Shihabetdin Märcani (Tatar: Шиһабетдин Мәрҗани; b. 1818, Kazan – d. 28 April 1889, Kazan) was a Tatar cleric, historian, and educator.
Life
He was born in 1818 in the village of Yabıncı near Kazan, the son of Molla Bahaeddin, an imam and mudarris (teacher). Beginning his education at his father's madrasa, he studied logic, kalam (theology), the principles of fiqh, Persian, and Arabic. In 1838 he set out on a journey to Transoxiana to further himself in the religious sciences. During this journey he became acquainted with the ideas of the reformist cleric Kursavi. At first he opposed these ideas, considering them contrary to the Ahl al-Sunna, yet at the same time they left a significant impression on him. He settled at a madrasa in Bukhara. He then studied at the Shirdar Madrasa in Samarkand, where he went in 1844, and received his ijaza (diploma). During this time a change began in his ideas. After returning to Bukhara, he began to read Kursavi's banned books.
In 1849 he returned to Kazan and then, having passed the examination, began serving as an imam and mudarris. For many years he held the posts of imam and mudarris and various offices at the First Quarter Mosque. From 1881 onward, with the admission of students at the Märcani Madrasa named after him, he began to teach. He also taught at the Tatar Teachers' School. His friendships with orientalists such as Vasily Radloff, Ilya Berezin, and Alexander Kasimovich Kazembek, and his good relations with the local administrators, gave rise to suspicions about him. Those who opposed Märcani claimed that he had ties with Russian missionaries and had brought about the introduction of Russian as a compulsory subject in Muslim schools. During the journey he made in 1880 to go on the hajj, he stopped in Istanbul and met with the Ottoman Shaykh al-Islam Ahmed Esad Efendi and Ahmed Cevdet Pasha. He donated some of his books to the Beyazıt State Library. He died on 28 April 1889 and was buried in Kazan.
Works
Gurfetü'l-havakin li-'urfeti'l-havakin
Gılaletü'z-zaman fi tarihi Bulgar ve Kazan
Veliyyetü'l-eslaf ve tahiyyetü'l-ahlaf
Müstefadü'l-ahbar fi ahvali Kazan ve Bulgar
Keşfü'l-gıta ani'l-ebşar bi-aglati tevarihi Bulgar ve ekazibiha'ş-şariha li-zevi'l-i'tibar
Nazuretü'l-hak fi farziyyeti'l-'işa' ve in lem yegibi'ş-şafak
Hakku'l-ma'rife ve hüsnü'l-idrak bima yelzemü fi vücubi'l-fıtr ve'l-imsak
el-Berku'l-vamid fi'r-red 'ale'l-bagid el-müsemma bi'nnakid
el-Hikmetü'l-baligatü'l-cinniyye fi şerhi'l-'Aka'idi'l-Hanefiyye
Hizametü'l-havaşi li-izahati'l-gavaşi
el'Hakku'l-mübin fi mehasini evda'i'd-din
et-Tarikatü'l-müşla ve'l-'akidetü'l-hüsna
Tenbihü ebna'i'l'aşr ala tenzihi enba'i Ebi'n-Naşr
Sources
- Turkish Wikipedia: tr.wikipedia.org
- English Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org