Shaykh Muzaffar

Shaykh Muzaffar was born in Istanbul in 1916. His father, Hajji Mehmed Efendi of Qonya, was an Islamic scholar and a teacher at the court of Sultan Abdal-Hamid. His mother was the grand-daughter of Shaykh Seyyid Efendi, the spiritual master of the Halveti Order in the town of Yanbolu. On his father’s death, when he was only six years old, Muzaffar was taken into the care of Shaykh Seyyid Samiyyi Saruhani of the Qadiri, Naqshbandi, Ushaki and Halveti Orders. From an early age, he studied the Holy Quran, the recorded actions and sayings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and Islamic Law, under the guidance of the spiritual leader of the Fateh mosque in Istanbul and Arnavut Husrev. Hafiz Ismail, the son of the famous musician Zekai Efendi of the Mevlavi Order, taught him many religious hymns and odes. Later on he was appointed as the spiritual leader of the Veznejiler mosque, where he served for 23 years. When that mosque collapsed and was destroyed, he was appointed as the spiritual leader of the mosque in the Covered Bazaar in Istanbul. As well as being the spiritual leader in these two mosques, he also taught and preached to people in 42 other mosques in Istanbul, including the famous Blue Mosque.

Shaykh Muzaffar’s first spiritual master was his benefactor Shaykh Samiyyi Saruhani. After him, he encountered another spiritual master of the Halveti Order, Shaykh Seyyid Tahiru’l Marashi, and several others. He was initiated into the Halveti Jerrahi Order by Shaykh Fahri Efendi, and later on, he himself became the spiritual master of his order after the death of his master. Despite the attempts of Ataturk and his successors to destroy the Sufis and Islam in Turkey, Shaykh Muzaffar continued to teach until his death in 1986, by which time there were members of his order not only throughout Turkey, but also in Europe, England, North America and elsewhere.

Shaykh Muzaffar’s teaching in primarily based on spiritual love and is concerned with the relationship between the lover and the Beloved. In the following verse he says:

"Pass the rest by and follow love, O heart;

Reality’s folk obey love, for their part;

Love is more ancient than all that’s known to exist:

They sought Love’s beginning, but found it had no start.