Süleyman Hilmi Tunahan,, was a 20th-century Islamic scholar born in the small Ottoman village of Ferhatlar, also known as Varatlar and today Delchevo in the Razgrad Province, Bulgaria.
Education
Osman had finished his education in Istanbul before becoming a professor at the well-known Satirli Madrasah (theological school attached to a mosque) in Silistre. The young Süleyman was educated at Silistra Middle School and the Satirli Madrasah. He graduated in 1916 as valedictorian of his class then enrolled at the Süleymaniye Mosque Madrasah in Medresetü"l-Mütehassisin where he studied the tafsir (commentary on the Quran) and hadith (narrations concerning the words and deeds of the prophet Muhammad).
Career
Süleyman"s father, Osman, was a hafız ("one who has memorized the whole Qur"an") and a renowned Islamic teacher of his time. Süleyman"s ancestors include Idris who was appointed by Mehmet II (r 1451-1481) as the "Tuna Khan". Afterwards he went to Istanbul to finish his studies, enrolling in the Sahn Madrasah where he took lessons from Bafra born Ahmet Hamdi.
Süleyman graduated again as valedictorian from Medresetü"l-Mütehassisin in 1919 and in the same year graduated from Medresetü"l-Kuzat law school, coming first in examinations
On informing his father of this ranking he was told: "I didn"t send you to Istanbul to go to hell", reminding him of Muhammad"s saying: "Two out of three (unrighteous) judges will go to hell." Süleyman explained that his goal was not to become a judge but to learn both religious and common knowledge. He then began work as an Islamic teacher in Istanbul until its madrasahs were closed whereupon he was assigned to work as an Islamic preacher.
Foreign some time he preached Islamic sermons in Istanbul"s large Ottoman era Selatin mosques such as Sultan Ahmed, Süleymaniye, Şehzâdebaşı, Yeni Cami and Piyâle Paşa Mosque. Many of his students graduated from the madrasas and received permission from the Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı (Presidency of Religious Affairs) to work as muftis (officials learned in Islamic law who is in charge of Islamic affairs for a province or district), imams (prayer leaders), muezzins (individuals who call five times a day to announce prayers), Islamic preachers and madrasah teachers.
He was also connected to the Ahl al-Sunnah wa"l Jama"ah.
He told his students that: "They should hold tight to the creed of Ahl al-Sunnah wa"l Jama"ah". Süleyman died in Kisikli, Istanbul on September 16, 1959. He is buried in the Karacaahmet cemetery.
His Naqshbandiyyah silsila goes back to Khwaja Shah Ahmed Sā‘īd Fāruqī Mujaddidī.
