Abdullah Şakir Efendi

Abdullah Şâkir Efendi, whose date of birth could not be determined, was an important scholar of the late Ottoman ilmiye and legal circles, known by the nisba Şirvânî. He taught higher religious sciences at Fatih Mosque and was known through the students he trained there as one of the representatives of the classical madrasa teaching tradition.

In his ilmiye career, Abdullah Şâkir Efendi held various religious-legal and scholarly posts. He rose to offices such as membership in the Meclis-i İntihâb-ı Hükkâm-ı Şer‘î, the Council for the Selection of Judges, undersecretary of the Sadreyn, the Anatolian and Rumelian Kazaskerates, member of the Mecelle Commission, and Anatolian kazasker. The Anatolian kazaskerate was one of the highest degrees in the Ottoman ilmiye hierarchy and was a major scholarly-judicial office connected with the appointment and supervision of judges.

Abdullah Şâkir Efendi’s most notable duty in legal education was teaching the Mecelle-i Ahkâm-ı Adliyye at the Law School. As one of the madrasa-trained teachers of the Mekteb-i Hukuk, he helped carry the classical legal tradition into the modern law school through his Mecelle lessons.

His membership in the Mecelle Commission also shows his place in the construction of Ottoman law. The Mecelle was one of the most important Ottoman legal texts, systematizing Islamic law provisions in the language of modern legislation. It was abolished in Turkey with the adoption of the Civil Code in 1926, while continuing to remain in force in countries such as Syria, Palestine and Cyprus until the mid-20th century.

Şirvânî el-Hâc Abdullah Şâkir Efendi died on the night of 29 Muharram 1320 (8 May 1902) and was buried in the Fatih Mosque Cemetery.