Haci Hafiz Mehmet Emin Tevfik one of the elderlies of Xanthi passed away
Haci Hafiz Mehmet Emin Tevfik was taken to Xanthi State Hospital after he fell ill during the Tarawih prayers on Thursday evening, 14 March in Xanthi Çınar Mosque. Exactly 24 hours later on Friday evening, 15 March, Hafiz Mehmet Emin Tevfik delivered his relics at Xanthi State Hospital after the tarawih prayers.
Hafız Mehmet Emin Tevfik, who served the Muslim Turkish Minority of Western Thrace for more than 50 years, was born in 1935 in Demircik village of Xanthi. He received his Qur'anic education from Hafız Salih and his father Hafız Hasan Tevfik Efendi who was a teacher for 56 years.
When he was 10 years old, he started to read mukabele during Ramadan in his village Demircik. Two years later, when he was 12 years old, Hafiz Mehmet Emin Tevfik, who had to migrate to Şahin with his family when their house was burnt down by Bulgarian gangsters in 1947, settled in Xanthi after staying in Şahin for two years.
Hafiz Mehmet Emin Tevfik, who continued his education at the madrasah in Komotini, travelled to Istanbul in 1955. In Istanbul, he took training lessons at the New Mosque from the famous Qurra Hafiz Ahmet Hızal, who came from Heybeliada and was known as Adalı Hafiz. In the following years, he also took talim lessons from the famous Qurra Hafiz Abdurrahman Gürses for a short time.
After returning to Western Thrace, he worked as a teacher in Fıçıllı village for one year, as a Ramazan teacher in Okçular village, and then as a teacher in Yassıören village for three years. Then he started to work as an imam in Selvili Mosque in Xanthi. Before working as an imam in Selvili, he worked as a teacher in Büyük Davutlu, Yenice and Hacı Mustafaköy in Komotini during Ramadan. Hafiz Mehmet Emin Tevfik, who also owned a fabric shop in Xanthi city square, worked as a tradesman for 35 years in addition to his imamate.
Hafiz Mehmet Emin Tevfik was one of the rare hodja in Xanthi who recited the muqabalah from memory during Ramadan.
Hafiz Mehmet Emin Tevfik was forced to leave his position as imam in the Selvili mosque with the police force as a result of the Muftiate events that erupted in 1991 when the Greek state appointed Mehmet Emin Şinikoğlu as Mufti regardless of the will of the people. Afterwards, he taught Qur'an to students in the Çınar Mosque in the Lower Neighbourhood of Xanthi until his retirement.
Haji Hafiz Mehmet Emin Tevfik, who devoted his life to the service of the Qur'an, was taken to Xanthi State Hospital on Thursday evening, 14 March, during the tarawih prayer. Haji Hafiz Mehmet Emin Tevfik passed away after the tarawih prayers on Friday evening, 15 March.
The funeral of the deceased will be held on Sunday, 17 March following the noon prayer from Xanthi Çınar Mosque.
We wish Allah's mercy to Haji Hafiz Mehmet Emin Tevfik and condolences and patience to his relatives.
