Murad al-Bukhari—known in Ottoman sources with honorifics such as Buhârî, Murâdî, and Naqshbandî—was a leading Naqshbandi–Mujaddidi shaykh whose life bridged Central Asia, the Hijaz, the Arab lands, and the Ottoman capital. He was born in Semerkand in 1050/1640 (some records also give 1055/1645), the son of Seyyid Ali, who is described as the naqīb al-ashrāf of Semerkand.
A defining feature of his biography is perseverance: he suffered paralysis at the age of three and remained physically disabled, yet this did not prevent him from pursuing advanced learning and a wide itinerary of study and spiritual guidance.
Education, initiation, and the long road of travel
In his early twenties, Murad al-Bukhari travelled to India for scholarly formation and spiritual training. There he became affiliated with the Mujaddidi line through Khājah Muhammad Maʿsûm—the son and khalīfa of Imam Rabbānî Ahmad Fārûqî Sirhindî—and he is presented as having completed his path under this guidance, later being authorized in the same line.
His life then unfolded through a sequence of journeys that were both scholarly and devotional: he performed the Hajj, stayed for three years in the Hijaz, continued through major intellectual centers such as Baghdad and Isfahan, and later spent time in Cairo engaged with Qur’anic exegesis, hadith, and rational sciences. He eventually arrived in Damascus (around 1080/1669), where he married and established a family.
Arrival in Istanbul and the Eyüpsultan lodge
Murad al-Bukhari’s first major arrival to Istanbul is dated to 1092/1681, when he is described as being warmly received by the learned and governing elite. He lived in the Eyüp / Nişancı area, and a complex originally established as a madrasa in the 17th century was later adapted into a Naqshbandi lodge and associated with his name.
In the historical memory of the site, the lodge is not simply a local tekke, but a pivotal node: it is repeatedly identified as an early (and in local narrative, foundational) Anatolian center of the Naqshbandi–Mujaddidi tradition, and later functioned as an important meeting point for scholars, officials, and seekers.
After a relatively brief period, he returned to Damascus (late 1680s), leaving the Istanbul lodge in the hands of his khalīfa Kilisli Ali Efendi. He continued long years of guidance in Damascus at a lodge known as Berrâniyye, and only later returned again to the Ottoman capital.
Exile to Bursa and final years
A dramatic episode in his later life is the forced removal from Istanbul. Accounts describe a political decision that resulted in his being sent away, ultimately reaching Bursa by way of Anatolia. He remained away for years and then returned to Istanbul, eventually settling again in the Eyüp / Nişancı lodge.
Murad al-Bukhari died on 12 Rabîʿ al-Âkhir 1132 / 22 February 1720 and was buried in the lodge’s former madrasa classroom space (later understood as the core tomb area). Modern works sometimes misstate his date of death, but the standard reference explicitly rejects later, conflicting dates.
Teaching, circles of influence, and why he mattered
Murad al-Bukhari’s influence is described in unusually broad terms: not limited to a narrow circle, but reaching “nearly every layer” of society—jurists, scholars, senior officials, and leading religious figures. Among the prominent names listed as affiliated with him are Şeyhülislâm Seyyid Feyzullah Efendi, Lâ‘lîzâde Abdülbâkî, Mehmed Emin Tokadî, Şeyhülislâm Veliyyüddin Efendi, and Ebû Saîd el-Hâdimî.
The Eyüpsultan lodge itself also served a social function beyond formal ritual: it could act as a place where Central Asian–origin spiritual travelers and guests found connection and temporary lodging, reflecting Istanbul’s historical role as a meeting point for wider Muslim geographies.
Local institutional memory also emphasizes the lodge’s scholarly profile—its attention to books and teaching, and its association with hadith learning (including readings from Sahih al-Bukhari) within the lodge setting.
Names, attributions, and common confusions
He is sometimes encountered with additional epithets that can cause confusion. One recurring point in institutional narrative is that the nisba “Münzevî” is not reliably grounded in early records and appears to have arisen from a later confusion involving another, now-lost tomb tradition in the Eyüp area—whereas Murad al-Bukhari’s lodge is firmly located in the Nişancı neighborhood.
Works and intellectual legacy
Murad al-Bukhari is associated with a body of writing spanning Qur’anic sciences, correspondence, and Sufi instruction. A major work is Câmiʿu müfredâti’l-Qurʾân, composed across Arabic, Persian, and Turkish, described not as a tafsīr but as a structured work in ʿulûm al-Qurʾân with a distinctive arrangement (including systematic ordering of Qur’anic words and multilingual explanations).
Other works attributed to him in local institutional presentation include titles such as Silsiletü’z-zeheb, Mektûbât, Lübsü’l-hırkati’l-Kādiriyye, Mesmûʿât, Menâkıb ve Takrîrât, and a Risâle-i Nakşibendiyye linked to his sohbet tradition.
The lodge in place: Eyüpsultan / Nişancı
Today the lodge is identified in Eyüpsultan’s Nişancı area, at the corner where Nişancı Mustafa Paşa Caddesi meets Davud Ağa Caddesi, anchoring Murad al-Bukhari’s memory in a specific Istanbul geography.