This work, which is included in the second part of the İlmiyye Salnâmesi (Yearbook of the Ilmiye), published by the Meşihat (Office of the Sheikh al-Islam) in 1334 (1916) under the title Osmanlı Şeyhülislâmlarının Terâcim-i Ahvâli (Biographies of Ottoman Sheikhs al-Islam) and prepared by two prominent figures who were raised in the late Ottoman period and left their mark on our cultural life, contains the biographies of 124 sheikhs al-Islam, with the exception of the last five.
These biographies, the first 108 of which were written by Ahmed Refik Bey and the subsequent 16 by Ali Emîrî Efendi, were prepared in a general encyclopedic style, and therefore, in addition to information regarding the lineages, birthplaces and dates, education, duties, appointment and dismissal dates, the names of their works if any, places and dates of death, burial sites, and charitable foundations of the sheikhs al-Islam, they also occasionally, albeit rarely, include anecdotes about them. What makes this study truly significant is that it contains 251 fatwas in total—sometimes one and sometimes more—obtained from the Fetvâhâne-i Âlî (Office of Fatwas), the Yıldız Library, and private collections, along with the handwriting and signatures of 109 of the 124 sheikhs al-Islam whose current whereabouts are unknown.
Lastly, this study, while offering brief, concise, and comprehensive information about the sheikhs al-Islam who held the office of the Meşihat in the Ottoman Empire, also features examples of their fatwas, making it a pioneering work in its field both in its own time and today.