For several generations before him, his ancestors were famous scholars teaching Islamic studies at the Great Mosque at the Citadel of Arbil. They were widely known and respected throughout Kurdistan for their piety and knowledge. He was named "Küçük Mulla" or "Malla i Gichka" (that means "Little Mulla") after his grandfather Abu Bakr III Effendi (1778–1855) who was known by that name because he completed his study of Islamic sciences in a record period as no one had done before in that age.[1]