Dr. Metin ERKAYA

(Translated from Anilarla Mehmed Zahid Kotku (RhA) Hazretleri, Dr. Metin Erkaya, Istanbul, Seha: 1996, pp. 276-85, http://meckitap.8m.com/anmzk/sevgi.html)

When I was a student in high school, I read many books on Tasawwuf [Sufism]. I had come to the conclusion that one had to find a perfect spiritual guide for oneself. A distant relative, an older brother, talked to me about Mehmed Zahid Kotku Khawaja Effendi. He took me to Istanbul. We visited Iskenderpasha Mosque on a Sunday (July 9, 1972). When I saw Khawaja Effendi for the first time, he was delivering the hadith discourse in the mosque. His face was so bright, and his white beard glittered. He was so awesome that I felt mesmerized. I could not keep my eyes away from him.

For a moment, I thought, "Will he look at me?" He looked right into my eyes. I thought it was a coincidence. I tried for a second and a third time. Every time I tried, he looked into my eyes. At that moment I realized that he had special powers.

The next week, we visited him in his house. He initiated me into the tariqa. I was so happy that I cannot describe it.

Then I registered at Istanbul University Medical School. During my very first years in Istanbul, I lived in a dormitory on the premises of Iskenderpasha Mosque. Due to my school work, I remained in Istanbul until he passed away. I had many opportunities to visit him in his quarters. We loved looking at his face from afar, yet we would not dare to look at his face in his presence. When we were with him, we would feel captivated and have a hard time answering his questions. We would not want to get up and leave when we were with him.

Khawaja Effendi was very merciful and affectionate. Especially when he left for the Pilgrimage, he would be extremely sensitive. On the day he would leave for the Pilgrimage, we would form a line to kiss his hand in the mosque after the Ishraq prayer. With sadness and tears in his eyes, he would look at each and every one of us. When we kissed his hand, with a low voice he would say "Jazakallahu khayran kathîrâ--May Allah reward you with plenty of goodness." After everybody kissed his hand, he would lift his hands up and offer a prayer. In the middle of the prayer, tears would fill his eyes and his voice would change. Before completing the prayer, he would ask permission to leave. He would be like a father who is going abroad leaving behind young children. He was a great example of a loving and affectionate person.

His love and compassion would be manifested in all of his actions. If a person came and whispered something to him in the mosque, he would listen to him attentively and try to eradicate the problem. Usually, after the prayers, people with problems would line up from the mosque to his house. He would listen to each and every one of them and give them advice. He would not pull his hand until the other person pulled his. Whenever we kissed his hands, we would feel relieved of our troubles, and our hearts would be in peace.

Children of the neighborhood would wait for him in the premises of the mosque to kiss his hand when he left his house to go to the mosque. Sometimes a few of the children could not be there in time, so they would call him, "Khawaja Effendi! Khawaja Effendi!" He would turn back and wait for them. He would let them kiss his hand, pray for them and keep them happy before entering the mosque.

He was extremely patient and giving towards his disciples. He was extra generous and tolerant towards the older disciples who were initiated into the tariqa by Hasib Effendi or Aziz Effendi. He would not say anything about their unorthodox actions, objections, or improper talks. He had a keen interest in the students who lived in the dormitory on the premises of the mosque. He would send them food and fruit and pocket money on Eid days.

He was very compassionate towards his guests, too. He would accept us even for initiating only one person into the tariqa. He would not mind giving the description of duties. Sometimes among the visitors there would be people who lacked proper manners. They would talk about insignificant matters, yet he would listen to them patiently. He would not reveal any displeasure or discomfort even if the visitors stayed for too long.

Once three of my friends from the Medical School wanted to be initiated into the tariqa. We kissed his hand after a prayer. I told him that my friends wanted to be initiated into the tariqa. There must have been something in his house that he told me: "Take them to Nejati Effendi. He will describe the duties." Having said that he walked away.

I was somehow disappointed and wished that he himself initiated them to the tariqa. He stopped, turned to me and said, "Al wakîlu kal 'asl." I did not know Arabic, but I understood that it meant "The proxy is the same as the original."

Mehmed Zahid Kotku Effendi would deliver hadith discourses half-an-hour to forty-five minutes before the Friday prayer and after the Asr prayer on Sundays. These discourses would be full of wisdom; each person would find an answer for his problem.

Sometime in spring, 1977, Khawaja Effendi came to the mosque with Es'ad Cosan Khawaja Effendi. He made Es'ad Effendi sit in the pulpit and turned to the congregation to say: "From now on, Es'ad will do the discourses..."

Then he sat on the floor. After that day, Es'ad Cosan Khawaja delivered the discourses. Once Es'ad Khawaja Effendi could not come to Istanbul from Ankara, and the congregation was waiting for the discourse. All of a sudden, Mehmed Zahid Effendi came to the mosque in a hurry. He had a long dress; his feet were bare. He explained ahadith for forty-five minutes. We never saw him giving Sunday discourses after that day.

In May, 1980, two months after his surgery, I visited him with a group of friends. He was sitting on a sofa by the window. From the window, he could see the slogans and the graffiti on the walls. [It was a common practice for youth organizations to write political and ideological slogans on the walls.] He told us the following:

"Yesterday, a man from Izmit came to visit me. He had a family tree in his hands. He wanted me to read the old script. He told me that they were Ülkücü (nationalists) and they would bring Sharia. I asked him if he prayed regularly. He said he did not. I asked him if he knew how to read the Qur'an. His response was negative. Then I asked him how he would bring Sharia."

He then turned to us and said: "Do not be an Ülkücü or Akinci!" [Akincilar was another youth organization.] "You cannot change the system by writing slogans on walls! Suleyman (Demirel) often states: 'We have seven hundred thousand soldiers, and this many policeman...' If they want, they could eliminate the anarchy and terror in no time."

There were some friends from Bursa. They asked:

"Effendi, Our friends in Konya have established a youth organization called Akinci Youth Association. Could we open an office in Bursa for that association?"

He said, "No. Do not do it."

His words reached Konya. Some friends came to him to explain why they had established such an organization:

"Effendi, our elder brothers suggested something like that..." Khawaja Effendi did not say them anything.

Several months passed. The military takeover occurred on September 12, 1980. The administrators of the association got arrested by the military. They stayed in a military prison in Mamak, Ankara for two years. Some suffered from torture. Khawaja Effendi must have known the consequences and wanted to protect his disciples from such incidents.

On Thursday, November 6, 1980, we heard that Mehmed Zahid Effendi got sick in Saudi Arabia and would return to Istanbul. We kept waiting for him in the yard of Iskenderpasha Mosque. Five minutes before two o'clock, he was brought in. He was in a wheelchair. They grabbed the wheelchair and moved down the stairs. He looked extremely weak and exhausted. He had a knitted kufi cap on his head. His face had turned yellow. He had a sad appearance. His beard had lost its brilliance and turned to silver. His body look quite thin.

In the wheel chair, he greeted us, "As-salamu alaikum!" His voice was weak, too. He was taken home. That was the last time I saw him.

Everybody was sad and kept silent. Nobody wanted to believe what doctors said. The worrisome waiting turned to tears on Thursday, November 13, 1980. It was an undeniable fact that he had left this world. All who heard about the sad news came to Iskenderpasha Mosque. Everybody in the mosque was reading the Qur'an. A sad silence encompassed everybody. In the afternoon, the heavens joined the sadness: A light rain started.

The next day, Suleymaniye Mosque, its premises and the streets leading to the mosque were filled with people before the Friday prayer. People had come from all parts of the country. There were also people from abroad. Everybody was sad but calm. Eyes were full of tears.

We performed the Friday Prayer. Then we waited for Nejati Effendi to lead the funeral prayer. He was in the mosque and it took a long time for him to come outside. Then one of the brothers suggested that another Khawaja Effendi present there lead the prayer. After the funeral prayer, the coffin was lifted up and moved over people’s heads towards the cemetery. It started a wave of cries and sobs. Due to the excessive number of attendants, only a few people were allowed into the cemetery. The rain increased and the congregation dispersed in sadness.

During the following days, there was recitation of the Qur'an and prayers at Iskenderpasha Mosque. The whole congregation was quiet. Nobody wanted to talk. There was no statement regarding who would succeed Khawaja Effendi. We found out later that, as a precaution, our elderly in the tariqa did not make a public statement that Es'ad Effendi was the new shaikh of the Dargah. Meanwhile there were rumors that Mehmed Zahid Effendi left a letter to be opened on the fortieth day after he passed away. It led to some confusion.

In the dormitory, we met with some friends and discussed to whom the guidance duty would be given. We concluded that Es'ad Cosan Effendi would be the new shaikh of the Dargah because he was well qualified from all aspects: he was knowledgeable, he had good manners and he had earned the love of the congregation. Besides, he was placed in the pulpit by Mehmed Zahid Effendi.

Unfortunately, we could not get any definite statements until the program held in Hadji Bayram Mosque in Ankara on the 40th day of passing away. On that day, after the Khatim Prayer, everybody pledged allegiance to Es'ad Effendi by kissing his hand. That constituted the public statement that he was the new Shaikh of the Dargah.

After I graduated from the Medical School, I went into military service. This took me away from Istanbul. On January 4, 1981 I returned and went to Iskenderpasha for the Fajr prayer. The mosque was full, and the congregation was lively. In the mosque, right by the entrance where the muedh-dhin stays, there was an awesome man with a turban, a cream-colored cloak, and black beard. This was Es'ad Khawaja, but he now appeared quite different from our elder brother in the tariqa. He read from the daily prayer book, and then he conducted the Khatme-i Khawaja and the prayer at the end. We performed the Ishraq prayer and kissed his hand as he left the mosque. We repeated our pledge.

For the Hadith discourse after the Asr prayer, the mosque was very crowded. The mosque yard was full and some people had to stay outside on the streets. After the discourse, the mosque was like a place of festivities. People were shaking hands and hugging one another. Those who wanted to be initiated into the tariqa were taken to the guest room next to the mosque. People were happy, joyful and hopeful for future.

When Es'ad Effendi left the mosque, the disciples moved to the side so that he could walk to his destination. Again, there was a line of people waiting for him to kiss his hand or to consult on personal problems. It was the same way as we had seen with Mehmed Zahid Kotku Efendi.

We went to Suleymaniye Mosque to visit [the grave of] Mehmed Zahid Kotku Khawaja Effendi. We met a large number of visitors. Grass and flowers were planted on the grave. We felt like we were visiting him when he was alive. Our hearts were filled with peace and joy, and we did not want to leave. Nevertheless, we greeted him and left with tears in our eyes.

It has been fifteen years since Khawaja Effendi left this world. Mahmud Es'ad Cosan Effendi has been following his steps. He treats everybody with love and affection. He has traveled the whole country and visited the disciples almost one by one. He has been especially tolerant and patient towards the elderly disciples. He has not said anything about the improper reactions and rude behavior of some dervishes who were initiated into the tariqa by elderly shaikhs.

He has been involved in an intense program of activities. He has actualized many things that Mehmed Zahid Effendi wished to have done. The houses around Iskenderpasha Mosque were purchased and annexed to the mosque. The prayer area was enlarged. Hadith discourses were initiated in Ankara and other cities. Many foundations and associations have been established for social and charitable activities. Magazines are being published. Businesses and schools have been founded. Radio broadcasts have been initiated in various localities. The congregation has grown. There are many disciples abroad.

He shows a keen interest towards the youth. He has trained students for doctoral degrees and beyond. He has raised professors. He has trained publishers, newspaper columnists, writers, researchers, experts and businessmen. He has formed an elite society of hundreds of thousands of members who uphold the truth and have no obligations to anyone but Allah.

As a result of the love and affection our Khawaja Effendi displayed, today hundreds of thousands people know about Mehmed Zahid Kotku Effendi, read his books, recite the Fatiha, and request favors from him. Thousands of young people carry his name. On this occasion we remember him with love and respect and reaffirm our pledge to his path and his Dargah.

June 1, 1996 -- Sincan/ANKARA