Eşref Edib

Journalist and writer (b. 1882, Serres - d. 1971, İstanbul). His full name was Eşref Edib Fergan. He used the pen name Eşref Edib. He attended primary and secondary schools in Serres . He learnt Arabic from Mufti of Serres İslamüiddin Efendi. He graduated from Istanbul School of Law (1912). He studied Islamic sciences from the scholars in Çemberlitaş Atik Ali Mosque during his undergraduate education. After finishing School of Law, he did his doctorate.

He began to publish the review Sırat-ı Müstakim with Ebu'l-Ula Mardin and Mehmet Akif (1908). After this review of which concessionaire right he bought was closed, he changed its name as Sebilürreşad from the 183rd issue. He published articles supporting the idea of Islamic Unity. After National Struggle began, he went to Balıkesir, Kastamonu and their provinces with Mehmet Akif and supported National Struggle. He copied and delivered the speeches of Mehmet Akif and settled in Ankara Tacettin Dervish Lodge with him. They continued the publishing of Sebilürreşad in there and explained the thoughts of Islamists. He was arrested under the pretext of Şeyh Sait Revolt and tried in Ankara and Diyarbakır Independence Courts. He was released under the condition of not continuing the publishing of the review Sebilürreşad. He founded Âsâr-ı İlmiye Kütüphanesi Publishing House and continued his publishing activity despite the all pressures of one-party governance.

He began to publish the Islamic Turkish Encyclopedia Muhitü'l-Maarif (Milieu of Education) with Ömer Rıza Doğrul and Kamil Miras from 1941 (as a review from 74^th part to 100^th issue). Eşref Edip, who began to republish the review Sebilürreşad in 1948, was arrested under the pretext of the assassin to Ahmet Emin Yalman and imprisoned for two months in 1953. In his last years, his articles were published in Sebilürreşad which he stops the publishing and the newspapers Yeni İstiklâl (1965-67) and Bugün (1967-69). He was investigated by the code 163 and was acquitted, because of his book Kara Kitab (Black Book) in which he published just before his death and told about the pressure and cruelty lived under the one-party governance.

WORKS:

RESEARCH-STUDY: Mehmet Akif / Hayatı Eserleri ve 60 Muharririn Yazıları (Mehmet Akif/His Life Works and Articles of Sixty Writers, v. 1, 1938, v. 2, 1939), İnkılâp Karşısında Âkif-Fikret (Akif-Fikret Opposing to the Revolution, Is the Root of Salvation War Independence March or the History of Old Ages, 1940), Misyoner ve Müsteşriklerin Yazdıkları İslâm Ansiklopedisi'nin İlmi Mahiyeti (The Scientific Importance of the Islamic Encyclopedia Written by the Freemasonry and Orientalists, 1941, with the title İslâm Ansiklopedisinin İlmi Mahiyeti (The Scientific Importance of Islamic Encyclopedia, 1946), Pembe Kitap (Pink Book, 1943), Çocuklarımıza Din Kitabı (Religious Books for Our Children, 4 books, 1944-49), Risâle-i Nur Müellifi Bediüzzaman Said Nur (Bediüzzaman Said Nursi, the Author of Pamphlets of Nur, His Life, Works and Occupation, 1950), Kur'an / Garb Mütefekkirleri'ne Göre (Koran, According to Western Intellectuals, 1957), Dinde Reformcular (Renovators in the Religion, with A. F. Başgil, N. Topçu, İ. H. Danışmend and M. R. Ogan, 1959), Bediüzzaman Said Nur ve Nurculuk (Bediüzzaman Said Nur and Nur Sect, 1963), Risale-i Nur Muarızı Yazarların İsnadları Hakkında İlmi Bir Tahlil (A Scientific Analyze about the Ascribing of the Writers against Pamphlets of  Light, 1965), Kara Kitap / Milleti Nasıl Aldattılar? Mukaddesatına Nasıl Saldırdılar? (Black Book / How did They Cheat the Nation, How did they Attack the Sacred Things, 1967), Hac Rehberi (Guide of Pilgrimage, with A. Ulvi and M. Akif), Mevâiz (Admonitions, Sermons of Urfalı Mahmud Kamil), Mevâiz (Admonitions, Sermons of Manastırlı İsmail Hakkı).

MEMOIR: Millî Mücadele Yılları (Years of National Struggle, 2002).

REFERENCE: Mahir İz / Yılların İzi (1975), Mehmet Emin Erişirgil / İslamcı Bir Şairin Romanı (1986), Mithat Cemal Kuntay / Mehmet Akif Ersoy: Hayatı-Seciyesi-Sanatı (1986), Sadık Albayrak / Siyasi Boyutlarıyla Türkiye’de İslamcılığın Doğuşu (1989) - TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (C. 11, s. 473-474, 1995),  İsmail Kara / Türkiye’de İslâmcılık Düşüncesi (C. 3, s.11-99, 1994), Fahreddin Gün / Eşref Edib’e Göre Mehmet Akif’in Seciyesi (Yedi İklim, sayı: 117-118, Şubat - Mart 2000), Fahrettin Gün / Eşref Edip (Fergan) İstiklal Mahkemelerinde: Sebilürreşad’ın Romanı (2002),  İhsan Işık / Yazarlar Sözlüğü (1990, 1998) - Türkiye Yazarlar Ansiklopedisi (2001, 2004) – Encyclopedia of Turkish Authors (2005) - 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