Hamdullah El Ensari Tomb
About the Person:
- Hamdullah El Ensari (referred to in some sources as Ahmed El Ensari) was a Companion from Medina. He earned the friendship of the Prophet Muhammad and participated in the siege of Constantinople alongside Eyüp Sultan. He was martyred during the siege and buried in what is now the Ayvansaray area.
- The title ‘El Ensari’ was used for Companions from Medina. His grave is also known among the people under the name Ahmed El Ensari.
About the Tomb:
Construction Year: 1454, 1835
Ordered by: Mehmed the Conqueror (initial construction), Sultan Mahmud II (reconstruction)
Architect: Unknown
Prominent Features:
- The entrance features an inscription in elegant *ta‘liq* script dated 1835.
- The inscription states that the tomb was revived through the favor of Sultan Mahmud II.
- The writing on the tombstone is in *thuluth* script by Seyyid İsmail Efendi, a shaykh of the Acem Lodge of Architects, reading: “Hādhā qabr Ḥāmid al-Ansārī (r.a.).”
- Due to a misreading of the name ‘Ḥāmid’, he became commonly known among the people as ‘Ahmed El Ensari.’ The building is constructed with a combination of cut stone and plastered surfaces, in harmony with classical Ottoman tomb architecture.
- Inside the tomb lie the graves of both Hamdullah El Ensari and another Companion, Abu Shaybah al-Khudri.
