Shaykh al-Islam Baha'i Mehmed Efendi () (1595-6/1601, Istanbul – 3 January 1654) was an Ottoman jurist, theologian, poet and scholar. He was first appointed as

Shaykh al-Islam Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning " elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim scholar. Though this title generally refers to men, there are also a small number of ...

in 1649. Some of his

fatwa A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...

s are written in verse of which 4 of them are available now. His best known ruling was his lawful pronouncing of smoking and ending the prohibitions and repressions of the early 17th century. His body is buried in

Fatih mosque The Fatih Mosque (, "Conqueror's Mosque" in English language, English) is an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman mosque off Fevzi Paşa Caddesi in the Fatih district of Istanbul, Turkey. The original mosque was constructed between 1463 and 1470 on the site ...

Divan

The Divan of Baha'i consists of 6

qasida The qaṣīda (also spelled ''qaṣīdah''; plural ''qaṣā’id'') is an ancient Arabic word and form of poetry, often translated as ode. The qasida originated in pre-Islamic Arabic poetry and passed into non-Arabic cultures after the Arab Mus ...

, 2

masnavi The ''Masnavi'', or ''Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi'' (, DIN 31635, DMG: ''Mas̲navī-e maʻnavī''), also written ''Mathnawi'', or ''Mathnavi'', is an extensive poem written in Persian language, Persian by Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, also known as Rumi. I ...

, 4 stanza, 2 history stanza, 40

ghazal ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...

and 8

ruba'i A ''rubāʿī'' (, from Arabic ; plural: ) or ''chahārgāna(e)'' () is a poem or a verse of a poem in Persian poetry (or its derivative in English and other languages) in the form of a quatrain, consisting of four lines (four hemistichs). ...

Notes

References

* * * Turkish poets 1590s births 17th-century poets from the Ottoman Empire 1654 deaths Year of birth uncertain {{Turkey-poet-stub