Kâni Karaca

Kâni Karaca (1930 – 29 May 2004) was a Turkish hafiz and mevlid singer, regarded as the last representative of the Istanbul tradition of Qur'an recitation. A master of improvisation, he performed, outside the song form, the Qur'an, the mevlid, kaside, gazel, the adhan and semai. ^{1 2}

He was born at Adalı village in the Karataş district of Adana to Durmuş Ali and Zeynep, and lost his sight as a child; the article cites a 2016 interview with his son, who said a folk remedy left too long in his eyes had damaged them. His father died when he was small and an aunt raised him. ¹

He came to the Qur'an and music at six or seven, memorised the Qur'an with his teacher, the village imam, finishing at nine with Ali Efendi, and was admired for his mukabele readings; he began his theoretical training with Abdi Efendi and gave concerts at several Turkish clubs. ¹

He came to Istanbul in 1950, worked for a time with Sadettin Kaynak on style and manner, and then continued his study of religious music as a pupil of the famous hafiz Ali Üsküdarlı, imam and preacher of the Yeraltı Mosque, whose style deeply shaped his own. His teachers also included Halil Nuri Poyraz and Sadettin Heper. ¹

From the late 1950s until his death in 2004 he produced work across many genres of Turkish music through radio programmes, concerts, kudüm teaching and mevlid recitation, and he had an indispensable place at the commemorations of Mevlana Jalal al-Din Rumi. ¹

His recordings include 'Kur'an-ı Kerim' (EMI, 2001), 'Tekbir, durak, naat ve salavatlar' (EMI, 2001), 'Mevlid' (Kalan), 'Aşk İle' on the forms of Turkish religious music (2002, book and two CDs), 'Şevk-u Tarab' (Kalan, 1999), 'Destegül' (2000), 'Mevlana Dede Efendi' (Kalan, 2005) and a record of Ottoman classical music with Kudsi Erguner. ¹

He died in Istanbul on 29 May 2004 and was buried at the Edirnekapı Martyrs' Cemetery. ^{1 2}

Wikidata listed articles on him in four Wikipedia editions on 6 November 2026: German, English, Turkish and Urdu. ²

• Turkish Wikipedia article, revision of 11 October 2026. ¹

• Wikidata item Q1723751. ²