The life and activities of Elmalılı Muhammed Hamdi Yazır (1878-1942)

The political, social, cultural, and economic events of the 20th century deeply affected the Ottoman state. It was in such an era that Hamdi Efendi was born. He was born in 1878 in the district of Elmalı in Antalya, in the month of June. He grew up in a devout and scholarly family and spent his childhood in Elmalı. He completed his primary education in Elmalı and moved to Istanbul at a young age, enrolling in the Ayasofya Madrasa. In 1901, he enrolled in the Darülfünun-ı Osmanî - Ulumu Aliyye-i Diniyye (now the Faculty of Theology) and graduated at the top of his class in 1901, but left the school halfway through. In 1903, he entered the Mekteb-i Nüvvab and graduated first in his class. While still a student, he became a member of the Mekteb-i Hukuk and gained a strong command of many foreign languages including Arabic, French, English, and Persian. Hamdi Efendi was a hardworking individual and achieved great success. He taught in the Mekteb-i Nüvvab and Mekteb-i Hukuk, and in 1908 he was appointed to teach logic at the Süleymaniye Madrasa. In the same year, he was elected as a deputy from Antalya to the Ottoman Parliament (Meclis-i Mebusan). He became a member of the committee that prepared the Civil Law course at the Mekteb-i Mülkiye. In 1910, he began teaching sermons and Islamic law at the Beyazıt Madrasa. During this time, he also served as a member of the Meclis-i Mesâlih. In addition to these roles, he taught logic at the Süleymaniye Madrasa, and frequently attended meetings with Sultan Mehmed Reşad. He took part in the activities of the Darü'l-Hikmeti'l-İslâmiye, an Islamic academic instution, and served as its head from 1919. He also wrote for the Ittihat ve Terakki (Committee of Union and Progress) affiliated Cemiyet-i İlmiyye-i İslâmiye, producing works on religious, political, and social topics. He worked under Sultan Abdulhamid II's administration and took part in the constitutional efforts of 1909. Disapproving of the direction the society was taking, he later joined the Hürriyet ve İtilaf Fırkası (Freedom and Accord Party). He served as the Director of Foundations in the Cabinet of Grand Vizier Damat Ferit Pasha. When the Ankara Government prosecuted everyone who had served in the Damat Ferit Cabinet, he was tried by the Ankara Independence Tribunal but was acquitted and released in 1925. At the request of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, he began his monumental work Hak Dini Kur'an Dili (The True Religion: The Language of the Qur'an), a tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis), which he completed in 1938. He translated and interpreted many different works. The great scholar Elmalılı Hamdi Efendi passed away in 1942 at the age of 64.