Sufi (B. 1926 Karagümrük/Istanbul –
D. 13th February 1985, Istanbul) His father was Mehmed Efendi, the
inner peace hodja of Abdülhamd II. He was from Konya. His uncles were high ranked officers.
His grandfather was one of the Halvetî Sheikhs. Upon the death of his father
when he was six months old and the killing of his brother Murat by the
occupation forces in Istanbul,
Şeyh Abdurrahman Sâm-î Saruhânî took the family under his protection. Ozak
stayed with him for twelve years and got educated by him. He memorized the
Koran at the age of seven. He took language lessons from Râsim Efendi, the imam
of Fatih Camii. He got Buharı and Hidâye (T.N. religious books) courses from
Ders-i âm Arnavud Husrev Efendi. For a while, he served as the muezzin in
Kefeli Mosques in Ali Yazıcı, Soğan Ağa
and Kefeli, nearby Karagümrük. He became interested in second-hand book
trading under the influence of Şâkir Efendi, a second hand book trade expert
and the imam of the mosque. When he became the muezzin at Bâyezid Mosque,
located in a place surrounded by second-hand book traders, he took ilahi (T.N.
Canticle), kaside (T.N. eulogy), durak, mevlid (T.N. mawlid) and mersiye (T.N. dirge)
lessons from Hafız İsmail Hakkı Efendi, who liked his voice and manners. He
married the school principal Gülsüm Hanım, who was a close relative of Hakkı
Efendi.
Muzaffer Ozak had a huge and rich
library which he filled with books he had collected throughout his life and the
books he had gained as a second-hand book trader. He had worked as a clergyman
in forty two mosques for thirty years, which he started upon having won the
entry exam in the beginning. He went on a pilgrimage to Mecca
for eleven times, to Iraq
for six times to Syria and Palestine for eight times and to Egypt for three times, and there he
met sufi scholars. He became a member of İbrahim Fahreddîn Şevkî Efendi, the
sheikh of Nureddîn-i Cerrâhî Lodge in Karagümrük. After Nureddîn-i Cerrâhî, he
became the ninth postnişîn (the leader of the community) and the eighth Caliph
of Fahri Efendi.
Mehmet Şevke Eygi said of him in
one of his article: “Muzaffer Efendi was
a sheikh in two different aspects. One of them was Cerrahî Sheikh (a Sufi community)
and the other one was Sheikh of Bibliophilic. His store was more center of
science, of knowledge, conversation than a trading house. He bought books from
the poor expensively and gave them to those in need at a loss, as if he was
saying ‘I don’t mind the loss or gain, as long as the store is useful for all. Every kind of person stepped in his store;
foreigners, converted to Islam or not, professors, elites... If I am right, a
consul of a foreign state was seen there quite a bit.”
He met with tourists who had come
to Istanbul on summer times,
he had conversations with them and earned their love. Upon his relations with
the West based on friendly love, he got invitations from numerous European
countries and the USA in the
first place. Eygi described it as: “Hoca
efendi served the religion very much. He held invocation and conversation
communities to introduce and spread Islam, he led numerous non-Muslims to the
right path.”
Muzaffer Efendi went to Germany for
six times, to England and the Netherlands and to Belgium for two times, to
Paris for four times as a guest, and also he went to Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia
and to Macedonia and Greece, and also to the USA for six times. In 1978 he
performed Halveti Âyîn-i Şerîfî on the stage of opera hall before one thousand
and five hundred people in Berlin,
where he stopped by on the way to France
for the “V Traditionelle Art” (Fifith Traditional Art) festival. Everyone at
the opera hall, Muslims, Christians, joined him in his performance. Muzaffer
Efendi was aware of the good effects of music as his followers were.
Accordingly, he used tekke music (T.N. a kind of religious music) during his
tebliğ (T.N. religious statement) performance in France
Later in New
York and Columbia University,
he performed the Halveti ceremony. At the New York Radio he produced a program
about Sufism and drew attention. Muzaffer Efendi spoke highly of the USA: “I
have been to all Islamic places, but I have never seen the love of Allah as it
is in the USA.” Thus, he
went to the USA three months
before his death (end of 1984) and he explained Sufism there for three months.
He took leaves of his friends there and in Turkey
and passed away in Istanbul
in 1985. His burial place is inside the Nureddin-i Cerrahî Türbesi(mausoleum).
WORKS:
Ziynetü’l-Kulûb (conversations about
love(of Allah), evrâd-ı şerîfe (T.N.verses of Koran and the prophet Muhammad’s
deeds), religious music, 1973), İrşad (Conversations, v. 1: 1966, v. 2:
1968, v. 3: 1969), Envâru’l-Kulûb (Continuation of the work called
İrşad, 3 volumes, 1975-1977), Safiyye Sohbetleri (conversations, homilies, published as The
Garden of Dervishes in the USA), Aşk Yolu Vuslat Tarîki (answers
citizen of the USA about Sufism, published as Unveiling of Love in the
USA),Halvetîler ve Halvetîlik (not published), Aşk Şarabı
(Collections of conversations in the USA, published as Love is The Wine
in the USA. Not published in Turkish), Hz. Meryem (Published in English:
Blessed Virgin Mary), Hasaneyn (about Ehli- Beyt), Doksandokuz
Esmâu’l-Hüsnâ Şerhi (published in the USA,
in English), Mizanü’n-Nefs.
REFERENCE: Vehbi
Vakkasoğlu / İz Bırakanlar (1987), Ethem Cebecioğlu / Allah Dostları – 20.
Yüzyıl Türkiye Evliya Menakıbı (2001), Dursun Gürlek / Ayaklı Kütüphaneler
(2003), Robert Frager / Aşktır Asıl Şarap
(çev. Ömer Çolakoğlu, 2004), 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).
