Fethullah Efendi

Born in Siroz (Serres), Fethullah Fehmi Efendi belonged to the Müftüzâdeler, one of the established scholarly families of the Balkans. He served as the mufti of Siroz and was remembered for his scholarly works and for the books he collected during his life.

Among his known works are Dekâiku’t-Tibyân, Keşfü’l-Arûz and Tercîhu’l-Beyyinât. These works show his interest not only in religious scholarship but also in Arabic language, prosody and legal reasoning.

Fethullah Fehmi Efendi also made a family book waqf. After the Balkan Wars, this book collection was brought from Siroz to Istanbul and donated to the Süleymaniye Library. It thus became part of one of Istanbul’s major manuscript collections.

His sons İsameddin Efendi and Mehmed Esad Serezli also continued the family’s scholarly line. İsameddin Efendi was remembered as the last Ottoman mufti of Siroz, while Mehmed Esad Serezli became known as a scholar, teacher and writer.

Fethullah Fehmi Efendi migrated to Istanbul in the summer of 1911, corresponding to Sha‘ban 1329 in the Hijri calendar. He died in Jumada al-awwal 1335, corresponding to 1917, and was buried in the Fatih Mosque Cemetery. His son Mehmed Esad Serezli, who died in 1963, was later buried beside him.