Mehmed Efendi

Hâfız el-Hac Mehmed Efendi, whose date of birth has not been identified, is remembered for his memorization of the Qur’an, performance of the pilgrimage and charitable character. Existing records do not provide detailed information about his family, occupation or charitable works.

The 1747 grave record of Mehmed Efendi reaches back to a period earlier than the formation of the Fatih Mosque Cemetery in its present sense. It is known that the present enclosed cemetery area took shape after 1780, that early burials began with members of the palace circle around the Tomb of Nakşidil Sultan, and that burial here required palace permission. For this reason, the stone belonging to Mehmed Efendi should be regarded as one of the early-dated gravestones transferred from an older burial area around Fatih into the present cemetery arrangement.

Hâfız el-Hac Mehmed Efendi died on 30 Jumada al-akhir 1160, corresponding to July 1747. His gravestone is today located in the Fatih Mosque Cemetery.