Mustafa Ismet Efendi was one of the greatest Sheiks in the Halidi branch of the Naqshbandi order which is one of the well-established and most influencial branches of so-called “the golden chain” that begins with the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s). Mustafa Ismet Efendi was born in Yanya, a border city between today’s Albaina and Greece. In his earlier ages, he worked as a clerk at the Shariah (Islamic jurisprudence) Court in Yanya. Upon the dominance of divine love in his heart, he went to Makkah, where Sheikh Abdullah-i Mekki Erzincani, a caliph of Mawlana Halid-i Baghdadi, the founder of the Halidi branch, was at the service of the tariqah at that time. There, Mustafa Ismet Efendi became a disciple of Abdullah-i Mekki and completed his Sufi training in five years.

Then, he was sent to Edirne, Turkey, on the assignment of irshad (guidance to the right path). He served at the Sultan Mosque for five years. Subsequently, he came to Kocamustafapaşa district, Istanbul, where he continued his irshad services at a mansion house owned by his father-in-law Hüseyin Kudsi Efendi. Finally, he bought the place in Istanbul’s Çarşamba quarter, where his dergah (the place where sufis gather, make invocations, perform dhikr and get trained in sufi tradition) is located today being after him.

The order of Ismet Efendi was influential especially around the government and academic circles of Ottoman Empire. Among those distinguished disciples were Sultan Abdulmecit I, Memduh Pasha, the Interior Minister of Sultan Abdulhamid II, and Zeki Pasha, the Mushir of Tophane. Sultan Abdulmecit I made a will that he would be buried in the yard of Sultan Selim Mosque and the sheikh of this dergah would come and make invocations at his tomb along with his disciples.

After six-months-service of irshad there, he passed away in 1289 (Hajirah), 1868 A.D. Mustafa Ismet Efendi was a qutb, a master of all awliyah (the sufi masters and friends of Allah) in his time. He trained a number of sufis, and pious Muslims. He granted his caliphate to sixty of them.

He is the author of a book titled “Risale-i Kudsiye” (Treatise on Divinity), written in verse form. The book, full of divine wisdom, is still guiding Muslims in the path of sufism.

“Allah promised me”, he said, “that on the day of Judgement, He will grant me the authority to take care not only of my followers, but also those muslims who just gaze through the door of my dergah with love. I will intercede for them too.”

After he passed away, Dimetokalı Şerif Kudsi Efendi, Hüseyin Kudsi Efendi, Zağralı Halil Nurullah Efendi, and Nevrakoplu Hacı Ahmet Efendi continued his order.