Sheikh Mahmoud Effendi

Sheikh Al-Arif Billah Mahmoud Usta Osmanoglu, known as (Sheikh Mahmoud Effendi) was born in 1929 AD in the village of “Toshanli” in the town of “Ov” in the Turkish province of Trabzon to a Muslim family. Effendi was appointed imam of the Ismail Agha Mosque in the Fatih district of Istanbul in 1954 AD and remained there until he was retired in 1996 AD. He used to teach and preach in Istanbul and attract many students and disciples. Sheikh Mahmoud was considered one of the most prominent Muslim scholars and one of the great sheikhs in Turkey, and several scholars studied at his hands. He was distinguished by intelligence and acumen, and he was a memorizer of the Holy Qur’an and was authorized to speak from a young age. He was a Hanafi school of thought, the doctrine of Naqshbandi, the method and the drink, and its sheikh in Turkey and those areas. He died at the age of 93, and his prayers were attended by a large number of people from all parts of the world, may God have mercy on him.