Background
He was born in the Eyüp district of Istanbul.
He was born in the Eyüp district of Istanbul.
He was a very prolific composer, who on some days, composed more than 6-7 songs. He is also grandfather of one of the most important and powerful politicians in Turkey, Hüsamettin Özkan. He was taught by the famous Dede Efendi.
After Sultan Abdülmecid I became aware of his beautiful voice, he was admitted to the Muzika-yi Humayun, which was the Imperial Military Music School in the Ottoman Empire.
Due to his closeness to the Sultan, he was responsible for teaching music to the women in the harem. He fell in love with one of the Circassian concubines, Çeşm-i Dilber, and had two children with her.
He composed several songs after she left him for a merchant. Toward the end of his life, Haci Arif Bey had a fall out with the emperor Abdul Hamid II at the time, and was jailed for about 50 days.
While there, he composed several songs, which were later appreciated by Abdul Hamid II, and he was forgiven.
He taught at the Imperial Music School for the rest of his life.