Halil Efendi

Es-Seyyid Halil Efendi was born in Mecitözü in 1804 and was the son of Mustafa Efendi. He began his education in Amasya and continued it in Konya, where he belonged to the same madrasa circle as Hasan Fehmi Efendi, who would later become Şeyhülislam.

After coming to Istanbul, he studied with teachers such as Vidinli Mustafa Efendi and Dersiâm Abdurrahman Efendi, received his ijazah in 1834 and began to rise in the ilmiye path.

Halil Efendi rose through offices and ranks such as the Haremeyn and Istanbul pâyeleri. In 1870 he was appointed to the Meclis-i Tedkîkât-ı Şer‘iyye and then to the Mecelle-i Ahkâm-ı Adliyye Commission. In the Mecelle process, in which he worked with Ahmed Cevdet Paşa, he was one of the figures whose expertise in Islamic law was especially used.

The Mecelle, one of the most important works of Ottoman modernization and the first and most important civil code of the Islamic world, retained its importance after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. It remained in force in the early years of the Republic of Turkey, in Syria until 1949, in Cyprus into the 1960s, and in Palestine until 1984.

Kara Halil Efendi’s name is also associated with one of the most turbulent periods of Ottoman political history. It is stated that he prepared the fatwa for the deposition of Sultan Abdülaziz at Midhat Paşa’s request; he also read the fatwa for the deposition of Sultan Murad V in his capacity as fetva emini.

In 1877 he was appointed to the Hey’et-i A‘yân and in the same year was made Şeyhülislam by Sultan Abdülhamid II.

After serving as Şeyhülislam for about nine months, Halil Efendi was dismissed in 1878. It is stated that Sultan Abdülhamid II’s mistrust of him because of his role in the deposition fatwa of Sultan Abdülaziz was influential in his dismissal. Nevertheless, his membership in the A‘yân continued for a time, and he spent his final years mostly in worship.

Halil Efendi, known for his knowledge of Islamic law and for his mark on the Mecelle works, died on 27 Muharram 1298 (30 December 1880) and was buried in the Fatih Mosque Cemetery.