any Shafii Scholars in Istanbul?

[Brazilian Convert]

as salamu alaikum
I will be going to Istanbul in january-february and i was wondering if one could find some shafii scholars over there. I know Turkey is mostly hanafi, but having a sizable kurdish population, and Istanbul being a big city, i thought that maybe there are some shafiis scholars/imams over there.

[ahmetbaba]

Wa Alaikum Salam;

I'm sure there are shafii scholars there, I would suggest you go to Fatih district in Istanbul. However, why do you want to meet a shafi scholar, to learn from or just to hang out? I don't understand. You won't learn a thing from the government appointed Imams and Muftis there, so as I said, in any regards, go search for a scholar in Fatih district, and in particular the Carsamba neighborhood. If you can speak Turkish, you'll learn a lot over there.

[Brazilian Convert]

As salamu alaikum
Jazakallah, I will go to Fatih district then.
I don want to get into the details, but lets say that I received the oportunity to live the next few years in Istanbul, so I would like to learn from then, maybe with a ijaza if I deserve it.
So I would appreciate if anyone has more information about this.

[ahmetbaba]

If you don't speak Turkish, you might be in trouble as many of the scholars there don't speak anything but Turkish and Arabic, and even then their lectures will be in Turkish. If you want to learn from one of the greatest shafi scholars in the recent past, you can read the "Risale-i Nur Collection" by Said Nursi. If you want to learn directly, try to get in touch with some people in Fatih district in the Ismailaga Camii, you may ask one of the congregation there, if you can get a chance, Mehmet Talu is a leading scholar in fiqh in Turkey at the moment, and he does have students regularly, however I don't know where and when they meet.

But as I've said, avoid the government appointed Muftis and Imams, they have a very bad religious education by the government schools, and most of the popular so called scholars that appear in TV are misguided. Avoid Mustafa Islamoglu, Yasar Nuri Ozturk, Hayrettin Karaman, Abdulaziz Bayindir. These people think of themselves as Mujtehids and have said many things are Halal (like shaking of hands between non-mahram, or that Pre-destiny isn't true etc)

You may try to benefit from Cubbeli Ahmet Hoca or Mehmet Talu, both of them are good scholars.

[Brazilian Convert]

Jazakallah!
I will remember those names to avoid then.
Are both Cubble Hoca and Mehmed Talu from Shaykh Mahmud Efendi tariqa? Surely I can benefit from then in all the other sciences, insha Allah!

[ahmetbaba]

Yes they are murids of Mahmud Efendi. I doubt that you will get a chance to attend a close knit study group with Cubbeli Ahmet Hoca, but he holds a sohbat every Thursday evening in Fatih district, the place is called Ahmet Yesevi Dernegi, you can ask pretty much anybody in the congregation of the Ismailaga Mosque. Mehmet Talu is much more available in close knit studies, but you may have to ask the congregation about the whereabouts of Mehmet Talu's study group. But, as I said again, you should consider learning Turkish even if a little bit so that you will benefit much more from them. Turkish isn't that hard to learn, you should be able to converse with people in 4-5 months.

[Brazilian Convert]

Thank you once again.
I will stay in Turkey for a long time, so I will be learning turkish insha Allah. If you happen to get more info about shafii scholars in Istanbul, please inform me brother.
Salam.

[Brazilian Convert]

As salamu alaikum
I came across a certain Halil Gunenç, who authored and translated some shafii fiqh works. Is he reputable?

[London786]

ahmetbaba tell me about your shaykh and please start a thread on turkey so we can ask you questions bro.

[ahmetbaba]

As salamu alaikum
I came across a certain Halil Gunenç, who authored and translated some shafii fiqh works. Is he reputable?

Yeah, he is a very solid scholar of the Ahla Sunnah, sorry for not mentioning his name earlier, if you want to study shafi fiqh, he is the man in Turkey.