Among the most influential religious figures Konya — a city that has raised scholars, mystics and masters of the heart for centuries — has produced in recent history, Tahir Büyükkörükçü is without doubt one of the foremost. Known by the title "Sultanü'l-Vâizîn", the "Sultan of Preachers", Tahir Hoca left deep marks in more than half a century of preaching on the spiritual life not only of Konya but of Türkiye and of the Turkish diaspora in Europe. Let us read together the story of a life reaching from "the young imam of the Boncuk Mosque" to a seat in parliament for the National Salvation Party, from there to conviction after the 12 September coup, and on to his identity as "the preacher of the Kapu Mosque".
The Eldest Son of a Family: From Uluırmak to the Kapu Mosque
Tahir Büyükkörükçü was born in 1925 in Konya's Uluırmak quarter, the eldest child and only son of the carpenter Mehmed Efendi of the Körükçüler family and Aliye Hanım of the Dülgerzâde family. He learned to read the Qur'an from the neighbourhood teacher at a young age and, while apprenticed to a shoemaker because of financial hardship, enrolled in 1939 at Konya Boys' Middle School. In his final year there, a sermon he heard at the Kapu Mosque — a talk by the müderris Hacı İsa Ruhi Efendi — became the turning point of his life: he left formal schooling and, despite the pressures of the time, began taking lessons in secret, hiding his books inside his shirt.
"In 1940, despite political pressure and a prohibitive climate, he completed his education alone and with determination, hiding his books inside his shirt until he received his licence from his teacher." — Konya Mufti's Office
After four years of intensive study he received his licence in 1946; he took lessons in Qur'anic exegesis, hadith, jurisprudence, inheritance law and Persian from Konya's leading teachers, completed his memorisation of the Qur'an at the Bulgur Tekke, the centre for such study, and became a disciple of Mahmut Sami Ramazanoğlu, whom he met in his student years.
Military Service, the Boncuk Mosque and the Post of Central Preacher
Marrying on his return from military service, Tahir Hoca began as imam of the small Boncuk Mosque near the "Old Garage". He became known across Konya through the sermons he gave at the Kapu Mosque in the last days of Ramadan in 1949, while on leave from the army. In 1950 he passed the examination held by the Directorate of Religious Affairs and — on the recommendation of Ahmet Hamdi Akseki, then head of the Directorate — was appointed central preacher of Konya. After that appointment he preached across Anatolia, from Adana to Diyarbakır, from Erzurum to Malatya; every mosque he went to overflowed. The conferences that began in Denizli in 1965 marked the beginning of his recognition throughout Türkiye.
The Title "Sultan of Preachers" and the Years of Exile
In 1951 he was briefly suspended for teaching Arabic to young people; after the coup of 27 May 1960 he was placed under close surveillance, and in 1962 he was brought to court and stripped of his preaching licence — for eight months he could not officially preach. In 1964 he was exiled to Burdur on the grounds of his sermons, and continued his work of religious instruction there for a year and a half. These years of exile also brought him personal recognition in different cities of Anatolia.
Mufti of Konya (1965–1972) and a New Period
With the softening of the political atmosphere in 1965 he was appointed Mufti of Konya; in this post, which lasted some seven years, he made important contributions to Konya's religious organisation — the building used today as the Meram Mufti's Office was acquired in his time. The title "Sultanü'l-Vâizîn" also spread among the people in these years: in his sermons he enriched his talks with lines from Rumi, from Muhammad Iqbal and from Mehmet Âkif alongside the Qur'an and hadith, and with his powerful memory and fluent Turkish he all but held his listeners spellbound. He knew many couplets of the Masnavi by heart and had command of Arabic and Persian.
Retirement, the European Years and Politics
Returning to the post of central preacher in 1972 and retiring in 1973, Tahir Hoca found this not a rest but a new beginning. Between 1976 and 1979 he travelled to Germany, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands, preaching and lecturing to Turkish workers in Europe. In 1977, at the insistence of his elders, he entered politics and was elected member of parliament for Konya for the National Salvation Party; although he had little taste for politics, over three years he drew attention for his efforts to bring differing views onto common ground. His time in parliament ended with the coup of 12 September 1980; he was arrested along with Necmettin Erbakan.
12 September, the Medina Years and the Last Sermons
Tried before a military court after the coup, Tahir Hoca spent eleven months in prison; at the end of a trial lasting five years he was acquitted in 1985, though the 1982 Constitution barred him from politics. After his acquittal he settled in Medina, where he would spend most of his remaining life, but returned to Konya in the summers and continued his sermons at the Kapu Mosque between 1986 and 1999 — his talks overflowing in those years too.
"On leaving prison he returned to the Kapu Mosque, and his sermons continued until 1999." — Konya Mufti's Office
His Death and Legacy: 5 March 2011
On the morning of 5 March 2011 he died at the age of 86 at the Meram Training and Research Hospital, where he had been treated for a month. His funeral prayer was held the next day at the Kapu Mosque, where he had preached for half a century; tens of thousands who poured in from every corner of the city so as not to miss the prayer carried the coffin on their hands all the way to the Üçler Cemetery. Married with four children, Tahir Hoca left a son, Dr. Abdurrahman Büyükkörükçü, who today follows his father's path as one of Konya's well-known preachers. He left behind five works — the output of a man of the heart occupied "more with guidance than with writing". The first and earliest of them, *Rumi and the Masnavi in Their True Aspect* (1959), is the clearest document of his bond with the Mevlevi tradition.
One of Konya's Spiritual Architects
Tahir Büyükkörükçü was one of those rare figures brought up between the last period of the Ottoman Empire and the first years of the Republic, who served from the 1940s until 2011. Despite prohibitions, exile and the removal of his licence, he never gave up the work of religious guidance; nourished by the Masnavi, by Rumi and by Iqbal, he was one of the few able to hold together the Sufi tradition and powerful oratory. When people in Konya say "Sultanü'l-Vâizîn" today, it is no longer merely a nickname: it names a period, a style and an ethic.
The Guide's Note
If your path takes you to Konya, sitting for a while after Friday prayers around the Kapu Mosque — within walking distance of the Mevlana Museum — and breathing in the atmosphere of the place can be a fine way to begin sensing where Tahir Hoca's voice can still be heard. For those who wish to visit his grave, I recommend the Üçler Cemetery, and for those who wish to read his life in detail, Konyapedia and the TDV Encyclopaedia of Islam. This voice, which spoke from Konya's pulpit for more than half a century, is still alive in the city's spiritual memory.