Thinker, first political
representative of Turks in Russia (B. 23 April 1857, Tobolsk / Siberia- D. 17
August 1944, Tokyo). His father Ömer Efendi came from an Uzbek family of
Bukhara and was a patriot who participated to political movements of his age.
His mother is Afife Hanım of Başkurt Turks. Abdürreşid İbrahim left his family
at a young age, started his education and continued it in madrasahs at cities
around. After studying in Madrasah of Teman for a while, he went to Kaşkar where
famous madrasahs of his age were located. He roamed around Kyrgyz tribes for a
while and served as a teacher and imam before passing to Orenburg (1879). He
boarded a ship secretly and came to Istanbul to go on pilgrimage (1880).
After two months he passed here he
went on pilgrimage. After completing his pilgrimage he started his education in
Medina in the second phase of his life. He studied together with various
scholars and received proficiency certificates in the fields of Koran
recitation, fiqh (Islamic law) and hadith (words and deeds of the Holy
Prophet). By the end of 1884 he went to Istanbul through Alexandria and from
here to Tara. He started teaching in the madrasah here and married in the same
year (1885). He went twice to Medina through Istanbul in order to take students
to there and after replacing his students to Medina he returned to Tara through
Istanbul. Here he opened a school of “Usûl-i Cedîd” and started his educational
activities. Meanwhile he published his booklet titled “Livâü’l-Hamd”in Istanbul and distributed in Russia.
It is observed that Abdürreşid
İbrahim had an intensive publication activity in various languages and
dialects. The journal he published under the title “Ülfet” was encountered with great enthusiasm. “Ülfet”, which was published in Turkish, was recorded as “Harmful
publication” by the administration upon the attention it gained in Turkistan.
The journal which was especially about religious topics and which was followed
by madrasah students with a great attention was closed by the Russian central
administration after its 85th issue. After the closure of “Ülfet” he published another journal in
Arabic language under the title “Tilmiz”.
Publication of “Tilmiz” lasted about
one year and then it was also closed. However the closure of these both
journals by the central administration did not stop Abdürreşid Efendi. He
published later the journal “Serke” which was written in Kazakh dialect.
Another field which was important for Abdürreşid İbrahim aside from publication activities was educational activities. Being supported by people he conducted a great educational campaign. As a result of these activities his publication activities in Russia were limited upon the pressure of central administration and his newspapers and publishing houses were closed. After this, he continued his activities in different places with some of his friends. Leaving Russia, Abdürreşid İbrahim went on a trip of one year in Western Turkistan, Bukhara, Samarkand, Yedisu and places around by the end of 1907 and went again to Tara. He took his family with him and settled to Kazan.
In September 1908 he moved from there
and went to Istanbul through Siberia, Mongolia, Manchuria, Japan, Korea, China,
India, Hejaz and Middle East, thus completing his long trip (1910).
Abdürreşid İbrahim is rather famous
in Turkey with his book titled “Alem-i
İslam” he wrote between the years 1907-10 after his long trip and which
consisted of travel notes in which he told his observations and thoughts. These
travel notes were published in “Sırat-ı Müstakim”
magazine in Istanbul before they became a book. These notes were
republished under the titles “20. Asrın Başlarında
İslâm Dünyası ve Japonya’da İslâmiyet” and “20. Asrın Başlarında İslâm Dünyası Çin ve Hindistan’da İslâmiyet” (Ed.
Mehmet Paksu, İstanbul 1987) in two volumes in modern Turkish.
This work of Abdürreşid İbrahim
titled “Âlem-i İslâm” provides
accurate information about Muslim people and especially Muslim Turks of Central
Asia and is a valuable source of information to analyze conditions of that
period.
After the mentioned travels, Abdürreşid
İbrahim went to Trabslusgarp through the Sahara upon the Italian invasion (1911)
and personally served in fronts. He distributed a fatwa for jihad in order to
mobilize people against invaders and continued his activities here (1911–1912).
Abdürreşid İbrahim was granted
Ottoman Citizenship in 1912. After he returned from Trablusgarp he published
his observations in Northern Africa in “Sırât-ı
Müstkakîm” and attempted to enlighten people through preaches and
conferences. Upon the Russian invasion of Sarıkamış he went there (1915). He
served during these years as member of Association of Protection of Muslim
Turkish People in Russia, which was established in Istanbul. He visited various
European countries together with other members of the association and informed
them about problems and oppression of Turkish people living in Russia.
Abdürreşid İbrahim was present in 1922-23 in Russia, in 1930 in Cairo and in
1930-31 in Mecca. In 1934 he settled to Japan with his family and there he
tried to spread Islam until his death. He pioneered a mosque construction in
Tokyo and served as Imam of this mosque. Abdürreşid İbrahim is the person to
make the official recognition of Islam in Japan possible (1939). He passed away
on the 17th of August 1944 in Tokyo and was inhumed four days after
his death with a large ceremony.
Abdürreşid İbrahim’s life story
proves that he went to places where Muslims were living, observed their
situations and searched solutions for their problems. During all these efforts
he endured all kinds of troubles and nuisance. Abdürreşid Efendi especially tried to help Muslim groups who were living in
Russia and find solutions to their problems. He has the profile of an exemplary
Muslim intellectual who was a man of action.
WORKS:
Livâü’l-Hamd (1885),
20. Asrın Başlarında İslâm Dünyası ve Japonya’da
İslâmiyet (Âlem-iİslâm, Ed.: Mehmet Paksu, 1987), 20. Asrın Başlarında İslâm Dünyası Çin ve Hindistan’da İslamiyet
(Âlem-i İslâm, Ed.: Mehmet Paksu, 1987), Âlem-i İslâm (2 volumes, Ed.: Ertuğrul
Özalp, 2003).
REFERENCE: Mehmed Âkif Ersoy / Safahât (yay. haz. Ertuğrul Düzdağ, 1987), Mustafa Uzun / “Abdürreşid İbrahim” (TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi, c. 1, 1988), Salih Okur / Önderlerimiz “Abdürreşid İbrahim” (cevaplar.org), İsmail Türkoğlu / Abdürreşid İbrahim (1997), Şerif Aktaş / Milli Edebiyat Dönemi Türk Edebiyatı Tarih (c. 3., s.209), Kamil Yazar / Örnek Bir Aksiyon Adamı (Yeni Ümit, Ekim-Kasım-Aralık 2008), İhsan Işık / Resimli ve Metin Örnekli Türkiye Edebiyatçılar ve Kültür Adamları Ansiklopedisi (2006, gen. 2. bas. 2007) – Ünlü Fikir ve Kültür Adamları (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 3, 2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013).