Islamic scholar Shaykh Nazım dies at the age of 92

ISTANBUL

The 92-year-old scholar has been receiving treatment at the Yakın Doğu Hospital in Turkish Cyprus since April 17.

Influential Turkish Cypriot Islamic scholar Shaykh Nazım al-Haqqani died May 7 after being hospitalized for lung and kidney failure last month.

The 92-year-old scholar had been receiving treatment at the Yakın Doğu Hospital in Turkish Cyprus since April 17, but his condition was worsened in the last three days.

The scholar, who was known as al-Qubrusi (Cypriot) in Arabic, was head of one of the most important branches of the Naqshbandi Sufi order, the Haqqanis.

Shaykh Nazım has many followers in Turkey, but also in Europe and particularly in Britain and Germany. Born in Larnaca, on the southern coast of Cyprus, Shaykh Nazım spoke Greek fluently. He was the disciple of Damascus-based Sheikh Abdullah Deghestani, who himself had many followers in the Middle East.

Shaykh Nazım became an influential figure throughout the 1950s and 1960s in Turkey, known for his active opposition to the ban on the ezan (call to prayer) being recited in Arabic.

He was also known to maintain a close relationship with former President Turgut Özal.

Many top government officials, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Health Minister Mehmet Müezzinoğlu, have called Shaykh Nazım during his convalescence in order to convey their wishes for his speedy recovery.