From the Empire Ottoman to the Republic of Turkey The Muftiīof Göynük Ibrāhīm Hakkī Efendi

Abstract

In this article, the life of Göynüklü Ibrāhīm Hakkı Efendi will be analyzed. Ibrāhīm Hakkì Efendī was born in Göynük in the middle of 1294/1878 according to the Rūmī calendar. Since his father was a mudarris, he has become familiar with ‘ulamā’ circles since his childhood. He spent the first years of his education life in Göynük, where he was born. He completed the later stages of the education process in Istanbul. He returned to Göynük after completing his madrasa education and obtaining his ijâzât and he undertook various official duties in his hometown until 1946, the date of his death. He served as the Muftî of Göynük for the longest time among the duties he has undertaken. It is known that he had continued this duty in the last period of the Ottoman Empire and the first years of the Turkish Republic. Therefore, Ibrâhîm Hakkî Efendi is the last muftî of the Ottoman period and the first muftî of the Republic period in Göynük. Ibrâhîm Hakkî Efendi is the subject of this article because we think that his position is important. According to our findings, there has not been any study on Ibrâhîm Hakkî Efendi yet. In this respect, the article will enable Ibrâhîm Hakkî Efendi to known in the light of archive sources and other available information/documents. The article includes informations about his life, family, education, hodjas, scientific background and the duties he undertook. In order to obtain this information, we first applied to the Istanbul Muftî's Mashîkhat Archive and to the Religious Affairs Presidency Archive. From the aforementioned archives, the registry files of Ibrâhîm Hakkî Efendi were obtained. In addition, other sources that will contribute to the article have been carefully scanned. Ibrâhîm Hakkî Efendi took the exam of the lectern sheikhdom and was found successful after his madrasah education. But, since the appointment to the lectern sheikhdom was made according to a certain hierarchy, his turn did not come. Upon this, Ibrâhîm Hakkî Efendi returned from Istanbul to his hometown, Göynük and undertook a number of official duties from this date until his death. Court membership, mudarrisship and muftîship are among his official duties that he undertook. His name was chosen and determined by the local units for the duty of muftî and he was appointed to the post with the approval of Shaykh al-Islâm. Ibrâhîm Hakkî Efendi had served as the muftî of Göynük between 1912-1946 without any interruption. His long service as a muftî is enoug to reach a positive opinion about his education, scientific knowledge, personal characteristics, and his position in the eyes of administrators and society. Because the fact that a person has held the same post for thirty-four years is at least a sign of trust in him. However, when he was first appointed as muftî, some objections were raised against him. It is possible to list these objections under the headings such as taking sides in favor of Ibrâhîm Hakkî Efendi when he was elected as the mufti, ignoring the applications of other candidates and his lack of scientific knowledge. These objections that submitted to the officials were not ignored by the local authorities, on the contrary, they were addressed. Even, these objections were investigated by more than one governmental institution. As a result of the investigations, it was determined that the allegations made against Ibrâhîm Hakkî Efendi were unfounded. As a result, this amount of information has been identified for Ibrâhîm Hakkî Efendi at least for now. It would be appropriate to state that the contents of the article is open to improvement with the information and documents that are likely to be obtained later.