Manastırlı İsmail Hakkı Efendi

İsmail Hakkı Efendi was born in Manastır in 1847 and belonged to the Sancakdarzâde family, originally from Konya and later settled in Manastır. His father was Sancaktar Yüzbaşı Hacı İbrahim, and his mother was Hatice Hanım. He received his early education in Manastır, came to Istanbul at a young age, and studied with well-known teachers of the period.

He served as a müciz dersiâm and chair professor at Fatih Mosque. A müciz dersiâm was not merely a teacher, but a teacher authorized to grant ijazah to students. Manastırlı İsmail Hakkı Efendi later preached at the Dolmabahçe Valide Sultan, Süleymaniye, Sultan Ahmed and Hagia Sophia mosques, reaching a wide audience especially through his sermons at Hagia Sophia.

His scholarly life was not limited to the classical madrasa circle. He taught Arabic at Eyüp Military Rüşdiye, Islamic law at the Law School, creed at the Imperial School of Military Engineering and the Military Medical School, and tafsir, hadith and kalām at the Mekteb-i Mülkiye.

After the Second Constitutional Period, on 16 December 1908, he was elected to the Meclis-i A‘yân, the upper chamber of the Ottoman parliament whose members were appointed by the sultan. During this duty, he took part in Sultan Mehmed Reşad’s Rumelian journey; one of the sermons he delivered on that occasion was later printed under the title Kosova Sahrası Mev‘izası.

Manastırlı İsmail Hakkı Efendi wrote many works in tafsir, Islamic law, kalām and creed. He also wrote texts responding to objections made against Islam by Western writers, and was known in the Sırât-ı Müstakîm and Sebîlürreşâd circles through his scholarly and religious writings.

İsmail Hakkı Efendi’s family continued to hold important offices in the Republican period. His son Dr. Âsım Arar served as Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s private physician, and his grandson İsmail Hakkı Arar held ministerial posts.

Manastırlı İsmail Hakkı Efendi died on 25 Dhu al-Hijja 1330 (5 December 1912) at his house in Anadoluhisarı and was buried in the Fatih Mosque Cemetery.