Sa'di Chalabi

سعدي جلبي

c. 5 April 1539 CE · c. 2 Shawwal 945 AH

Sa'di Chalabi — Kastamonu-born, trained in Constantinople to al-Samuni's service; Mahmud Pasha madrasa, then the Sultaniyya of Bursa, qadi of Constantinople, then long-serving mufti; 'superior to his peers, short on words, prompt to the right answer' — glosses on Baydawi's tafsir circulating among scholars, a short Hidaya sharh, a house for Qur'an readers beside his own; died at Friday prayer on the second day of 'Id al-Fitr [945] of gout, Jawizade succeeding him as mufti 1.

Depth

At a glance

Roles
Jurist · Scholar · teacher
Counted among
Sunni
Era
The Gunpowder Empires
Region
Anatolia
Review
Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it

Life in time

14701480149015001510152015301540155015601570158015901600 c. c. c. c. c.
The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks · The Gunpowder Empires · The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era Contemporaries: 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Ziyad, mufti of Zabid · 'Abd Allah al-Fakihi, the grammarian · Abu al-Su'ud Afandi · Abu Numayy II, sharif of Mecca · Al-Akhdari, Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad

Law and courtsEducation

Summary

Mawla Sa'd al-Din Isa ibn Amiz Khan al-Hanafi, known as Sa'di Chalabi, one of the well-known mawlas of Anatolia for learning, religion and leadership. His origin was in the province of Kastamonu. He came to Constantinople with his father, grew up seeking learning, studied with the scholars of that age, and entered the service of al-Samuni 2.

Mufti of the state

He became a teacher at the madrasa of Mahmud Pasha in Constantinople, then a sultaniyya in Bursa, then a judge in Constantinople. He was removed and then returned to one of the eight madrasas, and afterwards he served as mufti for a long time. The author of al-Shaqa'iq said: he excelled his peers in teaching and in judging. He had a good reputation, a sound method, and precise reasoning, and his answers were accepted. He was a man of clean speech who mentioned no one except with praise. He held sound beliefs, observed the law, kept to good manners and had a very strong memory. He left treatises, notes and useful glosses on al-Baydawi's commentary, which were widely used among scholars, and a useful concise commentary on al-Hidaya. He built a house for readers of the Qur'an near his home in Constantinople. He died at the time of the Friday prayer, on the second day of the feast of Eid al-Fitr, from gout. Jawi-zada was appointed mufti in his place 1.

People and things also explored

Taj al-Din 'Abd al-Wahhab ibn 'Arabshah· 'Ata' Allah, Sultan Selim II's teacher· Isma'il al-Nabulsi, mufti of Damascus· Taqi al-Din Ibn Qadi 'Ajlun· al-Attarine Madrasa, Fez· Ahliyya (legal capacity: to have rights and duties, and to act; its stages from the womb to full maturity, and what impairs it)· Democracy and the Sharia — compatibility and conflict· Fatwa on the satellite channels — its benefit and harm

Sources

  1. Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali , p. 678-679
  2. Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali , p. 678
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Sa'di Chalabi”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/sadi-chalabi/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-19.

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People

Prophets, companions, scholars, rulers, scientists, poets, travelers: women and men who shaped the story.
Related

Taj al-Din 'Abd al-Wahhab ibn 'Arabshah

Son of the historian Ibn 'Arabshah, b. 813 — rose from a professional witness ('utter cunning in the craft of testimony') and poverty to wealth and rank, composed a large verse work on Hanafi doctrine, was chief qadi of Damascus Rajab 884–Shawwal 895, then held the Sarghitmishiyya shaykhate in Cairo until his death 15 Rajab 901.