Marife Turkish Journal of Religious Studies

Abstract

Musa Kazım Efendi, one of the last period Ottoman scholars, was born in 1858 in the Tortum district of Erzurum. He had extensive knowledge of Islamic sciences, especially Fiqh and Kalam, and was promoted to the position of the headteacher of Fatih Mosque. Musa Kazım Efendi, who had the rank of Mahrec, which expresses the highest level of religious knowledge in the Ottoman Empire, also served as a teacher in Madrasatu'l-Kudât, Süleymaniye Madrasa, and Madrasatu'l-Vâizin.
Musa Kazım Efendi was a scholar and statesman who contemplated on how to get the country out of the troubled situation, offered solutions, and even more tried to be a part of the solution. He saw the salvation of the state in the reestablishment of consultation, equality, freedom, and justice, and for this, it was necessary to establish a system limiting the powers of the Sultan. He continued his struggle against the rulers in the ranks of the Union and Progress, which was the strongest opposition party of the period.
Musa Kazım Efendi served as a member of the Central Executive Board within the Committee of Union and Progress and also chaired the Şehzâdebaşı Scholarly Committee, which was established by the Party to ensure the support of the ulama and the people. The main duty of this Scholarly Committee was to explain to the people that a new constitution is not a bad thing via sermons, conferences, and publications and get them to support the Union and Progress Party. After the declaration of the Second Constitutional Era, UPP has appointed Musa Kazım Efendi to higher positions. He was first appointed as a member of the Ottoman Senate and then SheikulIslam.
Undoubtedly, the Party of Union and Progress was able to appoint different names as SheikulIslam at the time when it was effective on the Ottoman administration. However, what makes Musa Kazım Efendi different; during the second constitutional era, he was the Sheikhulislam who remained in this post for the longest time, that he took part in the central administration of the UPP, the masonry claims about him and the fact that UPP made it possible for him to become Sheikhulislam more than once to achieve the reforms they envisioned. After the declaration of the second constitutional era when the UPP gained control over the Ottoman administration, Musa Kazım Efendi made some publications trying to convince the UPP to build the new system upon Islamic values but failed. For, a Western-style multi-party "parliament" system was established in the country, not a "shura-i ummah" model of the Prophet and Companions as he desired.
His reputation was torn apart in 1911 with the allegations of Freemasonry, and his duty of SheikhulIslam was terminated. Musa Kazım Efendi kept himself busy with scholarly activities until his second appointment as SheikulIslam in 1916. Even though he realized that the policies UPP implemented did not comply with Islamic values, ethics and rules, he could not completely break his ties with the Party. In fact, the Party did not let him be. Although he declared his health problems in 1916 and Sultan Mehmed Reşad did not want to appoint him because of the claims about his ties with masonry, he was appointed again as Sheikh-ul-Islam. During his time in the office, UPP made regulations ensuring that the religious courts are transferred to the authority of the Justice Department from Sheik ul Islam and also issued the Family Law Decree.
In the new era that started after the Union and Progress dissolved following the loss of the First World War in 1918, Musa Kazım Efendi was also tried in the Court of War with the allegation of "changing the state's governance with fear and pressure" as one of the leaders of the Union and Progress. The 15-year hard penalty he received as a result of the court was turned into exile for 3 years with the intercession of the Sultan and he was sent to Edirne. Musa Kazım Efendi, who won many awards during his civil service years, tried to make a living with various aids in the last years of his life because his salary was cut. He died at the age of 62 in Edirne, where he was in exile on June 10, 1920.