâsife (Mecca 1949), Tevhid ve İşrâk (Istanbul 1920), Ahlâk ve İnanç Öğütleri (Giresun 1956), Âhiret Hakikatleri ve Dirilmek Hikmetleri (Trabzon 1970) and Muhtârü'l-ehâdîs Tercümesi (Istanbul 1964).

Ahi Evren Dede

may his secret be sanctified

A figure regarded by the local community as a saint, said by tradition to have come to the Trabzon region in the era of Orhan Gazi to spread Islam and organize the akhi (ahilik) guilds. He is held to be buried in the mosque and shrine that bear his name in Boztepe; the present mosque and tomb were built in 1887 (AH 1305) by the governor of Trabzon, Kadri (Kadir) Pasha, with funds sent by Sultan Abdülhamid II, and a dome was added during the 1976 restoration. The shrine contains four graves, one of which is said to belong to Ahi Evren.

Habib Baba (Habib-i Hindî)

(k.s.)

A Qādirī sheikh of Indian origin (called Habib-i Hindî), whose father was the mufti of Bukhara. On his master's instruction he settled in Erzurum to guide the people. He died in 1847 and was buried in the tomb in Yakutiye (Tebrizkapı), Erzurum, formerly known as the Timurtaş Baba Türbesi, later renamed after him.

Abdurrahman Ghazi

(r.a.)

The figure to whom one of the most visited shrines of Erzurum belongs; a warrior whose identity is not known with certainty. 🔴 This record rests on an indirect source : the figure has no independent encyclopaedia article; what follows is what the article on the complex bearing his name gives. The source states in its very first sentence that his identity is not clear . Two separate views are recorded about his identity. According to the first he may have been one of ten people assigned to teach Islam during the conquest of Erzurum under the command of Iyâd b. Ghanm. According to the second he is Abdurrahman b. Süleyman İbşîrî , the commander of the abdâl who died a martyr at Erzurum in 643. His Tomb and Complex — The complex lies outside Erzurum near Eğerlitepe and consists of a mausoleum, a lodge and a mosque. The mausoleum, built in 1983, consists of two domed sections separated by a pointed arch in the middle, thus providing separate entrances for male and female visitors. The marble inscription on the western door attributes the restoration of 1796 to Ayşe Hatun, the wife of Governor Yûsuf Ziyâ Paşa. The adjoining mosque is in classical Ottoman architecture with its minaret and three-domed portico; its interior decoration dates from 1996 and its tiles were produced in the workshops of Kütahya. Recent expansions have added fountains, parks and landscaping, and the site has become a centre of pilgrimage.

Sheikh Cabuk (locally identified with Abdullah b. Unays al-Juhani)

may Allah be pleased with him

The shrine visited at Mardin under the name Şeyh Çabuk is attributed to the Companion Abû Yahyâ Abdullah b. Unays al-Juhanî . The life recorded below belongs to that Companion. 🔴 The source does not confirm this identification. In the TDV article that was read, neither the name Şeyh Çabuk nor Mardin occurs. The attribution is a local acceptance; the atlas records it as a local acceptance and does not present it as a record given by the source (principle 6). Abdullah b. Unays is a Companion whom the Prophet sent out alone as a raiding party and who was given the good tidings of Paradise. The Prophet sent him out alone to do away with Khâlid b. Sufyân, who was busy gathering men to march on Medina. Abdullah found Khâlid in the valley of 'Urana and killed him; the Prophet gave him a staff as a keepsake. He took part in Uhud and the battles that followed; he was present at the conquest of Egypt and in the campaigns in Africa. He has been counted among the People of the Bench (Ashâb-ı Suffe). He transmitted various hadiths; Jâbir b. Abdullah and his own children Atıyye, Amr, Damra and Abdullah transmitted hadith from him. He died in 54 (674); some reports give the date 80 (699).

Sheikh Hamid al-Mardini (Shah-i Mardin)

may his secret be sanctified

Born in Siirt, he is the Naqshbandi-Khalidi sheikh known as 'Shah-i Mardin' because he spent the last forty years of his life in Mardin. He received his khilafa from Sheikh Halid al-Jaziri, a deputy of Mawlana Khalid al-Baghdadi, and became the ancestor of the 'Hamidis' family. His tomb lies to the east of Mardin, at the entrance of the Midyat road.

Sultan Sheikhmus (Musa b. Mahin al-Mardini al-Zuli)

may his secret be sanctified

The most renowned saint of Mardin, known among the people as 'Sultan Sheikhmus'. He was a disciple of Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani and a follower of the Qadiri path. He lived in the Mazidagi region and died in Mardin in the 12th century; his tomb, in the village of Yüce (Sultan) on the Mardin-Diyarbakir road, is among the most visited shrines in Mardin.

Shaykh Yusuf al-Hamadani

Shaykh

A saint believed to be buried in the tomb in the courtyard of the Tabakhane (Şeyh Yusuf) Mosque in Melikahmet neighbourhood, Sur, Diyarbakır, after whom the mosque is named. He is locally said to have been a shaykh who came from Hamadan and settled in the city in the Akkoyunlu period. (Venerated as a figure distinct from the celebrated Central Asian Sufi Yusuf al-Hamadani, teacher of Ahmad Yasawi, whose tomb is in Merv.)

Sarı Sadık (Shaykh Sadiq Ali Efendi)

Shaykh

A shaykh of the Gülşeniyye Sufi order believed to be buried in the tomb opposite the Urfa Gate, popularly known as the 'Sarı Saltuk Tomb'. Sources identify the interred figure as Shaykh Sadiq Ali Efendi (d. 961/1553), one of the caliphs of İbrahim Gülşenî, known by the epithet Sarı Sadık.

Prophet Elisha (Elyasa)

Prophet (peace be upon him)

One of the prophets named in two verses of the Qur'an. As the source notes, apart from his mention in these two verses and the genealogy given in Islamic sources, no information about him exists. There are differing views on the origin and pronunciation of his name. Some exegetes held that the word was originally Yasa' or Laysa' , the initial “al-” being the definite article. The common pronunciation is al-Yasa' , though some read the name as al-Laysa' (al-Qurtubi). In Surat al-An'am (6/86) it is said: “And Ishmael, al-Yasa', Jonah and Lot — each We favoured above the worlds”; and in Surat Sad (38/48): “And remember Ishmael, al-Yasa' and Dhu al-Kifl — all were of the best.” In Islamic sources his genealogy is given as al-Yasa' b. Akhtub b. al-'Ajuz (al-Tabari, al-Tha'labi). According to the source, this prophet must be the prophet named Elisha in the Old Testament. The name Elisha, meaning “God is my salvation” in Hebrew, passed into Greek as Elisaios and into Latin as Elisaeus . According to the Old Testament, al-Yasa' was the son of Shaphat, who lived in the Kingdom of Israel in the VIII century BC, and was chosen by God's command as successor by the prophet Elijah (Ilyas). Elijah found him ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen and cast his mantle upon him, signifying that he had been chosen as a prophet. Elisha left his ploughing, slaughtered a yoke of the oxen for a farewell meal, and served Elijah, never leaving his side. According to the same narrative, when Elijah was to be taken up to heaven, Elisha refused to stop following him; together they reached Bethel, Jericho and the river Jordan, where Elijah struck the water with his mantle, parted it and they crossed over. When Elijah asked whether he had any wish, Elisha said: “Let a double portion of your spirit be mine”; then a chariot of fire and horses of fire came and took Elijah up to heaven. Seeing this, Elisha parted the waters again with his mantle, crossed the river and returned to Jericho (II Kings 2/1-18). The source relates, according to the Old Testament, that Elisha, who began his prophetic mission in Jericho, performed various miracles: casting salt into the spring of the city's water, unfit for irrigation, and making it usable; the filling with water of the ditches dug in the valley for the people left without water in the desert of Edom; multiplying the little olive oil of a poor woman whose husband had died and who could not pay her debt, until it filled the vessels borrowed from the neighbours; praying for an old woman who had no child, the woman's bearing a child, and that child's return to life after he died; removing the poison from a poisoned meal at Gilgal and feeding many people with a little food; the healing of a leper; and the rising to the surface of an axe head that had fallen into the river. According to the same narrative, the famine that began with the Aramean army's siege of Samaria ended through his intervention; and a man who had been killed and thrown into his grave came back to life on touching his bones. According to the Old Testament, Elisha fell ill and died in the time of Joash, king of Israel (II Kings 13/14, 20). The source does not state where he died or where he was buried.