Ebussuud Efendi
Ebussuud Efendi (Mehmed Ebüssuûd, 1490-1574) was one of the longest-serving and most influential şeyhülislams (chief Islamic jurists) of the Ottoman state. A figure who shaped the legal system of Süleyman the Magnificent’s reign, Ebussuud Efendi came from a family of scholars rooted in İskilip.
Family and Birth
Ebussuud Efendi’s father, Şeyh Muhyiddin Muhammed, known as “Şeyh Yavsî,” was a Bayramî-Şemsî sheikh still remembered in İskilip through the mosque that bears his name. Şeyh Yavsî’s own father, Mustafa el-İmâdî, was the brother of the famous astronomer Ali Kuşçu. Şeyh Yavsî was born in the village of İmâd (Direklibel), attached to İskilip, and was later invited to Istanbul after winning the friendship of Şehzade (Prince) Bayezid; once Bayezid became sultan, a lodge (later known as the Sivâsî Tekkesi) was built for him near Sultanselim.
The birthplace of Ebussuud Efendi himself is less certain. The tradition current in İskilip, and repeated by the İskilip Municipality, holds that he was born directly in İskilip in 1490. However, according to the scholarly assessment in the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (Turkey’s standard reference encyclopedia of Islamic studies), this is unlikely: given that his father settled in Istanbul roughly nine years after Bayezid II’s accession, it is considered more probable that Ebussuud was born near Istanbul, in the village of Meteris. His nisba “İskilibî” (of İskilip) most likely reflects his family’s origin rather than his own birthplace.
Career
Educated first by his father, Ebussuud Efendi went on to study under leading scholars of the day, including Müeyyedzâde Abdurrahman Efendi and Kemalpaşazâde. From 1516 he taught at a series of medreses, was appointed judge (kadı) of Istanbul in 1533, and became Rumelian kazasker (chief military judge) in 1537. He accompanied Süleyman the Magnificent on the Moldavia, Esztergom and Buda campaigns, and personally led the first Friday prayer held in Buda after its conquest.
Appointed şeyhülislam in 1545, Ebussuud Efendi held the post for 28 years and 11 months, the longest tenure of any şeyhülislam in Ottoman history. During his term he systematized the hierarchy of the scholarly (ilmiye) establishment and raised the salary and authority of the şeyhülislam’s office above that of the kazasker.
Scholarly Legacy
Ebussuud Efendi is regarded as one of the Ottoman Empire’s foremost authorities in Quranic exegesis and Islamic law. His Quran commentary, İrşâdü’l-Akli’s-Selîm, completed over roughly twenty years, earned him the title “sultan of exegetes.” His legal opinions (fetvas) laying out the legal foundations of the Ottoman state-land (mirî) and timar systems were reproduced at the head of law codes (kanunnames) for centuries, and his ruling permitting cash endowments (para vakfı) shaped one of the era’s most contested legal debates. He wrote more than twenty works in Turkish, Arabic and Persian.
Traces in İskilip
Ebussuud Efendi expanded the Şeyh Muhiddin Yavsi Mosque built by his father, adding a second domed section beside the original. He also had a mosque, soup kitchen (imaret) and school built next to his father’s tomb; the Arabic endowment deed (vakfiye) for this complex, dated 1569, is recorded at the Istanbul Evkaf (Pious Foundations) Administration. Despite his central career in Istanbul, Ebussuud Efendi kept his family’s İskilip roots alive through these concrete charitable works.
Death
Ebussuud Efendi died on 23 August 1574. His funeral prayer was held at the Fatih Mosque, after which he was buried in the cemetery of the primary school (sıbyan mektebi) he himself had built in Eyüp. His students went on to include several future şeyhülislams, among them Kadızâde Ahmed Şemseddin, Hoca Sâdeddin Efendi and his relative Sun’ullah Efendi.
For more on other İskilip-born scholars, see İskilip’s Scholars and the Museum of İskilip Scholars.