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Muhammed Hamdi Yazır | |
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.jpg) Elmalılı Muhammed Hamdi Yazır | |
| Born | 1878 (1878) |
| Died | (1942-05-27)27 May 1942 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Islamic jurisprudence,Islamic theology,Qur'anic exegesis,Kalam,Islamic philosophy,Philosophy,Logic,Lexicography |
Muhammed Hamdi Yazır also known asElmalılı Hamdi Yazır andElmalılı (1878 – 27 May 1942) was a TurkishMaturidi theologian, logician,Qur'an translator,Qur'anic exegesis scholar,Islamic legal academic, philosopher and encyclopedist.
He was born in 1878, inElmalı district ofAntalya province, then in theOttoman Empire, and now in Turkey. He is nicknamed after his birthplace: Elmalılı. Elmalılı means "from Elmalı" or "born in Elmalı" in Turkish. His father, Hoca Numan Efendi, who is also a scholar of Islam, was from the Yazır village ofGölhisar district ofBurdur province. He is from Yazir sub-branch ofOghuz branch ofTurkish nation. Hoca Numan Efendi, the father of Muhammed Hamdi, went to the Elmalı district of Antalya for education when he was a child and settled there. Hoca Numan Efendi worked as a head clerk of lawsuit of the district. Yazır's mother Fatma Hanım was the daughter of Esad Efendi, who was a scholar of Islam living in Elmalı.
After completing primary and secondary education in Elmalı, to study Islamic sciences, in 1885, Yazır went toIstanbul which was the capital city of theOttoman Empire at the time. He completed his university education inBayezid Madrasah. Then he completed his education in Mekteb-i Nuvvab and became aQadi (judge). He also receivedIslamic calligraphy courses from Sami Efendi and Bakkal Arif Efendi. He learnedArabic,Persian, andFrench during his education. He was as fluent in French as in Arabic. He translated some French books toTurkish, one of them beingGabriel Seailles's Histoire de la philosophie.
Muhammed Hamdi Yazır became aQadi (judge) after completing his education in Mekteb-i Nuvvab. He worked as a full-time academic in Bayezid Madrasah from 1905 to 1908. Then, he got in the service ofSheikh ul-Islam of the time and started lecturing inMekteb-i Mülkiye, Medreset-ul-Vaizin andSüleymaniye Madrasah. He gave "judgement of estates in mortmain" courses in Mekteb-i Mülkiye, logic courses in Süleymaniye Madrasah and fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) in Medreset-ul-Vaizin (madrasah of preachers). He also served in theDarü'l-Hikmeti'l-İslâmiye (high council of consultation working for Sheikh ul-Islam). After a while, he became the president of the council.
When he was working in service of Sheikh ul-Islam, theCommittee of Union and Progress prepared a coup against the SultanAbdul Hamid II. Yazir wrote the symbolicfatwa for the termination of the reign ofAbdul Hamid II. He became a member of the senate of theOttoman Parliament forAntalya. He strongly opposed CUP which held a nationalist and militarist position. Moreover, he served as Foundations(Vakıflar) Minister in theOttoman SultanMehmed VI'sDamat Ferid Pasha Cabinet.
When the republic was founded, he was giving logic courses inMedrese-t-ül Mütehassisin (a postgraduate school). WhenMustafa Kemal's government abolished the medreses and replaced them with special Imam Hatip Schools, he started working for writing the first modern Turkish translation of the Quran, under Atatürk's orders. Later, he studied for 20 years in solitude. He died of cardiac deficiency on 27 May 1942 in Erenköy district ofIstanbul. He is buried inSahrayı Cedit Mezarlığı (Sahrayı Cedit Cemetery) in Kadıköy in Istanbul.
Muhammed Hamdi Yazır worked on logic, philosophy,Islamic jurisprudence, andIslamic theology. In his philosophical works, he opposed the prevailing Western opinion that the human mind on its own is enough for reaching the absolute truth. He held the position that faith and mind together are capable of comprehending truth. In that case, his thinking is very similar to the 11th century Persian scholar al-Ghazali. He worked on Qur'anic exegesis inMaturidi context. He also worked on a dictionary of law. Additionally he translated western papers into Turkish.
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