Mahmut Ustaosmanoğlu
Mahmut Ustaosmanoğlu, also known as Mahmud Effendi and known to his followers as "Effendi Hazretleri", was a Turkish Sufi Sheikh and the leader of the influential İsmailağa Jamia of the Naqshbandi-Khalidiyya centered in Çarşamba, Istanbul.
Early life
Ustaosmanoğlu was born in a village Imam in Miço village of the Of district.In his childhood, Ustaosmanoğlu is known for never missing any Tahajjud prayers every night, prayed 5 times a day, never missing any prayers and always have big interests for knowledge. Later on in his teenage years, he went to a city called Kayseri for seeking knowledge. He followed the lessons from a popular local Alim Named Tesbihcizade Ahmed Effendi and Calekli Haci Dursun Effendi.
In the month of Ramadan 1951, he was appointed as a Imam in a local masjid in the Divriği district of Sivas province. He attracted the attention of the people around him with his religious talks and knowledge.
He moved later on in his upcoming years to the city of Bandırma while he was a military officer, at the same time, he met Ahiskali Ali Haydar Effendi in Tekke mosque Bandırma and followed lessons for seeking more knowledge.
He became a hafiz of the Quran under his father by the age of 6 and continued his madrasa education, gaining his ijazah by the age of 16. Afterward he married his cousin and started his work as an Imam.
He had three children from his wife, Ahmet, Abdullah and Fatma. After the death of his first wife Zehra Ustaosmanoğlu in 1993, he married Müşerref Ustaosmanoğlu the same year. His daughter Fatma Muratoğlu died on December 28, 2003.
Ustaosmanoğlu is also known for being the teacher of Ahmet Mahmut Ünlü and Metin Balkanlıoğlu in early 1980s.
Naqshbandi order
In 1952, Ustaosmanoğlu met Ahıskalı Ali Haydar Efendi, a Naqshbandi sheikh who became his murshid. Ali Haydar Efendi appointed him as the imam of the İsmailağa Mosque in 1954. By the year 1960, Ustaosmanoğlu's life had its greatest turn after Ali Haydar Efendi's demise and he became the leader of the path. In 1996, he retired as the imam of the İsmailağa Musjid.Later life
Ustaosmanoğlu tried to keep a low profile in the following years, especially after the 1997 memorandum, but his relations came under the public spotlight with a series of internal strife in the Naqshbandi order. His son-in-law Hızır Ali Muratoğlu was murdered in 1998 and in 2006, a retired imam named Bayram Ali Öztürk was murdered in the mosque and the man who stabbed him to death was lynched by the congregation.Ustaosmanoğlu is known for having dialogues and relations with many politicians including Necmettin Erbakan, Abdullah Gül, Ahmet Davutoğlu, Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu, Recai Kutan and many more.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was known to maintain close relations with Ustaosmanoğlu. Erdoğan paid a highly publicized visit to Ustaosmanoğlu the night before the presidential election in 2014.
In 2010, Ustaosmanoğlu was given the "Outstanding Service to Islam" award and the title of "Reformer of the 15th century" at the "International Symposium on Service to Humanity" organized in Istanbul by the Marifet Association, affiliated with the İsmailağa Community, of which he is the leader.
Ustaosmanoğlu died on 23 June 2022 after two weeks of hospitalization for an infection. At his funeral, his son Ahmet Ustaosmanoğlu announced that his father was succeeded by Hasan Kılıç.
His Writings
- Tafsir Ruhul Furqan
- Sohbetler
- Sohbetler Risale-i Kudsiyye
- Lectures during Umrah
- al-Fatiha Commentary
- Ayet'l-Kursi and Amene'r-Rasûlu Commentary
- Virtues of the Holy Quran and the Etiquette of Reading
- The Holy Quran and the Commentary of the Holy Quran Explanations
- Khatm-i Hâce of Our Conversations
- Irşadü'l-Muridin
- Mektubat-ı Mahmudiyye
- Tenbihat
Chain of succession
| # | Name | Buried | Birth | Death |
| 1 | Sayyadna Muhammad the last Prophet | Madinah, Saudi Arabia | Mon 12 Rabi al-Awwal | 12 Rabi al-Awwal 11 AH |
| 2 | Sayyadna Abu Bakr Siddiq | Madinah, Saudi Arabia | 22 Jumada al-Thani 13 AH | |
| 3 | Sayyadna Salman al-Farsi | Mada'in, Iraq | 10 Rajab 33 AH | |
| 4 | Imām Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, son of son of | Madinah, Saudi Arabia | 23 Shaban 24 AH | 24 Jumada al-Thani 101/106/107 AH |
| 5 | Imām Jafar Sadiq, son of granddaughter of | Madinah, Saudi Arabia | 8 Ramadan 80 AH | 15 Rajab 148 AH |
| 6 | Khwaja Bayazid Bastami | Bistam, Semnan province, Iran | 186 AH | 15 Shaban 261 AH |
| 7 | Khwaja Abul-Hassan Kharaqani | Kharaqan, near Bistam, Semnan province, Iran | 352 AH | 10 Muharram 425 AH |
| 8 | Khwaja Abu al-Qasim Gurgani | Gorgan, Golestan, Iran | 380 AH | 450 AH |
| 9 | Khwaja Abu Ali Farmadī | Toos, Khurasan, Iran | 434 AH | 4 Rabi al-Awwal 477 or 511 AH |
| 10 | Khwaja Abu Yaqub Yusuf Hamadānī | Merv, Turkmenistan | 440 AH | Rajab 535 AH |
| 11 | Khwaja Abdul Khaliq Ghujdawani | Ghajdawan, Bukhara, Uzbekistan | 22 Shaban 435 AH | 12 Rabi al-Awwal 575 AH |
| 12 | Khwaja Arif Reogarī | Reogar, near Bukhara, Uzbekistan | 27 Rajab 551 AH | 1 Shawwal 616 AH |
| 13 | Khwaja Mahmood Anjir-Faghnawi | Bukhara, Uzbekistan | 18 Shawwal 628 AH | 17 Rabi al-Awwal 717 AH |
| 14 | Khwaja Azizan Ali Ramitani | Khwaarizm, Uzbekistan | 591 AH | 27 Ramadan 715 or 721 AH |
| 15 | Khwaja Muhammad Baba Samasī | Samaas, Bukhara, Uzbekistan | 25 Rajab 591 AH | 10 Jumada al-Thani 755 AH |
| 16 | Khwaja Sayyid Amir Kulal | Saukhaar, Bukhara, Uzbekistan | 676 AH | Wed 2 Jumada al-Thani 772 AH |
| 17 | Khwaja Muhammad Baha'ud-Dīn Naqshband Bukharī | Qasr-e-Aarifan, Bukhara, Uzbekistan | 4 Muharram 718 AH | 3 Rabi al-Awwal 791 AH |
| 18 | Khwaja Ala'ud-Dīn Attar Bukhari, son-in-law of | Jafaaniyan, Transoxiana, Uzbekistan | Wed 20 Rajab 804 AH | |
| 19 | Khwaja Yaqub Charkhi | Gulistan, Dushanbe, Tajikistan | 762 AH | 5 Safar 851 AH |
| 20 | Khwaja Ubaidullah Ahrar | Samarkand, Uzbekistan | Ramadan 806 AH | 29 Rabi al-Awwal 895 AH |
| 21 | Khwaja Muhammad Zahid Wakhshi | Wakhsh | 14 Shawwal 852 AH | 1 Rabi al-Awwal 936 AH |
| 22 | Khwaja Dervish Muhammad, son of sister of | Asqarar, Uzbekistan | 16 Shawwal 846 AH | 19 Muharram 970 AH |
| 23 | Khwaja Muhammad Amkanaki, son of | Amkana, Bukhara, Uzbekistan | 918 AH | 22 Shaban 1008 AH |
| 24 | Khwaja Muhammad Baqī Billah Berang | Delhi, India | 5 Dhu al-Hijjah 971 or 972 AH | 25 Jumada al-Thani 1012 AH |
| 25 | Shaikh Ahmad al-Farūqī al-Sirhindī, Imām Rabbānī | Sirhind, India | 14 Shawwal 971 AH | 28 Safar 1034 AH |
| 26 | Imām Khwaja Muhammad Masum Faruqī, 3rd son of | Sirhind, India | 1007 AH | 9 Rabi al-Awwal 1099 AH |
| 27 | Khwaja Muhammad Saif ud-Dīn Faruqī, son of | Sirhind, India | 1049 AH | 19 or 26 Jumada al-awwal 1096 AH |
| 28 | Sayyid Nur Muhammad Badayuni | Delhi, India | 11 Dhu al-Qi'dah 1135AH | |
| 29 | Shaheed Mirza Mazhar Jan-e-Janaan, Shams-ud-Dīn Habībullāh | Delhi, India | 11 Ramadan 1111 AH | 10 Muharram 1195 AH |
| 30 | Khwaja Abdullah Dehlavi, alias Shah Ghulam Ali Dehlavī | Delhi, India | 1156 AH | 22 Safar 1240 AH |
| 31 | Mawlānā Muhammad Khâlid-i Baghdâdî | Damascus, Syria | Sharazut, Sulaymaniyah, Iraq | |
| 32 | Abd Allah-i Mücâvir fi-Balad-î'l-Lâh, alias Abd Allah-e Macca-e Erzincanī | Mekke-i-Mükerreme | Mekke-i-Mükerreme ? | ? |
| 33 | Shaykh Mustafa İsmet Garibu'l-Lâh, alias Grand Sheikh Affandy | Çarşamba, Fatih-Istanbul, Turkey | Ioannina, Ottoman Empire | 1289 AH |
| 34 | Khwaja Khâlil-i Nûr-u Allah Zaghrawi | Zara, Sivas, Ottoman Empire | ||
| 35 | Khwaja Ali Rezâ al-Bazzâz Affandy | Tekke Camii, Bandırma, Balıkesir Province-Ottoman Empire | Bulgaria | 1330 AH |
| 36 | Sheikh 'Ali Haydâr Affandy Hazrat | Edirnekapı Martyr's Cemetery, İstanbul, Turkey | Akhaltsikhe, Batumi-Ottoman Empire 1288 AH | |
| 37 | Sheikh Mahmud Affandy Hazrat' | Edirnekapı Martyr's Cemetery, İstanbul, Turkey | Tavşanlı, Of Trabzon, Turkey | 24 Dhu al-Qadah 1443 AH Fatih-Istanbul, Turkey |