In Ottoman intellectual history some scholars settled in one city and spent their whole lives in the same madrasa, while others spent their lives on the road. Muhyiddin Mehmed, known to ordinary people as Molla Arap and in the sources as Arap Vâiz ("the Arab Preacher"), is one of the most striking examples of the second kind. He was born in Antakya, studied in Hasankeyf, Diyarbekir and Tabriz, won fame in Aleppo, drew a Mamluk sultan into his own preaching circle in Cairo, stood beside Bayezid II in Bursa and Istanbul, beside Selim I (Selim the Grim) on the road to Çaldıran and beside Süleyman the Magnificent on the Hungarian campaign, and was finally laid to rest in Bursa, in the graveyard of the mosque whose foundations he had laid. His life shows how the network of learning that linked Mamluk and Ottoman lands worked in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, and how much influence a preacher could wield over political events.

Name, Family and Epithet

His given name was Muhyiddin Mehmed and his father's name was Ömer. The sources call him Mehmed Molla and Molla Arap; some works give his full name as Muhammad b. Umar b. Hamza al-Antaki. Because Alâeddin Arabî Efendi, one of the şeyhülislâms (chief muftis) of Bayezid II's reign, was also known as Molla Arap, Muhyiddin Mehmed was called Arap Vâiz to tell the two scholars apart. Alâeddin Arabî, a native of Aleppo, had attended the lectures of Molla Gürânî in Edirne, taught at the Kaplıca Madrasa in Bursa and at the Sahn-ı Semân in Istanbul, became şeyhülislâm in April 1495 and died a year later, in April 1496. Molla Arap was still in Cairo at that date, so the confusion between the two names is a problem met from time to time in both older and recent publications. Local tradition agrees on the origin of the epithet: the people of Bursa are said to have called him by this name because he knew Arabic exceptionally well and had come from the direction of Aleppo.

His family belonged to a long scholarly tradition. His grandfather Hamza b. İvaz was one of the scholars of Transoxiana and had been among the students of the great theologian Sa'deddin et-Teftâzânî (al-Taftazani). Hamza b. İvaz migrated with his family from Central Asia to Antakya, and Molla Arap was born in that city. His date of birth is not recorded in the sources. On the strength of the report that he was seventy years old when he died, it is accepted that he was born around 868 (1464); some biographical compilations simply say that his birth date is unknown. His father too is remembered as a learned and pious man who took close care of his son's education.

Years of Study: From Antakya to Cairo

Molla Arap memorised the Qur'an as a child; he also learned by heart al-Shatibiyya, the basic versified text of the science of Qur'anic recitation, and Kanz al-Daqa'iq, one of the most widely used abridgements of Hanafi law. In Antakya he studied Arabic together with jurisprudence, legal theory and recitation under his father and his uncles Şeyh Hüseyin (Hasan in some sources) and Şeyh Ahmed. This first education shows that the tradition his family had brought from Transoxiana was carried on in Antakya. He then turned east and continued his studies in Hasankeyf, Diyarbekir and Tabriz. In Tabriz he studied for several years in particular under a scholar named Molla Mezîd (Mevlânâ Mürîd in some Turkish compilations). Tabriz, then under Akkoyunlu (Aq Qoyunlu) rule, was a lively centre where the scholars of Iran and Iraq met, and the traces of the Persian world in Molla Arap's intellectual make-up date from this period.

On his return from Tabriz he settled in Aleppo. There his sermons, lessons and fatwas soon made him known, and in the words of the sources he won fame in the lands of the Arabs and the Persians. This fame did not keep him from completing his education. He studied for a time in Jerusalem and Mecca, performing the pilgrimage along the way; some hagiographical compilations also write that he stayed on in Mecca for a while as a resident devotee (mücavir). He then went on to Cairo and received an ijaza (licence to teach) from Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti, one of the most prolific scholars of his age. An ijaza from al-Suyuti was a credential respected throughout the Islamic world in hadith and Qur'anic exegesis, and it played a large part in Molla Arap's later reputation as a teacher of hadith and exegesis. Some compilations record that in Cairo he also attended the lessons of a teacher named Şa'bî.

At the Court of the Mamluk Sultan Qaitbay

In Cairo Molla Arap's sermons soon attracted the attention of court circles. The Mamluk Sultan Qaitbay (Kayıtbay) listened to his sermons and joined his gatherings. Molla Arap presented to the sultan a work he wrote there, al-Nihaya. This book on applied jurisprudence covered the questions treated in Molla Hüsrev's Durar al-Hukkam fi Sharh Ghurar al-Ahkam, which became a basic reference in Ottoman madrasas and courts; some compilations say that it also gathered the questions found in the Mustasfa. The sources relate that Qaitbay was so fond of him that he would not allow Molla Arap to leave Egypt. Hagiographical works also state that the sultan appointed him preacher and mufti, but this information does not appear in the principal biographical sources.

This period coincides with years of tension between the Mamluk and Ottoman states. After Bayezid II's accession Qaitbay saw the Ottomans as the most serious threat; from 1485 onwards long-running fighting took place between the two states in the region of Adana, Tarsus and Malatya, and finally in 1491 a peace of fifteen years was signed. Qaitbay died on 27 Dhu al-Qa'da 901 (7 August 1496). Molla Arap's move to Ottoman lands took place after this death. The principal source gives the date of the move as 903 (1497-98); some compilations give 1495, but since that date falls before Qaitbay's death it does not seem consistent.

Bursa, Istanbul and Bayezid II

On reaching Ottoman territory Molla Arap first settled in Bursa. There he preached for some time and won the favour of the city's notables as well as its people. He then went to Istanbul and continued preaching there. When his fame reached the palace, Bayezid II too began to listen to his sermons and join his gatherings, and bestowed gifts on him. Molla Arap responded to this closeness with his writings: he dedicated to the sultan his Tahdhib al-Shama'il, an abridged and rearranged version of al-Tirmidhi's al-Shama'il al-Nabawiyya, his al-Maqasid fi Fada'il al-Masajid on the merits of mosques, and a treatise of forty hadiths. According to hagiographical books Bayezid II often visited him and asked for his prayers for the survival of the state.

The interest Bayezid II showed in this scholar is better understood in the light of the years he had spent as a prince in Amasya. Before his accession Bayezid served for many years as sanjak governor (sanjak-bey) of Amasya, and his son Selim was born in Amasya during these years, most probably in 1470. The scholars, sheikhs and calligraphers gathered around the prince's court laid the foundation of Bayezid's habit of inviting men of learning and Sufism to Istanbul. Cemâl-i Halvetî (Çelebi Halife), the first major representative of the Halveti (Khalwati) order in Istanbul, met Bayezid while he was serving in Amasya, and Bayezid's chief gatekeeper Mustafa Ağa, the later Koca Mustafa Pasha, became his disciple. The sheikh's invitation to Istanbul was the result of this Amasya acquaintance. The Halveti circle that Molla Arap would face in Istanbul was thus one fed in part from Amasya.

The Siege of Modon

The sources state that Bayezid II took Molla Arap with him on campaign, and that Molla Arap was among the first ghazis to enter the fortress during the conquest of Modon (Methoni), the fortified Venetian port at the south-western tip of the Peloponnese. During the Ottoman-Venetian war of 1499-1502, the army commanded by Bayezid II in person had taken Modon on 14 Muharram 906 (10 August 1500) after a bloody siege lasting four months. Hagiographical compilations add that throughout the siege Molla Arap encouraged the soldiers with his speeches and prayers. After the conquest the city's Gothic cathedral was converted into a mosque, and the town was resettled with families brought from the villages of the Morea. On his return from the campaign Molla Arap went on preaching in Istanbul for some time.

A Second Period in Aleppo and the Affair of the Safavid Envoy

After this period in Istanbul Molla Arap went back to Aleppo with his family. The city was still under Mamluk rule, and its governor (nâib) Hayır Bey (Khayr Bey) was the man who would later go over to the Ottoman side and become the first Ottoman beylerbey (governor-general) of Egypt. Molla Arap soon won his favour. According to hagiographical sources Hayır Bey wished to meet all his needs, but Molla Arap accepted nothing. The length of his stay in Aleppo is given differently in the sources: Taşköprizâde and İsmâil Belîğ say eight years, while Mecdî speaks of three. During these years he taught hadith and exegesis, continued his sermons, and became known above all for his preaching against Shi'ism.

The Aleppine historian Radi al-Din Ibn al-Hanbali relates a striking incident from this period. A member of the retinue of the envoy whom Shah Ismail had sent to the Mamluk Sultan Qansuh al-Ghawri heard the sermon Molla Arap delivered in the Great Mosque of Aleppo against Shah Ismail and the Shi'a, and drew his sword to kill him. The assailant was killed by the Aleppines in the congregation. The incident caused a political crisis between the two states. The Mamluks were avoiding a direct clash with the Safavids, and on Hayır Bey's orders Molla Arap had to return to Ottoman lands. Hagiographical compilations explain his return by the hostility the Safavids showed him.

Selim I and the Çaldıran Campaign

Molla Arap's return to Ottoman lands coincided with a period in which the Safavid question had moved to the centre of Ottoman politics. Shah Ismail's deputies were conducting wide-ranging propaganda in Anatolia; in 1511 the revolt of Şahkulu Baba Tekeli had advanced as far as Kütahya, and in 1512 Nur Ali Halife had seized Tokat and had the Friday sermon read in Shah Ismail's name. Murad, the son of Şehzade Ahmed (Prince Ahmed), who was serving as sanjak governor in Amasya, had also gone over to the Safavid side. Selim I, who came to the throne on 24 April 1512, turned his whole attention east once he had settled accounts with his brothers. Fatwas declaring war against the Safavids a religious duty were obtained from the mufti of Istanbul, Sarıgörez Nûreddin Efendi, and from Kemalpaşazâde.

In this process Molla Arap was among the scholars who warned Selim I against the Qizilbash and urged him to launch a campaign against Iran. For this purpose he wrote a work on the merits of holy war, al-Sadad fi Fadl al-Jihad; hagiographical sources say that he also urged the sultan to jihad in verse. When the campaign began he was at the sultan's side and preached to the soldiers on holy war. The army had set out from Edirne on 20 March 1514 and, advancing by way of İzmit, Konya, Kayseri and Sivas, crossed the Safavid frontier amid food shortages and Janissary discontent. Keeping up the soldiers' morale throughout this hard march was among the chief duties of the preachers who accompanied the campaign. According to a hagiographical account, during the battle Molla Arap would pray and the sultan would say amen.

At the battle fought on the plain of Çaldıran on 2 Rajab 920 (23 August 1514), the Ottoman artillery and Janissary musketeers scattered the Safavid cavalry and Shah Ismail withdrew. Selim I entered Tabriz on 6 September and had the Friday sermon read in his own name. Molla Arap continued his anti-Shi'i sermons in the city where he had studied in his youth. The army could stay in Tabriz only nine days; food shortages and the soldiers' reluctance made it impossible to winter there, and the army returned to Anatolia.

The Army's Winter Quarters in Amasya

The last stop on the return journey was Amasya. Having spent the Ramadan festival in Niksar, Selim I came to Amasya on 24 November 1514 to pass the winter and to resume operations from there the following spring. The army's guns and ammunition had been left at Şebinkarahisar, and part of the troops had been ordered to winter at Ankara. Throughout the winter Amasya became in a sense the temporary centre of the empire: Shah Ismail's envoys suing for peace were received and rebuffed here, the affairs of Dulkadir were settled here, and on 22 February 1515 the Janissaries rose here and plundered the houses of the vizier Pîrî Mehmed Pasha and of the sultan's tutor Halîmî Çelebi. According to an archival document, the scholars and artisans taken from Tabriz were also sent to Istanbul by way of Amasya in April 1515. The sultan marched from Amasya against Kemah on 19 April 1515.

The sources do not state clearly whether Molla Arap spent this winter in Amasya with the army. His biography shows him, after his sermons in Tabriz, directly in Aleppo after the fall of the Mamluk state. Since he is known to have been at the sultan's side throughout the campaign, it is quite likely that he was with the army on the return journey as well, but this remains no more than a supposition. What is certain is that the Çaldıran campaign in which Molla Arap's name appears is tied directly to the history of this city, both at its outset through the Qizilbash movements in the province of Rûm and on its return through the winter quarters at Amasya.

Preaching in Ottoman Aleppo

With the defeat of the Mamluk army at Marj Dabiq in 1516 and the capture of Cairo the following year, Aleppo became part of the Ottoman realm. After this Molla Arap came to Aleppo again and resumed his sermons. According to Radi al-Din Ibn al-Hanbali he now took a different line in his preaching and began to say that, because the sultan had granted the Shi'a a guarantee of safety (aman), their property could no longer be taken from them. This stance shows a preacher known for his hostility to the Safavids drawing a legal distinction between wartime and the peace that came with Ottoman rule; that the property of a community granted aman could not be touched was a well-known rule of Islamic law.

The Rumelian Years and the Hungarian Campaign

After Aleppo Molla Arap crossed into Rumelia, where he went on preaching and for ten years taught Qur'anic exegesis in Skopje (Üsküp). During his time in Rumelia he also founded charitable works: a mosque and a masjid in Sarajevo and a masjid in Skopje are his. Some Turkish compilations give Sarayköy instead of Sarajevo and write that he preached for ten years in Sarayköy and Skopje (Üsküdar in one publication); the principal biographical source, however, gives Sarajevo and Skopje. The same compilations say that many non-Muslims accepted Islam thanks to his sermons.

In 932 (1526) he joined the Hungarian campaign of Süleyman the Magnificent. This was the campaign that ended with the Battle of Mohács and the taking of Buda. Molla Arap thus became one of the rare scholars to have accompanied the campaigns of three sultans: Bayezid II, Selim I and Süleyman the Magnificent. Hagiographical books write that on this campaign too he prayed for victory and that his prayer was answered. On his return from the campaign he settled in Bursa and spent his last years in that city.

Sermons, Views and Controversies

Molla Arap's reputation among his contemporaries rested on the depth of his knowledge of exegesis and hadith. He is said to have had a powerful memory and to have known by heart nearly all the sound hadiths; hagiographical compilations say that he knew the traditions in the six canonical hadith collections. It is also reported that on Fridays he would expound at length the verses the imam had recited in the prayer. He is said to have spoken his mind without hesitation in his sermons, to have warned the people against ideas he considered deviant, above all against the Shi'a and the Erdebîliyye (the Safaviyya), and to have fought against religious innovations. This hard line did not go unanswered; it is reported that Molla Arap too was cursed in the mosques of the Erdebîliyye.

One of the controversial aspects of his career was his friction with Sufi circles. In his sermons in Istanbul he spoke against semâ (ritual listening) and dance, and objected to members of the Halveti order performing semâ in mosques. He sent the Halvetis of Istanbul a letter he had written declaring dance and devrân (the circling ritual) forbidden. One of the order's sheikhs, Cemâleddin İshak Karamânî, known as Cemal Halife, wrote a reply arguing that dance and devrân were lawful and permissible for those qualified for them. This reply is transmitted by Mecdî's translation of the Shaqa'iq. Karamânî, on the other side of the dispute, also had ties to Amasya: as a calligrapher he had trained under Şeyh Hamdullah and had most probably taken his calligraphy lessons in Amasya, before Şeyh Hamdullah moved to Istanbul. One of his deputies, Hayreddin Hızır Amâsî, after staying for a time at the lodge in Sütlüce, carried on his work in Amasya.

Molla Arap did not enjoy the same standing in every circle. The Aleppine scholar Badr al-Din al-Suyufi had accused him of ignorance. Radi al-Din Ibn al-Hanbali, however, defends Molla Arap, stating that al-Suyufi's remark carries no weight. The fact that a considerable part of what we know about him comes from the Aleppine historian Ibn al-Hanbali shows that Molla Arap found a place in the Arabic biographical tradition as well as the Ottoman one.

Character and Family

It is recorded that Molla Arap had a profound knowledge of kimya but did not put it to use. The sources also state that he wrote numerous treatises on the subject; in the usage of the time, kimya was a field of knowledge concerned with the transformation of substances and close to alchemy. He earned his living by trade. It is reported that despite the favour shown him by sultans and emirs and the gifts they sent, he accepted nothing beyond his own earnings, and even declined Hayır Bey's offers of help. This attitude represents a type of scholar who stood in close relation to the court without depending on its patronage.

He trained many students. Of his sons, known as Arapzâde, Muhyiddin Muhammed died in 969 (1562) and Abdürraûf in 1009 (1600-1601). Both served as qadis in various places and both wrote scholarly works. Hagiographical sources say that his grandsons also continued on the path of learning.

Works

Molla Arap's surviving works are mostly treatises on hadith and on religious merits, written in the reigns of Bayezid II and Selim I and dedicated to the sultans. His works with manuscripts in the Süleymaniye Library are the following:

  • Tahdhib al-Shama'il fi man Khassahu Allah bi-Akmal al-Fada'il: An abridged and rearranged version of al-Tirmidhi's al-Shama'il al-Nabawiyya on the qualities of the Prophet, dedicated to Bayezid II (Süleymaniye Library, Lâleli, no. 1547).
  • al-Maqasid fi Fada'il al-Masajid: This seven-chapter work on the merits of mosques was also dedicated to Bayezid II (Süleymaniye Library, Ayasofya, no. 3447).
  • Arba'un Hadithan: A treatise dedicated to Bayezid II containing forty hadiths on various subjects, with related verses and stories (Süleymaniye Library, Esad Efendi, no. 431).
  • A second Arba'un Hadithan: A treatise following the first, made up of forty-two concise hadiths that are easy to memorise, one of them repeated.
  • al-Sadad fi Fadl al-Jihad: A treatise on holy war written to urge Selim I to campaign against the Safavids (Süleymaniye Library, Ayasofya, no. 1985).

Besides these, the sources also attribute to him the law book al-Nihaya presented to Qaitbay, Hidayat al-'Ibad ila Sabil al-Rashad, said to be on Sufism, a Mawlid al-Nabi, and numerous treatises on kimya. The work that Brockelmann attributed to him under the title Risala fi Mas'alat al-Jabr wa'l-Qadar actually belongs to Şeyhülislâm Alâeddin Arabî. It is a gloss on the "four premises" (mukaddemât-ı erbaa) concerning the question of moral good and evil (husn and qubh) in Sadr al-Shari'a's al-Tawdih, a matter debated in the reign of Mehmed II (the Conqueror). The confusion of names between the two Molla Araps thus extends all the way into modern bibliography.

His Mosque and Grave in Bursa

In his last years Molla Arap began building a large mosque in the Umur Bey quarter of Bursa, but died before he could complete it, on 4 Muharram 938 (18 August 1531), and was buried in the mosque's graveyard. Some compilations give the year of his death as 1532, because the hijri year 938 spans two Gregorian years; the date whose day is known points to 1531. The sources agree that he died and was buried in Bursa. Mevlânâ Kandî composed a chronogram on his death with the line "Erdi Mevlânâ Arab i'zâz ile mevlâsına" ("Mevlânâ Arab reached his Lord with honour").

The Molla Arap Mosque, also called the Molla Arap (Balaban Bey) Mosque in the sources, stands today on Balabancık Street in the Mollaarap quarter of the Yıldırım district, which bears his name. Begun in the first quarter of the sixteenth century, the mosque has a rectangular plan of the Ulu Cami (multi-domed great mosque) type; according to the documents it had nine domes when first built and rested on four great piers. Its walls are built of three courses of brick alternating with rubble stone. The mosque remained in use until the late eighteenth century, but fell into ruin when the settlement around it dispersed. It partly collapsed in the Bursa earthquake of 1271 (1855); the two domes on the main axis and the piers carrying them remained standing. After the earthquake Governor Ahmed Vefik Pasha settled Tatar refugees around the mosque and had the building repaired and reopened for worship. This repair is said to have been carried out in the Empire style. The building was rebuilt with two domes in 1953; some sources say this renewal was carried out in 1955 by the Bursa Society of Friends of Historic Monuments. The brick-bodied minaret at the north-west corner is notable for its transition by means of triangles from an octagonal base to a cylindrical shaft, and for its ribbed, pointed cap, unlike that of any other minaret in Bursa. A broad courtyard lies in front of the mosque.

The name of the quarter comes directly from this mosque. The settlement that grew up around it came over time to be called the Mollaarap quarter, and the name has remained unchanged for some five centuries. Molla Arap's grave once lay in the mosque garden; after the mosque was reduced in size following the 1855 earthquake, the grave ended up across the road. Hagiographical compilations write that the grave lies one street away from the mosque. Complaints reported in the press in recent years have drawn attention to the fact that the grave has never been given a tomb building and is in a neglected state.

Chronology

c. 1464: Born in Antakya (an estimate calculated from his age at death).

1495-1496: Tenure and death (April 1496) of his namesake, Şeyhülislâm Alâeddin Arabî.

1496: Death of the Mamluk Sultan Qaitbay (7 August).

1497-98 (903): Moved to Ottoman lands and settled in Bursa, then went on to Istanbul.

1500: Took part in Bayezid II's siege of Modon; the fortress fell on 10 August.

1514: Accompanied Selim I on the Çaldıran campaign; Battle of Çaldıran on 23 August, entry into Tabriz on 6 September.

1514-1515: The Ottoman army and Selim I wintered in Amasya (24 November 1514 - 19 April 1515).

1516-1517: After Aleppo passed under Ottoman rule, preached there again.

1526 (932): Joined Süleyman the Magnificent's Hungarian campaign, settling in Bursa on his return.

1531: Died in Bursa on 4 Muharram 938 (18 August 1531).

1855: The Molla Arap Mosque partly collapsed in the Bursa earthquake.

1953: The mosque was rebuilt with two domes.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • "Molla Arab", Evliyalar Ansiklopedisi; "Molla Arab Hazretleri", ADEMDER.

Official sources

  • Molla Arap Cami, Türkiye Kültür Portalı (Bursa Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism). kulturportali.gov.tr
  • Molla Arap (Balaban Bey) Camii, Türkiye Kültür Portalı, Cultural Inventory.
  • Mollaarap Camii, Yıldırım Municipality.

Other sources

  • Tahsin Özcan, "Molla Arap", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 30, Ankara 2020, pp. 240-241. islamansiklopedisi.org.tr
  • "Alâeddin Arabî Efendi", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. islamansiklopedisi.org.tr
  • "Selim I", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. islamansiklopedisi.org.tr
  • "Kayıtbay", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. islamansiklopedisi.org.tr
  • "Modon", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi.
  • "Çaldıran Savaşı", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi.
  • "Cemâl-i Halvetî", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi.
  • "Karamânî, Cemâleddin İshak", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi.
  • "Şahkulu", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi.
  • Taşköprizâde, eş-Şekâik, pp. 413-416; Mecdî, Şekāik Tercümesi, pp. 373, 411-415; Atâî, Zeyl-i Şekāik.
  • Radıyyüddin İbnü'l-Hanbelî, Dürrü'l-habeb fî târîhi a'yâni Haleb, Damascus 1973, II/1, pp. 233-236.
  • Remzi Kılıç, "Yavuz Sultan Selim'in Çaldıran Seferi ve Sonrası Gelişmeler (1514-1517)".
  • "Bursa'nın Mollaarap semtinin ismi nereden geliyor?", Bursa Hakimiyet, 2026; "Unutulan miras: Osmanlı'nın büyük alimi Molla Arap'ın kabri sahipsiz kaldı", Türkiye Gazetesi.
  • "Molla Arap", Turkish Wikipedia. tr.wikipedia.org