Yusuf Efendi al-Iskilibi, who was born in Iskilip and brought up in Istanbul, was aneighteenth-century Ottoman scholar. Known as “Iskilibi logician (mantıqi) and sermon-giver (waiz)”, Yusuf Efendi worked as a professor (mudarris) in Suleymaniye andSahn Saman Madreses and a sermon-giver in Suleymaniye and Fatih Mosques. One ofhis important works is his exegetical work, titled as al-Mawhibat al-ilahiyya wa al-atiyyatas-subhaniyye. This work has not been published yet and comprised of 637 folios. Thisis not a complete tafsir work but deals only with the exegisis of the suras from az-Zilzalto an-Nas. Given the limited number of suras this work engages in, it is a voluminouswork. Yusuf Efendi pays a great attention to the linguistic analysis and literary aspectof given ayas, citations from early authorities and hadith literature. One of the factorsthat makes it a large work is its sermon character. This fact leads him usually to digressin his interpretations from the point in question and extensively engages in topics suchas the birth of Prophet Muhammad and religiously significant nights.In his interpretations Yusuf Efendi closely followed the Hanafi views in legal mattersand Maturidi views in theological issues. He also stresses the Sunni positions in hisexegesis and refutes non-Sunni views including Mu'tazila, Jabriyya. In most cases henames the sources for his quotations.

Yusuf Efendi al-Iskilibi, who was born in Is