The Muslim world received the sad news on Friday night, 19 February 2021 (7 Rajab 1442) of the passing of one of the most senior scholars of Turkey, the link to the Ottoman scholarship and a silent mujāhid, Shaykh Muḥammad Amīn Sirāj. He was the last student of the renowned scholar, Shaykh Muḥammad Zāhid al-Kawtharī and the adviser to Professor Najm al-Dīn Erbakan, former Prime Minister of Turkey.

Shaykh Muḥammad Amīn Sirāj (1929 – 2021), Istanbul, Turkey[1]

Muḥammad Amīn Sirāj ibn Shaykh Muṣṭafá ibn As’ad ibn Yūsuf ‘Alī Sirāj was born in the Tokat Province of Turkey on the first day of Ramaḍān in 1929 (1348). He learnt the Quran from his father during the reign of Attaturk. This was the period when the teaching of the Quran was banned. His father and grandfather were imprisoned because of their persistence in teaching the Quran. He completed the memorization of the Quran by the time he was 10 years old. His father would wake him up late at night in order teach him the Quran and hide from the soldiers. After they were released, they moved to Istanbul. Thereafter he continued seeking knowledge from the scholars of Masjid al-Fātiḥ in Istanbul.

Some of these scholars were:

• Shaykh Muḥammad Khosroe Effendi who was one of the most senior scholars of the masjid.
• Shaykh Sulaymān Effendi with whom he completed about 2 volumes of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and he received a written ijāzah from him.
• Shaykh Muḥammad Zāhid al-Kawtharī who also granted him ijāzah. Shaykh al-Kawtharī had a profound influence on him. Shaykh Amīn spent four years studying with Shaykh al-Kawtharī during which he attended lessons at the teachers home. Shaykh al-Kawtharī gifted him a copy of his thabt titled: al-Taḥrīr al-Wajīz fīmā yabtaghīhi al-Mustajīz 20 days before his demise.
• Shaykh ‘Alī Haydar Effendi, who was one of the senior scholars and mufti’s.
• Shaykh Muṣṭafá Luṭfī Effendi, who was known as the ‘mobile library’ because of his excessive reading. He used to remain in the library of the Fātiḥ Mosque from the morning until the evening. This was a library that had 12 000 books. This shaykh always walked from one place to the other and never travelled in a car or a bus.
• Shaykh Muṣṭafá Ṣabrī, the Grand Shaykh (Shaykh al-Islam) of the Ottoman Empire. Shaykh Amīn met him in Egypt during his visits to Shaykhh al-Kawtharī.

He studied important texts in Ḥanafī Fiqh that included: Marāqī al-Falāḥ, al-Qudūrī, al-Hidāyah. He also studied Ihyā ‘Ulūm al-Dīn, al-Shifā, Ṣaḥīh al-Bukhārī, al-Tirmidhī and Tafsīr al-Bayḍāwī.

He also received ijāzah from other renowned scholars like:

• Shaykh Muḥammad Ḥasan al-Mashāṭ
• Shaykh Muḥammad Yāsīn al-Fādānī
• Shaykh Abu al-Ḥasan al-Nadwī
• Shaykh ‘Abdul Fattāḥ Abū Ghuddah
• Shaykh ‘Abdul Rashīd al-Nu’mānī
• Shaykh ‘Abdul Razzāq al-Ḥalabī
• Shaykh Muḥammad Dīb al-Kallās

He exchanged ijāzah with some ‘ulamā. They are:

• Shaykh Muḥammad ‘Awwāmah.
• Shaykh Ibrāhim Khalifah al-Aḥsāi
• Shaykh Rāfi’ Tāha al-Rifā’ī, Mufti of ‘Iraq.
• Shaykh Abṣār al-Ḥaq al-Qasimī

After studying with the scholars in Turkey, he travelled to Egypt to continue studying at the prestigious al-Azhar University where he graduated from the Faculty of Sharī’ah in 1958. He completed the first year of the course on specialization in the Islamic Judicial System.

Some of his teachers in Egypt were:

• Shaykh Muḥammad ‘Abdul Wahhāb al-Buḥayrī who taught Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī from his home.
• Shaykh Aḥmad Fahmī Abū Sinnah

There were a number of other scholars with whom Shaykh Amīn maintained a close friendship, while he attended the gatherings or lectures of others and benefited from their knowledge and guidance. Some of these scholars were:

• Shaykh ‘Abdurraḥmān Effendi, Imām and khaṭīb of Sultan Bā Yazīd Mosque and one of the last prominent qurrā of the Ottoman Empire.
• Shaykh Alī Ya’qūb Effendi, a student of Shaykh Muṣṭafá Ṣabrī and Shaykh al-Kawtharī
• Shaykh Hasanayn Makhlūf, former Mufti of Egypt.
• Shaykh Abdul Raḥīm al-Kishkī, Egypt. He was a teacher of the Ḥanafī text, al-Hidāyah.
• Shaykh Maḥmūd Shaltūt, teacher of al-Hidāyah and former Shaykh of al-Azhar.
• Shaykh ‘Abdul Wahhāb ‘Abdull Laṭīf, Egypt.
• Shaykh Maḥmūd Shawkat al-‘Adawī, Egypt.
• Shaykh Muḥammad Iḥsān Effendi
• Shaykh Muḥammad Zāhid Kotkū, Istanbul.
• Shaykh Maḥmūd Sāmī Ramaḍān Oghlū al-Naqshbandī.
• Shaykh Amīn Awnī, Mufti of Istanbul.
• Shaykh Ali Yakta Effendi, who was his father-in-law.
• Shaykh ‘Umar Naṣūḥī Effendi
• Shaykh Bakr Khākī Effendi
• Shaykh Fu’ād Effendi Beshiktās.

Some of his colleagues from his student days whether in Turkey or in Egypt were: Shaykh Maḥmūd Effendi (famous Naqshbandī Shaykh), Shaykh Muḥammad Ali al-Ṣābūnī, Shaykh Yūsuf al-Qaraḍāwī, Shaykh Nūr al-Dīn ‘Itr and Shaykh Nur al-Dīn Buwayjilār. The last is from Konya in Turkey. He attended some of the lessons that were conducted by Shaykh Muṣṭafá Ṣabrī and Shaykh al-Kawtharī in Egypt but did not receive ijāzah from them because he was too young. Later, he spent about seven years with Shaykh Abdul Fattāḥ Abū Ghuddah and he received ijāzah from him.

Shaykh Amīn commenced teaching without voluntarily at the al-Fātiḥ Mosque in 1958. These lessons continued until the last days of his life. Hundreds had studied under him and many went on to become scholars, imams, university academics, teachers, businessmen, mayors of different towns and even members of parliament. During these lessons he taught various books in Ḥanafi Fiqh, Tafsīr, the six books of Ḥadīth, the Muwaṭṭā, al-Shamā’il and al-Shifā by Qāḍī ‘Iyāḍ about seven times, Iḥyā ‘Ulūm al-Dīn and some of the books by Shaykh Abdullah Sirāj al-Dīn.

He always encouraged his students to learn the Arabic language and always motivated them. More recently he used to say to them: “Now you have a President who reads the Quran.”

The Shaykh was not particular about writing, but some of his students transcribed and wrote what he said during his lessons. He did however supervise the translation of some books from Arabic to Turkish, like ‘Fī Ẓilāl al-Quran’ by Sayid Quṭb. this project took seven years to complete. He was also involved in translating some of Shaykh Abul Ḥasan al-Nadwī’s books like: ‘Mādhā khasira al-ālam bi inḥiṭāt al-Muslimīn’.

He was one of the signatories to the fatwa issued by senior Muslim scholars in 1989 on the impermissibility to relinquish a portion of the land of Palestine.

His students:

He taught for over 60 years and therefore he had many students. However, his students may be classified into a few categories:

1. Those who were acquainted with him in his youth shortly after returning from Egypt. These include Shaykh Aḥmad Towrān Arslān and Shaykh Ḥamdī Arslān.
2. Those who benefitted from him a little later after he reached the age of fifty. These include Shaykh Fātiḥ Qāyā and others.
3. Those who benefitted from him much later after having reached the age of seventy.
4. Those who obtained ijāzah from him. There are many including many senior scholars from various parts of the world.

His travels:

He travelled out of Turkey for the first time when he was about 20 years old to study at the al-Azhar University where he remained for about 8 years. Thereafter he travelled to numerous times to Makkah and Madinah to perform Ḥajj or ‘Umrah. He travelled a few times to Syria as per invitation from his dear friend, Shaykh Nūr al-Dīn ‘Itr. There he visited of scholars including Shaykh Wahbī Sulaymān Ghāwjī. He also travelled to India.

My personal experience with Shaykh Amīn Sirāj[2]

My most memorable time with Shaykh Muḥammad Amīn Sirāj was during 2010, when I was fortunate to have spent about 10 days in al-Fātiḥ, Istanbul. I stayed at the Rsehadiyyah Hotel that was in close proximity to the Fatih Mosque. I attended the class the Shaykh conducted after Fajr about the Sīrah. He loved the book on the Sīrah by the Syrian scholar, Shaykh Abdullah Sirāj al-Dīn (d. 2002). I attended a lesson that he conducted with some of his friends in Tafsīr al-Nasafī. These were a group of elderly men, probably in their sixties or more. The lesson was in Turkish, but the Shaykh graciously gave me a summary in Arabic. He asked me to address these men about Islam in South Africa. I was even fortunate to attend lessons at his home during which students were reading and studying Sunan Abū Dāwūd with him. He introduced a number of students to me. Many were young men who had memorized the Quran along with some Ḥadīth work like Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn or Ṣaḥīh al-Bukhārī. He fondly spoke about how some of these youth were leading the Tarāwīḥ Ṣalāt in some masjids in Istanbul. They were completing the entire Quran during the month of Ramaḍān. This was something that had been abandoned for many years. He asked me to address this group about Islam in South Africa as well. One of his senior students, Shaykh Hamdī Arslān translated.

There were a few occasions during the day when he requested that I accompany him. On one occasion he showed me a school that had few hundred girls dedicated to memorizing the Quran. He mentioned how the number of such schools was rapidly increasing all across Turkey. On another occasion, I accompanied him for a walk in the nearby market holding his hand while he held on to his walking-stick with the other hand. During this trip, he wished to buy a white fez and thereafter he insisted that I join him for lunch. A few days later, I was supposed to meet him after Ẓuhr Ṣalāt. I waited but the Shaykh did not arrive. I was not concerned because I knew that he was very old and very busy. Besides, I knew that I would meet him that night. When I eventually met him later that night, he apologised and said: “Sorry, I could not meet you today, but Erdogan (Turkish President) came home.”

I used to sit with him in his office at the rear of the al-Fātiḥ Mosque. On one Friday, I intended to leave his office to join the rows in the front of the mosque. He insisted that I sit beside him because the rows will eventually reach the rear and will extend through his office. I complied and after the Jumu’ah Ṣalāt, there were some people who approached him to perform a nikāḥ (wedding ceremony). He insisted that I remain and even sign the wedding certificate as one of the witnesses. Hs office was an ideal place to meet many important personalities. It was there where Shaykh introduced me to one of the leading teachers of qirā’at in Turkey, to the producer of the famous cartoon on Muḥammad al-Fātiḥ and even to his grandson.

Shaykh Amīn told me about his close friendship with scholars like Shaykh Abdul Fattāḥ Abū Ghuddah, Shaykh Nūr al-Dīn ‘Itr and Shaykh Abul Ḥasan Ali al-Nadwī. He mentioned how he visited them and they would visit him. He even spoke about the role he and other ‘ulama played in grooming the current Turkish President. He also spoke about some of the challenges they faced while studying Islam during Attaturk’s time.

On the day when I was to depart and return to South Africa, he insisted on walking with me to my hotel to bid me farewell. While seated in the reception, he sent Shaykh Ḥamdī on some errand. To my surprise, when Shaykh Ḥamdī returned he was carrying a large bag with a large variety of Turkish Delights. He also asked Shaykh Ḥamdī to obtain a copy of the book: Rāmūz al-Ḥadīth (5 volumes) by al-Kumushkhānawī. He suggested that the book be taught. This was along with his written ijāzah and some awrād that I was honoured to receive from him.

Shaykh Muḥammad Amīn Sirāj (A day before he passed away. He can be seen with a book in his hand)

^{[1] https://www.facebook.com/majd.makki/posts/3675404375869558}

^{Al-Ibtihāj bi mukhtaṣar tarjamat al-Shaykh Muḥammad Amīn Sirāj by Shaykh Muḥammad Ayyūb al-‘Alī.}

^{[2] I was blessed to have visited the Shaykh a few times. (Shoayb Ahmed)}