Molla Hüsrev or Mullā Khusraw was a 15th-century Ottoman
scholar
A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...
and
mufti
A mufti (; , ) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion ('' fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatāwa'' have played an important role thro ...
.
Early life
He was born possibly in 1397, possibly in the village of
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Yıldızeli
Yıldızeli is a town in Sivas Province of Turkey. It is the seat of Yıldızeli District.İl ...
,
Sivas
Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...
(or perhaps in
Yerköy
Yerköy is a town in Yozgat Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. It is the seat of Yerköy District.
, near
Yozgat
Yozgat is a city in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Yozgat Province and Yozgat District.TurkmenVarsak tribe of the Sivas-
Tokat
Tokat is a city of Turkey in the mid-Black Sea region of Anatolia. It is the seat of Tokat Province and Tokat District.
region. His given name was Mehmed.
Two stories have been given to explain the name Hüsrev. One is that after the death of Ferâmurz, Mehmed was taken in by his sister's husband Hüsrev, because of which he was nicknamed Hüsrev's
In-Law
In law and in cultural anthropology, affinity is the kinship relationship created or that exists between two people as a result of someone's marriage. It is the relationship each party in the marriage has to the family of the other party in th ...
(''Hüsrev Kaynı''), later shortened to Hüsrev. The other is that Mehmed had an older brother named Hüsrev, because of which he was nicknamed Hüsrev's Brother (''Ehû Hüsrev''), later shortened to Hüsrev.
Hüsrev studied in
Bursa
Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...
, receiving his ''
ijazah
An ''ijazah'' (, "permission", "authorization", "license"; plural: ''ijazahs'' or ''ijazat'') is a license authorizing its holder to transmit a certain text or subject, which is issued by someone already possessing such authority. It is particul ...
'' from Yûsuf Bâlî, son of Molla Fenârî. He may also have studied in
Edirne
Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...
under Burhâneddin Haydar Herevî (a student of Sa‘deddin et-Teftâzânî), Molla Yegân, and Şeyh Hamza. In addition, he may have studied under Molla Süleyman (another student of Teftâzânî).
Career
Hüsrev's first appointment was as ''
müderris
Müderris is a term that described the religious scholar, professor or faculty member in Seljuk Anatolia and the Ottoman Empire.Cambridge University Press, History of Turkey Vol. 3, The Later Ottoman Empire 1603-1839 (2006), s.216
In Arabic, the ...
'' at the Şah Melek
Madrasa
Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...
in Edirne. In 1435–36, he was appointed ''müderris'' at the Halebî (Çelebi) Madrasa, also in Edirne. After the
abdication
Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the Order of succession, succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of ...
of
Sultan
Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...
Murad II
Murad II (, ; June 1404 – 3 February 1451) was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1421 to 1444 and from 1446 to 1451.
Early life
Murad was born in June 1404 to Mehmed I, while the identity of his mother is disputed according to v ...
in 1444, he was appointed ''
kazasker
A kazasker or kadıasker (, ''ḳāḍī'asker'', "military judge") was a chief judge in the Ottoman Empire, so named originally because his jurisdiction extended to the cases of soldiers, who were later tried only by their own officers. Two kazas ...
'' by
Mehmed II
Mehmed II (; , ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror (; ), was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481.
In Mehmed II's first reign, ...
. Sometime after Murad's return to the throne in 1446, he left this post, but at some point was appointed ''
qadi
A qadi (; ) is the magistrate or judge of a Sharia court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and minors, and supervision and auditing of public works.
History
The term '' was in use from ...
'' of Edirne.
During the
conquest of Constantinople
The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city was captured on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 55-day siege which ha ...
, Hüsrev may have been part of Mehmed II's council. In 1453, Hüsrev may have been appointed ''müderris'' at the Kalenderhane Madrasa. In the mid-1450s, he was also ''qadi'' of Bursa. In 1459, Hüsrev was made ''qadi'' of
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
Galata
Galata is the former name of the Karaköy neighbourhood in Istanbul, which is located at the northern shore of the Golden Horn. The district is connected to the historic Fatih district by several bridges that cross the Golden Horn, most nota ...
, and of
Üsküdar
Üsküdar () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 35 km2, and its population is 524,452 (2022). It is a large and densely populated district on the Anatolian (Asian) shore of the Bosphorus. It is border ...
, as well as ''müderris'' at the Aya Sofya Madrasa.
In 1472-73 (or 1462–63), Hüsrev left Istanbul for Bursa, apparently because Mehmed showed more favor to
Molla Gürâni
Molla Gürâni was a 15th-century Ottoman administrator and ''mufti''. He became the chief judge of the Ottoman Empire under Mehmed II after the death of Murad II in 1451. Gürâni was part of Mehmed's council during the Fall of Constantinople, c ...
than to him. In Bursa, Hüsrev purchased or was given land in the Zeyniler neighborhood near the Emir Sultan Mosque. There he built the Molla Hüsrev Madrasa.
In 1467, a year he calls the Great Plague Year (''Büyük
Veba
VEBA AG (originally from ''Vereinigte Elektrizitäts und Bergwerks Aktiengesellschaft'' 'United Electricity and Mining Corporation') was a German state owned energy company. VEBA was founded in 1929 as a holding company owned by the state of Pru ...
Yılı''), Hüsrev contracted plague.
Sultan Mehmed invited Hüsrev back to Istanbul, probably in 1469, and sometime after 1473 appointed him mufti of Istanbul (later known as
Shaykh al-Islām
Shaykh al-Islām (; ; , ''Sheykh-ol-Eslām''; , Sheikh''-ul-Islām''; , ) was used in the classical era as an honorific title for outstanding scholars of the Islamic sciences.Gerhard Böwering, Patricia Crone, Mahan Mirza, The Princeton Encyclope ...
), a position he held until his death.
Death and legacy
Hüsrev died in
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
in 1480-81 (possibly October 1480). He was buried on the grounds of his madrasa in Bursa.
Hüsrev was reputed to live modestly despite his wealth and was respected by the people because of his dignified, charitable, and pious demeanor. Sultan Mehmed called him "the
Abu Hanifa
Abu Hanifa (; September 699 CE – 767 CE) was a Muslim scholar, jurist, theologian, ascetic,Pakatchi, Ahmad and Umar, Suheyl, "Abū Ḥanīfa", in: ''Encyclopaedia Islamica'', Editors-in-Chief: Wilferd Madelung and, Farhad Daftary. and epony ...
of our time."
Hüsrev had several institutions built during his life, including the madrasa in Bursa, a '' han'' in Bursa, three small
mosque
A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard.
Originally, mosques were si ...
Vefa
Vefa is part of the district of Fatih in Istanbul, and lies inside what was once the old walled city of Constantinople. It lies roughly northwest of the eastern section of the Aqueduct of Valens, and is rich in monuments, both Byzantine and Ott ...
fountain
A fountain, from the Latin "fons" ( genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect.
Fountains were o ...
('' çeşme'') in Vefa (one of the oldest Ottoman fountains in Istanbul). The madrasa, han, and Cibali mosque were no longer extant in the 1970s.
Hüsrev's students included Zenbilli Ali Cemâlî Efendi, Fenârî Hasan Çelebi, Molla Hasan Samsûnî, Yûsuf b. Cüneyd et-Tokadî, and Molla Muhyiddin Mehmed Manisalıoğlu.
Hüsrev's great-grandson Husrevzâde Mustafa Efendi (
pen name
A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name.
A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...
müderris
Müderris is a term that described the religious scholar, professor or faculty member in Seljuk Anatolia and the Ottoman Empire.Cambridge University Press, History of Turkey Vol. 3, The Later Ottoman Empire 1603-1839 (2006), s.216
In Arabic, the ...