Mehmet Cemaleddin Efendi

Shaykh ul-Islam Mehmet Cemaleddin Efendi
Shaykh ul-Islam Mehmet Cemaleddin Efendi during the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II
Personal
Born	1848 Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
Died	April 1917 (aged 68–69) Menouf, Sultanate of Egypt
Religion	Islam
Denomination	Sunni
Jurisprudence	Hanafi

Şeyhülislâm Halidefendizâde Mehmet Cemaleddin Efendi (1848–1917) (Ottoman Turkish: محمد جمال الدین افندی^[1]) was an Ottoman judge who served as sheikh al-Islam for Sultan Abdul Hamid II between 1891 and 1909.

Biography

His father, Sheikh Yusufzâde Hâlid Efendi,^[1] was a member of the judiciary and served as Kazasker and a minister. His mother was a member of the Kevabibiye family and a daughter of Mehmed Said Efendi.

Mehmet Cemaleddin was educated in Ottoman and Islamic law, and served in the Ottoman judiciary as Kadi (Chief Judge) of Constantinople in 1884. He was appointed Chief Judge of Anatolia (Anadolu Kazaskeri) in 1888 and Chief Judge of Rumelia, the European parts of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans, in 1890. On 4 September 1891, at 43, he was appointed Şeyhülislam, the Cabinet Minister in charge of religious and legal matters. He remained in this post for 16 years and 11 months. He was later reappointed on three other occasions for shorter periods, holding this post for nearly 18 years and becoming the second-longest holder in Ottoman history after Zembilli Ali Efendi. His wife was Fatma Zehra Hanim, and his son-in-law was the leading Turkish surgeon and mayor of Constantinople, Prof. Cemil Topuzlu, also known as Cemil Pasha, for whom a major boulevard in modern Istanbul "Cemil Topuzlu Caddesi" and a municipal amphitheatre Cemil Topuzlu Harbiye Amphitheatre are named. Mehmet Cemaleddin's younger brother, Ibrahim Sami Bey, was a member of the Ottoman Council of State or Şura-yı Devlet, whose grandson Erol Gelenbe held the Dennis Gabor Chair (2003-2019) at Imperial College, London.

An opponent of the pro-German and war-oriented policy of the Union and Progress Party, Mehmed Cemalettin Efendi was exiled to Egypt in 1913 and died in a place called Ramleh near Menouf in Egypt on 5 April 1917 at the age of 70. When his body was brought to Constantinople, it lay in state at the Topkapı Palace, and he is now buried at the Edirnekapı Martyr's Cemetery (Turkish: Edirnekapı Şehitliği). His memoirs were first published in Constantinople in 1920, and then edited by Selim Kutsan and re-published in modern Turkish under the title Siyasi Hatiralarim (My Political Memoirs) by the publisher Nehir Yayinlari (Istanbul) in 1990.

Selected bibliography

• Cemaleddin Efendi "Siyasi Hatiralarim" from the Ottoman Turkish original, "Hatirat-i Siyasisi", Istanbul 1920, Selim Kutsan (ed.), Publisher, Nehir Yayinlari: 43, Hatiralarla Yakin Tarih Dizisi: 4, Istanbul, 1990.

Notes and references

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Sheikh-ul-Islams of the Ottoman Empire

15th Century

• Molla Fenari
• Fahreddin-i Acemi
• Molla Hüsrev
• Molla Gürani
• Molla Abdülkerim Efendi
• Alâeddin Arabî Efendi
• Efdalzade Hamîdüddin Efendi

16th Century

• Zenbilli Ali Efendi
• Kemalpaşazade Ahmet Şemsettin Efendi (İbn-i Kemal)
• Sadullah Sadi Efendi
• Çivizade Muhiddin Mehmed Efendi
• Abdülkadir Hamidî Çelebi
• Fenarîzade Muhyiddin Çelebi
• Ebussuud Efendi
• Çivizade Damadı Hamid Efendi
• Kadızade Ahmed Şemseddin Efendi
• Malûlzade Mehmed Efendi
• Çivizade Hacı Mehmed Efendi
• Abdülkadir Şeyhî Efendi
• Bostanzade Mehmed Efendi
• Bayramzade Zekeriya Efendi
• Hoca Sâdeddin Efendi
• Cafer Mustafa Sunullah Efendi

17th Century

• Hocazade Mehmed Efendi
• Ebülmeyamin Mustafa Efendi
• Hocazade Esad Efendi
• Zekeriyazade Yahya Efendi
• Ahizade Hüseyin Efendi
• Ebusaid Mehmed Efendi
• Muid Ahmet Efendi
• Hacı Abdürrahim Efendi
• Bahai Mehmet Efendi
• Karaçelebizade Abdülaziz Efendi
• Hüsamzade Abdurrahman Efendi
• Memikzade Mustafa Efendi
• Hocazade Mesud Efendi
• Hanefi Mehmet Efendi
• Balizade Mustafa Efendi
• Bolevi Mustafa Efendi
• Esiri Mehmet Efendi
• Sunizade Seyit Mehmet Emin Efendi
• Minkarizade Yahya Efendi
• Çatalcalı Ali Efendi
• Ankaravi Mehmet Emin Efendi
• Debbağzade Mehmet Efendi
• Feyzullah Efendi
• Ebusaitzade Feyzullah Feyzi Efendi
• Sadık Mehmet Efendi
• İmam Mehmet Efendi

18th Century

• Paşmakçızade Ali Efendi
• Yekçeşm Hüseyin Efendi
• Sadık Mehmet Efendi
• Ebezade Abdullah Efendi
• Mehmed Ataullah Efendi
• İmam Mahmud Efendi
• Mirza Mustafa Efendi
• Menteşzade Abdürrahman Efendi
• Ebu İshak İsmail Efendi
• Yenişehirli Abdullah Efendi
• Mirzazade Şeyh Mehmed Efendi
• Paşmakçızade Abdullah Efendi
• Damatzade Ebulhayr Ahmet Efendi
• Ebuishakzade İshak Efendi
• Dürri Mehmed Efendi
• Feyzullahzade Mustafa Efendi
• Pirizade Mehmed Sahib Efendi
• Hayatizade Mehmet Emin Efendi
• Seyit Mehmet Zeynelabidin Efendi
• Ebuishakzade Mehmed Esad Efendi
• Mehmed Said Efendi
• Seyyid Murtaza Efendi
• Abdullah Vassaf Efendi
• Damatzade Feyzullah Efendi
• Dürrizade Mustafa Efendi
• Mehmed Salih Efendi
• Çelebizade İsmail Asım Efendi
• Veliyyüddin Efendi
• Ebubekirzade Ahmed Efendi
• Pirizade Osman Sahib Efendi
• Mirzazade Seyit Mehmet Sait Efendi
• Şerifzade Seyit Mehmet Şerif Efendi
• Dürrizade Mustafa Efendi
• İvazpaşazade İbrahim Bey Efendi
• Salihzade Mehmet Emin Efendi
• Vassafzade Mehmet Esat Efendi
• Mehmet Şerif Efendi
• Seyit İbrahim Efendi
• Dürrizade Seyit Mehmet Ataullah Efendi
• İvazpaşazade İbrahim Bey Efendi
• Arapzade Ahmet Ataullah Efendi
• Dürrizade Seyit Mehmet Arif Efendi
• Müftizade Ahmet Efendi
• Mekkî Mehmet Efendi
• Seyit Mehmet Kamil Efendi
• Hamitzade Mustafa Efendi
• Seyit Yahya Tevfik Efendi
• Mustafa Aşir Efendi

19th Century

• Sâmânizade Ömer Hulusi Efendi
• Salihzade Ahmed Esad Efendi
• Şerifzade Ataullah Mehmed Efendi
• Arapzade Mehmed Arif Efendi
• Dürrizade Abdullah Efendi
• Mehmed Zeynelabidin Efendi
• Mekkizade Mustafa Asım Efendi
• Çerkes Halil Efendi
• Yasincizade Abdülvehhab Efendi
• Ahmed Reşid Efendi
• Kadızade Mehmed Tahir Efendi
• Ahmed Arif Hikmet Bey Efendi
• Meşrepzade Mehmed Arif Efendi
• Mehmed Sadeddin Efendi
• Atıfzade Hüsameddin Efendi
• Mehmed Refik Efendi
• Hasan Fehmi Efendi
• Ahmed Muhtar Molla Bey Efendi
• Turşucuzade Ahmed Muhtar Efendi
• Hasan Hayrullah Efendi
• Hasan Fehmi Efendi
• Hasan Hayrullah Efendi
• Kara Halil Efendi
• Uryanizade Ahmed Esad Efendi
• Bodrumlu Ömer Lütfi Efendi
• Mehmet Cemaleddin Efendi

20th Century

• Mehmed Ziyâeddin Efendi
• Mehmed Sahib Efendi
• Çelebizade Hüseyin Hüsnü Efendi
• Musa Kazım Efendi
• Abdurrahman Nesib Efendi
• Mehmed Esad Efendi
• Ürgüplü Mustafa Hayri Efendi
• Ömer Hulusi Efendi
• Haydarizade İbrahim Efendi
• Mustafa Sabri Efendi
• Dürrizade Abdullah Beyefendi
• Medeni Mehmed Nuri Efendi