FAMILIES OF THE ULEMA –RIFDI ĆERIMOVIĆ MUDERRIS, POETS, QADIES AND CALLIGRAPHERS

Abstract

Rifdi-Ćerimovic is one of the eminent ulema families of Sarajevo dating back to 17th and 18th centuries. Many were well renowned professors, qadis, mullas in Istambul as well as in other important metropolis of the Islamic world. They have contributed to our as well as to Turkish literary heritage by at least two whole Divans, and many separate, individual poems. The head of the family, Abdulkerim, after whom one branch of this family take their name ( Ćerimovic), departed from Bosnia to Istanbul and settled there. His son, Fa’iz, returned to Sarajevo where he taught in Malkočeva Medresa. His other son, Mehmed effendi Rifdi, however, stayed in Istanbul. Abdulkerim was a great poet, and his descendants were not much behind him in their talents. According to Safvet beg Basagic, Mehmed effendi Rifdi was “soft and sensitive poet” and is “without a doubt to become one of the best Ottoman poets in the period before the revival”. Other two alims of this family Omer effendi Rifdi and his son Muhammed Sadik effendi, were eminent qadis of Bosnia. Besides that, Muhammed Sadik was also a well known calligrapher.