Shaykh al-Islām Ebussuud Effendi
Abdullah Ahmed
Youth
In the winter of 1493 CE (893 AH)[1], an infant by the name of Meḥmed ibn Meḥmed ibn Muṣṭafā al-ʾImādī, also known as Ebussuud (Abū al-Saʿūd), took his first breaths in the Yavsi Baba mystic lodge (tekke).[2] Shaykh Yavsi, Ebussuud’s father, was a prominent scholar of the Bayrami order of Islamic mysticism, well-known in Istanbul. The acclaimed Ottoman historian Taşköprüzade relates that ten years prior to Al-Saʿūd’s birth, Yavsi was on his way to Hajj. Along the way, he crossed paths with Prince Bayezid II. Yavsi said to him, “When you return from the Hejaz, we will find you sitting on the throne of the throne.” A year later, when Bayezid II became the Ottoman Sultan, he summoned Yavsi to move to Istanbul, built the Yavsi Baba Lodge,[3] and appointed Yavsi as the Shaykh. Their bond was so close that Yavsi became known as the “sultan’s shaykh.” Even the byname “Yavsî” was the name given to him by Sultan Bayezid II, since yavṣī means tick, and Shaykh Yavsi would cling to knowledge as a tick clings to its host.[4]
Growing up in the fertile lands of his father’s guidance, Ebussuud studied various texts at the hands of his father, including commentaries on al-Tajrīd fi ʿIlm al-Mantiq, on al-Sakkāki’s Miftāḥ al-Ulūm in the science of naḥw and balāghah, and on al-Mawāqif fī ʿIlm al-Kalām.[5] Ebussuud’s teachers also include Müeyyedzâde Abdurrahman, Mevlânâ Seydî-i Karamânî, and Shaykh Al-Islām Kemalpaşazâde.[6] Committing his youth to studying proved fruitful. Sultan Beyezid II recognized his exceptional skills and rewarded them by granting him a daily stipend of 30 aqches and allowing Ebussuud to kiss his hand, considered a gesture of great reverence.[7]
Career
Ebussuud’s twenties proceeded against the backdrop of political turmoil and personal tragedy. Coinciding with Sultan Beyezid II's abdication at Sultan Selim I's hands, Shaykh Yavsi passed away when Ebussuud was 24 years old. Two years later, his teacher, Müeyyedzâde Abdurahman passed away as well. Despite the political unrest, Ebussuud remained in the good graces of the sultan, continuing to receive his stipend.
In his late twenties, Ebussuud was appointed as an instructor at the İnegöl İshak Pasha Madrasa. Over the next decade, he climbed the educational ladder and taught in several schools, including Davud Pasha, Mahmud Pasha, and finally the Müftî Madrasah.[8] Ebussuud taught higher-level texts, including al-Kashshāf in tafsīr, Saḥīḥ al-Bukhārī in hadith, and al-Hidāyah in Ḥanafī fiqh. Several of his students served in the Shaykh al-Islām office, including Kadızâde Ahmed Şemseddin, Abdulkadir Bostanzâde Mehmed, and his son-in-law, Malûlzâde Mehmed. The importance that Ebussuud gave to scholarship is epitomized in his statement, “Nothing surpasses knowledge in nobility. Kings govern the masses. Scholars govern the kings.”[9] This statement also signifies Ebussuud’s perception of the sultan’s role not being above the law, but rather subject to it.
In 1533, Ebussuud was appointed as the kadi (judge) of Bursa. Six months later, he became the judge of Istanbul, a post he held for 4 years.[10] Subsequently, in 1537, when the acting kazaskers (military judges) of Rumelia (modern-day Balkans)[11] and Anatolia displeased Sultan Süleyman, he dismissed both of them and appointed Ebussuud as the Kazasker of Rumelia.[12]
As Kazasker, Ebussuud took part in several military campaigns, including the campaigns of Esztergom, Moldavia, and Hungary. When the army conquered the eastern bank of the Danube river, including the Pest side of what is now Budapest, Ebussuud led the first jumuʿah prayer in the city. Despite being entrenched in his Kazasker responsibilities, Ebussuud never lost his stamina for scholarly pursuits. Throughout the same Hungarian campaign, Ebussuud authored a gloss on al-Zamakhsharī’s commentary on Sūrah al-Fatḥ. Ebussuud’s actions echoed the advice of his peer, Taşköprüzade. When addressing people of knowledge, he discouraged overreliance on the future and becoming lazy. For indeed, laziness is the vanquisher of aspirations.[13] The words of Taşköprüzade and the actions of Ebussuud echo the sentiment that, despite the commitments life hurls in one’s direction, a scholar’s engagement with his books must not cease.
Shaykh al-Islām
After the demise of Ebussuud’s teacher, Kemalpaşazâde, the Shaykh al-Islām office faced instability. Within just eleven years after Kemalpaşazâde passed away, four scholars successively occupied the office. At the age of 55, Ebussuud took on the Shaykh al-Islām mantle and held it strong for 28 years. He systematized the process of producing fatāwā (responses to legal inquiries) by organizing a team to assist him. Prior to Ebussuud’s era, the turnaround rate for responses was inconsistent. Ebussuud’s proposal to utilize clerks in the curation of fatāwā streamlined the process. The office’s output exponentially increased, reaching the point where, one day between fajr and ẓuhr, they produced a staggering 1412 fatāwā.
Due to the volume of Ebussuud’s fatāwā, one may assume that they were overly industrialized and therefore lacked substance. This assumption is disproved by the thoughtfulness of his responses. Reflecting the Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺ instruction to “meet the masses at their respective levels,” Ebussuud commonly responded in Turkish to keep questions accessible to the laity. Mirroring the question’s style, he occasionally revealed his linguistic prowess by responding in a different language or employing rhyming schemes.
Some prominent examples of Ebussuud's legal opinions include his implementation of the requirement for women to have the permission of their guardians for marriage, which is the view of Imam Muḥammad al-Shaybānī, contrary to the dominant view of the Ḥanafī madhhab. Ebussuud forbade judges from officiating marriages in the absence of this requirement.[14] In the area of entertainment and leisure, Ebussuud permitted consuming coffee and watching karagöz (shadow plays). Another controversial fatwā passed by Ebussuud was the permissibility of cash awqāf. The two conditions were that the waqf must be structured like a sale contract, and the interest must not exceed 15 percent.[15]
Though Ebussuud did not personally compile his responses into one place, his fatāwā collections can be found across various libraries in Istanbul. Since Ebussuud’s time was consumed by his various responsibilities, little time was left for formal writing. He wrote a commentary on kitāb al-buyū of al-Hidāyah and one on kitāb al-jihād. Ebussuud also wrote a commentary on Abū al-Barakāt al-Nasafī’s Manār al-Anwār. His magnum opus is an exegesis of the Quran, Irshād al-ʿAql al-Salīm ilā Mazāyā al-Kitāb al-Karīm.
Relationship with Sultan Süleyman
Ebussuud forged a strong bond with Sultan Süleyman after overcoming wartime hardships. Despite Ebussuud’s close relationship with Sultan Süleyman, they maintained a clear distinction between their personal and professional relationship. In one instance, Sultan Süleyman had passed a certain decree in support of tenants around the Hagia Sofia. Ebussuud disagreed and exclaimed in response that “an object that is unlawful cannot be made lawful; an object that is unlawful cannot be made lawful.”[16] This statement displays Ebussuud’s commitment to the truth and his unwillingness to bend the religion in compliance with personal agendas. Ebussuud’s relationship with the sultan endured despite such a disagreement, demonstrating their ability to navigate differences with maturity.
In the campaign of Sigetvar, when Ebussuud fell ill, Sultan Süleyman began his letter by addressing Ebussuud as “my brother in the hereafter, my companion on the path of truth, Molla Ebussuud Efendi.”[17] When it came time to place the foundation stone of the Suleymaniye mosque, Sultan Süleyman had requested Ebussuud to place it. Towards the end of his life, when Ebussuud desired to go for pilgrimage, he was prevented by Sultan Süleyman, who claimed that none could fill Ebussuud’s shoes adequately in his absence.
When Ebussuud was 75, Sultan Süleyman requested a copy of his tafsīr, Irshād al-ʿAql al-Salīm. Ebussuud made a copy and sent it in the hands of his son-in-law, the future Shaykh al-Islām, Malûlzâde. The sultan showered Ebussuud with several gifts, including a daily stipend increase from 200 to 500 aqches. When the text was completed in the following year, he once again increased his stipend by 100 aqches. These gifts reflect Sultan Süleyman’s reverence for the text and its author. Sultan Süleyman passed the same year that he received the text, a year before his dear companion Ebussuud.
Family Life
Uncovering Ebussuud’s personal life, he was the father of at least three sons and a daughter. While there is little information regarding his daughter, she was married to Shaykh al-Islām Malûlzâde. His first and third sons, Mehmed and Mustafa, followed the typical Ottoman track of becoming teachers and then judges. On the other hand, his second son, Shemsuddin, displayed great potential from a young age. He spent his youth under the tutelage of the great Ottoman historian, Taşköprüzâde. Shemsuddin was also his father's teaching assistant. At the age of 17, his exceptional academic acumen caught the attention of Rustem Pasha, the founder of a madrasa, who appointed him as an instructor. Tragically, Shemsuddin’s promising life was cut short at the age of 29 due to substance abuse. After Shemsuddin’s passing, Ebussuud took on the care of the two sons he left behind and raised them as his own sons.
Passing
When his grandson ʿAbd al-Karīm passed away after becoming a madrasa instructor at the age of 30, Ebussuud made a dua: “Let none in our family pass into the valley of death before me.”[18] His request was accepted by Allah, and he returned to his Creator on August 23, 1574 CE (Jumād al-Awwal 5th, 982 AH). His passing shook the globe. Ebussuud’s janāzah was prayed in the ḥaramayn. His gravesite rests near the Eyup Sultan Mosque, near an elementary school that he built.
Notes
[1] Ali bin Bâli, Al-ʿIqd al-Manẓūm fī Dhikri Afāḍil al-Rūm (Tehran: Ketabkhaneh, Muzeh va Markaz-e Asnad-e Majles-e Showra-ye Eslami, 2010), 118. - ʿĀshiq Chalbi says Ebussuud was born in 896 h. ʻĀshiq Chalabī. al-Shaqāʼiq al-Nuʻmānīyah fī ʻulamāʼ al-Dawlah al-ʻUthmānīyah wa-dhaylihī. Beirt: Dār al-Kutub al-ʻIlmīyah, 2017.
[2] Kamil Şahin and Semih Ceyhan, "Şeyh Yavsî," TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, accessed March 27, 2025, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/seyh-yavsi.
[3] Shaykh Yavci’s tekke can be found today in Istanbul’s Fatih district, near the Yavus Selim Mosque. It is known as Sivasî Tekkesi. M. Baha Tanman, “Sivasi Tekkesi (Fatih),” TDV Islamic Encyclopedia, TDV Islamic Research Center, 2009, accessed March 31, 2025, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/sivasi-tekkesi--fatih.
[4] Kamil Şahin and Semih Ceyhan, "Şeyh Yavsî," TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, accessed March 27, 2025, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/seyh-yavsi.
[5]Ali bin Bâli, Al-ʿIqd al-Manẓūm fī Dhikri Afāḍil al-Rūm (Tehran: Ketabkhaneh, Muzeh va Markaz-e Asnad-e Majles-e Showra-ye Eslami, 2010), 119
[6]Ahmet Akgunduz, "Ebussuud Efendi," TDV Islamic Encyclopedia, TDV Islamic Research Center, 1994, last updated August 29, 2024, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/ebussuud-efendi.
[7]Colin Imber, "The Ottoman Empire, the Law and Ebu's-su'ud," in Ebu's-su'ud: The Islamic Legal Tradition (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, n.d.),
[8]Colin Imber, "The Ottoman Empire, the Law and Ebu's-su'ud," in Ebu's-su'ud: The Islamic Legal Tradition (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, n.d.),
[9] Aḥmad ibn Muṣṭafá Taşköprizâdekubrīzādah, Miftāḥ al-Saʻādah wa-Miṣbāḥ al-Siyādah fī Mawḍūʻāt al-ʻUlūm, vol. 1, 1st ed. (Bayrūt: Dār al-Kutub al-ʻIlmīyah, 1985), 11
[10]Colin Imber, "The Ottoman Empire, the Law and Ebu's-su'ud," in Ebu's-su'ud: The Islamic Legal Tradition (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, n.d.)
[11]The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Rumelia." Encyclopedia Britannica, July 20, 1998. https://www.britannica.com/place/Rumelia.
[12]The position of Kazasker – from qāḍī al-ʿaskar, or military judge – was responsible for mitigating any crimes and conflicts within the army. The Kazasker institution was present within the Umayyad, Ghaznavid, Seljuk, and numerous other Muslim dynasties. In 1361 (762 h.), Sultan Murad I reinstituted the Kazasker position in the Ottoman Empire. See Mehmet İpşirli, "Kazasker," *TDV Islamic Encyclopedia*, TDV Islamic Research Center, 2022, [https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kazasker].
[13] Aḥmad ibn Muṣṭafá Taşköprüzade, Miftāḥ al-Saʻādah wa-Miṣbāḥ al-Siyādah fī Mawḍūʻāt al-ʻUlūm, vol. 1, 1st ed. (Bayrūt: Dār al-Kutub al-ʻIlmīyah, 1985), 19
[14]Ahmet Akgunduz, "Ebussuud Efendi," TDV Islamic Encyclopedia, TDV Islamic Research Center, 1994, last updated August 29, 2024, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/ebussuud-efendi.
[15] Dr. Khalil Abdurrashid, "Financing Kindness as a Society: The Rise & Fall of Islamic Philanthropic Institutions (Waqfs)," Yaqeen Institute, January 9, 2020, updated July 30, 2024
[16]Ahmet Akgunduz, "Ebussuud Efendi," TDV Islamic Encyclopedia, TDV Islamic Research Center, 1994, last updated August 29, 2024, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/ebussuud-efendi.
[17]Ahmet Akgunduz, "Ebussuud Efendi," TDV Islamic Encyclopedia, TDV Islamic Research Center, 1994, last updated August 29, 2024, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/ebussuud-efendi.
[18]Colin Imber, "The Ottoman Empire, the Law and Ebu's-su'ud," in Ebu's-su'ud: The Islamic Legal Tradition (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, n.d.)
