Merkez Efendi was the popular nickname of Musa bin Muslihiddin bin Kılıç (1463–1552), an Ottoman

Islamic scholar In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...

and

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

. He is also credited as the founder of "

Mesir macunu Mesir Macunu () is a traditional Turkish sweet associated with the city of Manisa. Earlier versions of Mesir macunu were not sweet, but rather spicy in flavor. Macun is a sweet Turkish confectionery toffee paste that originated from spicy pre ...

", a therapeutic paste believed to have cured mental diseases amongst many other benefits.

Life

Musa bin Muslihiddin bin Kılıç was born in Akçaköy (then known as Sarımahmutlu) in

Buldan Buldan is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Denizli Province, Turkey. Its area is 523 km2, and its population is 26,630 (2022). Buldan district area neighbors to the east and the south three other districts of the same prov ...

district of

Denizli Province Denizli Province () () is a province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey in Western Anatolia, on high ground above the Aegean coast. Neighbouring provinces are Uşak to the north, Burdur, Isparta, Afyon to the east, Aydın, Manisa to t ...

. His father's name was Mustafa. He travelled to

Bursa Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...

in 1478 and to

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

in 1493 to study religion. His tutor was Sünbül Efendi, founder of a branch of the

Khalwati The Khalwati order (also known as Khalwatiyya, Khalwatiya, or Halveti, as it is known in Turkey and Albania) is an Islamic Sufi brotherhood (''tariqa''). Along with the Naqshbandi, Qadiri, and Shadhili orders, it is among the most famous Sufi ...

Sufi order. During the reign of

Ottoman Sultan The sultans of the Ottoman Empire (), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to Dissolution of the Ottoman Em ...

Selim I Selim I (; ; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute (), was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite lasting only eight years, his reign is ...

(r. 1512–1520), he was sent to

Manisa Manisa () is a city in Turkey's Aegean Region and the administrative seat of Manisa Province, lying approximately 40 km northeast of the major city of İzmir. The city forms the urban part of the districts Şehzadeler and Yunusemre, with ...

to serve in the

Külliye A külliye () is a complex of buildings associated with Turkish architecture centered on a mosque and managed within a single institution, often based on a waqf (charitable foundation) and composed of a madrasa, a Dar al-Shifa (clinic), kitchens ...

, the religious buildings complex of Sultan Selim's concubine

Hafsa Sultan Ayşe Hafsa Sultan (; 1478/1479 - 19 March 1534), was a concubine of Selim I and the mother of Suleiman the Magnificent. She was the first Valide Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and, during the period between her son's enthronement in 1520 until ...

. In 1529, he returned to İstanbul as the successor of Sünbül Efendi.Islam Encyclopaedia
/ref> He maybe briefly married to a Selim I's daughter, Şah Sultan, in 1551. He died in 1552. He had three children by his first wife: two sons Derviş Çelebi and Ali Çelebi, and a daughter Ümmü Hatun.

Mesir

Merkez Efendi is credited as the creator of "

", a gum-like paste, which he prepared mixing 40 to 45 different herbs and spices. He used to medicate the patients having mental disease in the

mental hospital A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe mental disorders. These institutions cater to patients with ...

of Manisa () he was the chief physician of mesir macunu.İslan İhsan page
/ref> But Raşit Öngören from the Islam Encyclopedia finds this claim implausible. Nevertheless, he is popularly associated with the creation of mesir macunu. During the "Mesir Macunu Festival" held annually on 22 March, a symbolic Merkez Efendi figure throws down mesir from the şerefe (balcony) of a

minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

in Manisa on the crowd.

Legacy

Recently, a new secondary municipality and

ilçe The Provinces of Turkey, 81 provinces of Turkey are divided into 973 districts (''ilçeler''; sing. ''ilçe''). In the Ottoman Empire and in the early Turkish Republic, the corresponding unit was the ''qadaa, kaza''. Most provinces bear the s ...

Denizli Denizli is a city in Aegean Region, Aegean Turkey, and seat of the province of Denizli Province, Denizli. The city forms the urban part of the districts Merkezefendi and Pamukkale, Denizli, Pamukkale, with a population of 691 783 in 2024. Denizl ...

was named

Merkezefendi Merkezefendi () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Denizli Province, Turkey. Its area is 336 km2, and its population is 336,818 (2022). The district was established as a result of the 2013 Turkish local government reorganis ...

in his honor. In

Zeytinburnu Zeytinburnu (literally, ''Olive Cape'') is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 12 km2, and its population is 292,616 (2022). It is a working-class area on the European side of Istanbul, T ...

(district) of Istanbul, there is a neighborhood named Merkezefendi and a cemetery named

Merkezefendi Cemetery The Merkezefendi Cemetery () is a burial ground situated in Merkezefendi neighborhood of Zeytinburnu district on the European part of Istanbul, Turkey. The neighborhood and the cemetery are named after Merkez Efendi, an Ottoman Islamic scholar ...

. There are public buildings named after him, including a State Hospital, and a vocational and technical

Anatolian High School Anatolian High School, or Anadolu High School (), refers to public high schools in Turkey that admit their students according to high nationwide standardized test (LGS) scores, though this is not required for entering all Anatolian High Schools. ...

in Manisa, as well as a primary school in Istanbul. The Municipality of Zeytinburnu organizes a Medicine Festival bearing his name.

References

{{Authority control 1463 births People from Buldan Ottoman Sufis Sunni Sufis 16th-century physicians from the Ottoman Empire 1552 deaths History of Manisa