The Last Shaykh al-Islam, Mustafa Sabri Efendi (1869–1954): His Role and Influence During the Transition from the Caliphate to the Secular Model

Abstract

UDK
28:929 Sabri M.
28: 322.24(560)"19"

This paper examines the life and work of Shaykh al-Islam Mustafa Sabri Efendi (1869–1954) during the final period of the Ottoman Empire, his activities in post-Ottoman Turkey, and his intellectual contributions following exile from his homeland. Mustafa Sabri Efendi was a prominent Islamic scholar of the Ahl al-Sunnah tradition (to believe and live in the way that the Qur'an and the Sunnah teach us), the author of numerous works in both Arabic and Ottoman Turkish. In addition to being a scholar and a poet of broad education, he was also an astute political figure. His writings are of particular significance as they address a wide range of topics, with special relevance to this study being his efforts to defend and reconstruct religious life during the dissolution of the Ottoman Caliphate and the emergence of the secular Turkish Republic. His works reflect a deep understanding of both the ontological and epistemological foundations of Islamic theology as well as modern philosophy. Historical sources further testify to his role as a politically engaged Shaykh al-Islam and one of the leading intellectuals of his era.