Abu Bakr Effendi

Ottoman Cape Colony clergyman (1814–1880)
Abu Bakr Effendi (1814–1880)

Sayyid Sheikh Abu Bakr Effendi (c. 1814 – 29 June 1880),was an Ottoman qadi of Arab and Turkish Origin, sent in 1862 by Sultan Abdulaziz at the request of Queen Victoria to the Cape of Good Hope, in order to teach and assist the Muslim community of the Cape Malays. He is known for having made several major contributions to Islam in South Africa, including the translation of his 1877 work, Bayân al Dîn, into the Afrikaans language, then in a very early stage of development. He is credited with introducing the fez as headwear for male Muslims in the Cape, and his presence had a significant impact on the expansion and consolidation of Islam at the Dutch Cape Colony. He is the cousin and father in law of Abdurezzek ilmi Efendi and the uncle of the great Turkish Sheykh Ömer Nasuhi Bilmen. Like his relatives mentioned, he is a Sayyid who's lineage goes back to Emir Zaid ibn Ali.

Abu Bakr Effendi was born in 1814 in the Ottoman Sanjak of Zor, although his year of birth has been erroneously cited as 1835. His father, Mullah Omar, Administrator of the ancient family School in Siysaawah, was killed according to family oral history by nationalist Kurdish uprisings against the Ottoman Administration. He studied at the madrassa originally set up by his ancestor Abu Nasr Al Amiyr Sulaymaan Al Qurashiy Al Amjadiy (c. 1060 c.1134) which was located in Sisawa. He left from this region at a young age to join his relatives in Erzurum and was never to return to Iraq. He continued his studies in Erzurum, Istanbul and in the holy city of Makkah where spent time as a teacher and Imam at the Haram. He was asked by the Ottoman Sultan to give teachings in the Cape Colony. This came about after Queen Victoria had written to Sultan Abdulaziz to ask him to send someone to deal with the disputes amongst the Muslims of the Cape. Discord had arisen amongst the Cape Malays between groups who had been isolated from their mother tongue and original religious traditions. On 3 September They arrived in the Cape on 17 January 1763. Other imams in the Cape were mostly trying to teach the Shafi`i school of Islamic jurisprudence, but were influenced by cultural practices from their places of origin. Also being enslaved and away from their places of origin for so long meant that they had drifted from their original beliefs, hence their cry of assistance to the British Empire. Effendi was a follower and the first teacher of Hanafi school, for which he also established a madrassa in Cape Town. Jeremiah Cook, who was a relative of famous explorer James Cook. Many of Effendi's descendants originate from his marriage to Tohora Saban Cook, with whom he had six children. His five sons were Ahmad Ataullah, Hisham Nimatullah, Omar Jalaluddin, Muhammad Alauddin, and Hussain Fowzy. Ahmad (also spelt Achmat) became involved in Cape politics. He became a member of the Cemetery Committee because the cemetery where his father's grave was situated was threatened with closure by the Cape Administration. He stood for the legislature of the Cape but failed to get the required votes for a seat due to a change in the system for cumulative votes, amended especially to keep him out of the Cape legislature. In Singapore is the grave of Effendi's son, Ahmed, who was the Ottoman Turkish Ambassador to Singapore. Some of Effendi's sons served in the Ottoman Army and airforce and fought in the Hejaz, against the Anglo and Arab nationalist uprising against the Ottoman Empire They fought in Iraq at the Siege of Kut where the British were heavily defeated. Many of Effendi's descendants continue to reside in South Africa, some under the surname Emjedi, while some returned to Turkey and others migrated to Australia. On 20 August 2020, 15 of Effendi's South African descendants became Turkish citizens by presidential decree.