Mehmed Efendi (Şeyh Hasan Hamdi Efendi)

Hasan Hamdi Efendi was born in the Sandıklı district of Afyonkarahisar in 1854 as the son of Mahmud Efendi. He was one of the late Ottoman Naqshbandi sheikhs and became known as the “Sheikh of Sandıklı.”

Hasan Hamdi Efendi’s Sufi training was connected with the Naqshbandi-Hâlidî lines around Afyonkarahisar and Konya. He benefited from Hacı Âşık Mehmed Efendi and received ijazah from Simavlı Osman Zühtü Efendi. It is reported that he served as mudarris at the Yalıncak Madrasa in Sandıklı, later came to Istanbul and lived around Aksaray.

The well-known researcher and collector Revnakoğlu refers to him by the nickname “Hamâmetü’l-Mescid,” meaning “the mosque dove.” This nickname reflects Hasan Hamdi Efendi’s modest identity as a sheikh remembered for his life of worship, conversation and spiritual guidance around Fatih Mosque.

After Hasan Hamdi Efendi, his son Şeyh Mehmed Emin Efendi also continued in the same Sufi circle. The family known in Sandıklı as the “Şeyh Hasanzâdeler” became recognized around his name.

Sandıklı Şeyhi Hasan Hamdi Efendi died on 7 Dhu al-Qa‘da 1322, corresponding to January 1905, and was buried in the Fatih Mosque Cemetery.