Khaled Efendi al-Atassi al-Husseini (; –October, 1908), was an

Ottoman Syria Ottoman Syria () is a historiographical term used to describe the group of divisions of the Ottoman Empire within the region of the Levant, usually defined as being east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Euphrates River, north of the Ara ...

religious authority,

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

, scholar and poet. Born in

Homs Homs ( ; ), known in pre-Islamic times as Emesa ( ; ), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level, above sea level and is located north of Damascus. Located on the Orontes River, Homs is ...

to the famous Atassi family in 1837, he went through the traditional preparation for the position of

Mufti A mufti (; , ) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion ('' fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatāwa'' have played an important role thro ...

, a post his family filled for over 400 years.

Biography

There are some debate on his exact date of birth, with sources ranging from . His father, Muhammad Efendi Al-Atassi was the

Grand Mufti A Grand Mufti (also called Chief Mufti, State Mufti and Supreme Mufti) is a title for the leading Faqīh, Islamic jurist of a country, typically Sunni, who may oversee other muftis. Not all countries with large Sunni Muslim populations have Gra ...

of Homs, and so was his uncle, Saeed Al-Atassi. Khaled Efendi studied under famous Islamic scholars of his time in Homs and

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

. In 1876 he was elected as deputy of Homs and

Hama Hama ( ', ) is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria. It is located north of Damascus and north of Homs. It is the provincial capital of the Hama Governorate. With a population of 996,000 (2023 census), Hama is one o ...

to the parliament of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. He was also given the post of Mudarres (teacher) in the Mosque of Khaled ibn Al-Waleed in Homs, a post that was held by his family for generations. In 1861, and while his father was still alive, Khaled Efendi assumed the position of the Mufti. However, Islamic court registers of Homs later designate him as the Deputy-Mufti, and his father as the Mufti. In 1882 the Mufti of Homs, Mohammad Al-Atassi died, but the Ottoman administration handed the Mufti position to sheikh Hafez Al-Jindi Al-Abassi, who served as a Mufti till 1885. Khaled Efendi became the Mufti of Homs in 1885 by an official decree, and was removed from his post in 1894, to be filled by his brother, Abdu-Lateef Al-Atassi. Khlaled Atassi was also a poet and an author. He left several books in the topic of Islamic jurisdiction. His most famous work was "Sharh Al-Majallah", which is an interpretation of the Ottoman Islamic Law Code based on the

Hanafi The Hanafi school or Hanafism is the oldest and largest Madhhab, school of Islamic jurisprudence out of the four schools within Sunni Islam. It developed from the teachings of the Faqīh, jurist and theologian Abu Hanifa (), who systemised the ...

Fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.Fiqh
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...

school. Atassi died in 1908 before finishing the book, but it was later completed by his son

Taher al-Atassi Taher (, ''Al-Tahir''; ), is Algerian city, the industrial center of Jijel Province, with its industrial area of Ouled Salah, the Jijel Ferhat Abbas Airport and the port of Djen Djen. Geography Situation The municipality of Taher is located in t ...

, also Mufti of Homs, and was published in 7 volumes. Several of his sons and grandsons were prominent figures and assumed high offices in Mandatory Syria. His son Hashem Al-Atassi headed the struggle against the French mandate and became president of Mandatory Syria and Syrian Republic. His son Taher Efendi took over the post of Mufti of Homs, and was elected to the Council of the Syrian States Union in 1922. Several of his grandsons became ministers in the Syrian government and deputies in the parliament.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atassi, Khaled 1837 births 1908 deaths 19th-century poets from the Ottoman Empire 19th-century male writers 20th-century poets from the Ottoman Empire 20th-century male writers Khaled Arabic-language poets from the Ottoman Empire Male poets from the Ottoman Empire Ottoman Sunni Muslims People from Homs Syrian people of Turkish descent