Amasyalıdır. Yukarıda tercemesi yazılan “Mevlânâ Ahî Cüneyd Tokâdî” mahdûmudur. 865’de Amasya’da vefât eden fâzıl-ı meşhûr “Cemâleddîn Yûsuf Tokâdî”nin kerîmezâdesi olup Şâdiyye müderrisi Mevlânâ Rükneddîn Ahmed Cendî, Sultâniyye-i Merzifon müderrisi Mevlânâ Seydî Ahmed Kırîmî, Sultân Bâyezîd muallimi Salahaddîn Mûsâ Çelebilerden iktisâb-ı fezâil ederek mücâz oldu.
Ba’dehû İstanbul’a gidip Şeyhülislam “Mevlânâ Hüsrevî Mehmed Çelebi” den tahsîl-i kemâlât ederek müşârün-ileyhten [12] mülâzım oldu. İlim ve fazlı üstâdının nazar-ı takdîrini celb ederek ibtidâ Bursa’da kendisinin yaptırdığı medresesi müderrisliğine nasb etdirdi. Ba’dehû Edirne’de Taşlık Medresesi müderrisi olarak oraya gitdi.
Dört yıl kadar da Edirne’de neşr-i fezâil-i ilmiyye edib 886’da Sultân Bâyezîd-i Sânî’nin cülûsunu müteâkip İstanbul’a geldi. Bu esnâda medreseye tahvîl edilen Kalenderhâne Medresesi müderrisi oldu. Ba’dehû Mahmûd Paşa ve Bursa’da Sultân Medreselerine müderris olduktan sonra 891’de Sahn-ı Semâniyye müderrisi olarak yine İstanbul’a geldi. Ba’zı fuzalâ müşârün-ileyhin Sahn müderrisliğini tebrîk ve târih-i nasbını irâe etmek üzere şu ebyâtı inşâ etdi.
مركز العلم مدار الفضالفاضل العصر فريد الخلف
نال اسمى رتب التدريس ه خص هللا بحسن اللطف
قلت فى تهنيته للتاريخ كوكب العز جال فى الشرف ⁹⁶
893’de kendisinden ilmen zayıf olan İmâm-ı Sultânî Amasyalı Mevlânâ Alâeddîn Ali Çelebi’nin Mısır’a sefâretle gönderildiğine canı sıkılıp sudûr-i ulemâ ve erkân-ı devleti [13] ve Sultân Bâyezîd’i gücendirecek sözler sarf eylediğinden gözden düştü. Amasya’ya i’zâm edilip aylarca açıkta kaldı. 894’de orada Hüseyin Ağa Medresesi müderrisliğine nasb edildi.
896’da şehzâdelerin sünnet düğünü vak’asında medreseyi terk edib Hicâz’a gitdi. Avdetde İstanbul’a geldi. Rumeli Kazaskeri olup tercemesi bâlâda yazılan Ebussuûd İbrâhim Efendizâde Alâeddîn Ali Efendi’nin uluvv-i himmeti sâyesinde sâniyen Sahn müderrisliğine nâil oldu.
Bundan sonra tedrîs ve te’lîfe hasr-ı meşgale ederek 901’de on yıldan beri emekler sarf eylediği “Sadrü’ş-şerîa Şerhi”ni itmâm edib “Zahîretü’l-Ukbâ” tesmiye ederek vazîfe-i yevmiyyesi seksen dirhem-i osmânîye çıkarıldı. Bu kitabının vasfı hakkında dîbâcesinde şu ebyât-ı belâğât-âyâtı inşâ ve me’hazlarını iş’âr etmişdir.
كتاب فيه تبيان المعانىبيان فيه غايات البيان
محيط فيه تبيين الكنوز ينابيع العلوم كالمثانى
عيون الفقه معيار الفتاوى مصفى عن زيادات الثوانى [14]
هو المرقاة والمرأة حقاهو الوافى بنجاح المعانى
وجيز اللفظ كافى الواقعات شفاء الجهل فى كل الزمان ⁹⁷
Fakat 902’de Rumeli Kazaskeri ve hâmîsi olan Alâeddîn Ali Efendi’nin vefâtıyla hasm-ı cânı olan Hacı Hasanzâde Mehmed Efendi Rumeli Kazaskeri oldukta Sahn müderrisliğinden azledilip Edirne’de Dârülhadîs müderrisliğine gönderildi.⁹⁸ Edirne’de elfâz-ı küfre müteallık “Hediyyetü’l-Mehdiyyîn” kitabını te’lîf eyledi.
911’de Hacı Hasanzâde vefâtıyla hemşehrîsi Müeyyedzâde Abdurrahman Efendi Rumeli Kazaskeri oldukta üçüncü defa Sahn müderrisi olup İstanbul’a geldi. Burada, el-Ferâizü’z-Zekiyye kitabını te’lîfe mübâşeret ederek 913’de itmâm eylediğini kendi kalemiyle kayd ve âbâ ve ecdâdını bu kitâbında tahrîr etdi.
Kezâlik 913’de Rumeli Kazaskeri nâibi olduğu ba’zı hüccetlerin bâlâsında görülen imzasından anlaşıldı. 914 senesinde dâr-ı naîme irtihâl etdi. Gâyet fâzıl, muhakkik, ulûm-i akliyye ve nakliyyede mütebahhir bir zât idi. [15] Şiddet-i tab’ı ve lisanı ve tasallüfü olmasaydı, merâtib-i ulyâya suûd ederdi.
Fâzıl müşârün-ileyhin bir kerîmesi olup, onu da Amasya vilâyeti muharriri olan birâderzâdesi “el-Hâc Sinan Çelebi bin Mahmûd Çelebi”ye tezvîc etdi. Bundan hafîdleri; Sadullah, Abdullah, Nurullah, Mahmûd Çelebilerdir. Bunlara ve bunların evlâdına “Ahîzâdeler” dendi.
Sadullah Çelebi kudâttan Sa’dî Çelebi demekle meşhûr bir zât olup, Amasya’da vefât etdi. Mahdûmları Muhyiddîn Mehmed, İzzeddîn Hasan Çelebilerdir. Muhyiddîn Mehmed Efendi, 990’da ve İzzeddîn Hasan Efendi 993’de Amasya’da vefât etdiler. İzzeddîn Hasan Efendizâde Şemseddîn Sa’dî Çelebi de 1039’da vefât etdi. Üçler Mahallesi’nde binâ etdikleri camî bahçesinde medfûndur. Bunlar kibâr-ı kudâttan idiler.
Hacı Sinan Çelebizâde Mahmûd Efendi kibâr-ı ulemâdan olup Amasya’da medfûndur. Bunun mahdûmu Mehmed Efendi allâme-i şâşî demekle meşhûr olup 983’de İstanbul’da vefât [16] etdi. Kudâttan Amasyalı Nurullah Efendizâde Mehmed Efendi sudûrdan olup 989’da ve bunun Mahdûmları sudûrdan Abdülhalîm Hilmî Efendi 1013’de ve Şeyhülislam Hüseyin Hüdâyî Efendi 1043’de şehîden vefât etdi.
In Modern English
He is from Amasya. He is the son of "Mevlânâ Ahî Cüneyd Tokâdî," whose biography is written above. He is the grandson, through a daughter, of the renowned scholar "Cemâleddîn Yûsuf Tokâdî," who died in Amasya in 865 [1460-61]. He acquired learning and merit from Mevlânâ Rükneddîn Ahmed Cendî, müderris of the Şâdiyye Madrasa, from Mevlânâ Seydî Ahmed Kırîmî, müderris of the Sultâniyye Madrasa in Merzifon, and from Salahaddîn Mûsâ Çelebi, the teacher of Sultan Bayezid, and received his license (icazet).
Then he went to Istanbul, pursued advanced studies with the Şeyhülislam "Mevlânâ Hüsrevî Mehmed Çelebi," and became his mülâzım. His learning and merit won his teacher's esteem, and the teacher first had him appointed to the professorship of the madrasa he had himself built in Bursa. Then he went to Edirne as müderris of the Taşlık Madrasa.
After spreading his scholarly merit in Edirne for about four years, he came to Istanbul in 886 [1481], following the accession of Sultan Bayezid II. At this time he became müderris of the Kalenderhâne Madrasa, which had been converted into a madrasa. Then, after serving as müderris at the Mahmûd Pasha and the Sultan madrasas in Bursa, he came again to Istanbul in 891 [1486] as müderris of the Sahn-ı Semâniyye. Some scholars composed the following verses to congratulate the said man on his Sahn professorship and to indicate the date of his appointment.
The center of learning, the focus of virtue, the virtuous man of our age, the unique one of today. He reached the highest ranks of teaching. God showed him particular and beautiful favors. I composed a chronogram to celebrate this event. (Three Arabic verses; their meaning is given.)
In 893 [1487-88], he was vexed that Mevlânâ Alâeddîn Ali Çelebi of Amasya, imam of the Sultan and scholarly weaker than himself, had been sent as envoy to Egypt, and he spoke words that offended the senior scholars, the notables of the state and Sultan Bayezid, and so fell from favor. He was sent to Amasya and remained for months without a post. In 894 [1488-89] he was appointed there to the professorship of the Hüseyin Ağa Madrasa.
In 896 [1490-91], at the time of the circumcision festival of the princes, he left the madrasa and went to the Hijaz. On his return he came to Istanbul. Thanks to the lofty aspiration of Alâeddîn Ali Efendi, son of Ebussuûd İbrâhim Efendi, whose biography is written above and who was chief military judge of Rumelia, he obtained the Sahn professorship for the second time.
After this he devoted himself to teaching and writing, and in 901 [1495-96] he completed the "Commentary on Sadrü'ş-şerîa" on which he had labored for ten years, naming it "Zahîretü'l-Ukbâ," and his daily stipend was raised to eighty Ottoman dirhems. On the nature of this book he wrote the following verses in its preface and also indicated its sources.
This is a book that explains meanings in the best way, an ocean that brings treasures to light, a firm source of the sciences. A spring of jurisprudence, a measure of fatwas, purified of the excesses of other works, a true ladder and mirror that leads to the correct meanings with mastery. Its expressions are concise, it contains the cases sufficiently, and it removes ignorance at all times. (Five Arabic verses; their meaning is given.)
But in 902 [1496-97], when his patron Alâeddîn Ali Efendi, chief military judge of Rumelia, died and Hacı Hasanzâde Mehmed Efendi, his mortal enemy, became chief military judge of Rumelia, he was dismissed from the Sahn professorship and sent to Edirne as müderris of the Dârülhadîs. In Edirne he wrote the book "Hediyyetü'l-Mehdiyyîn" on expressions that amount to unbelief.
In 911 [1505-06], when Hacı Hasanzâde died and his fellow townsman Müeyyedzâde Abdurrahman Efendi became chief military judge of Rumelia, he became Sahn müderris for the third time and came to Istanbul. Here he began writing the book "el-Ferâizü'z-Zekiyye," and noted in his own hand that he completed it in 913 [1507-08], and he wrote out his forebears and ancestors in this book.
That in 913 he was also deputy (nâib) to the chief military judge of Rumelia was understood from his signature seen on some rulings. In 914 [1508-09] he passed to the next world. He was an extremely learned, careful scholar, deeply versed in the rational and the transmitted sciences. Had it not been for the harshness of his temper and tongue and his self-regard, he would have risen to the highest offices.
The said scholar had one daughter, whom he married to his nephew, the muharrir of the province of Amasya, "el-Hâc Sinan Çelebi bin Mahmûd Çelebi." From this couple his grandsons were Sadullah, Abdullah, Nurullah and Mahmûd Çelebi. They and their children were called "Ahîzâdes."
Sadullah Çelebi was a man famous among the kadıs as Sa'dî Çelebi, and he died in Amasya. His sons were Muhyiddîn Mehmed and İzzeddîn Hasan Çelebi. Muhyiddîn Mehmed Efendi died in 990 [1582] and İzzeddîn Hasan Efendi in 993 [1585], both in Amasya. İzzeddîn Hasan Efendi's son Şemseddîn Sa'dî Çelebi also died in 1039 [1629-30]. He is buried in the garden of the mosque they built in the Üçler Quarter. These were among the great kadıs.
Mahmûd Efendi, son of Hacı Sinan Çelebi, was among the great scholars and is buried in Amasya. His son Mehmed Efendi, famous as "allâme-i Şâşî," died in Istanbul in 983 [1575-76]. Mehmed Efendi, son of Nurullah Efendi, a kadı from Amasya, was among the senior-ranking scholars and died in 989 [1581-82]. Among his sons, the senior-ranking scholar Abdülhalîm Hilmî Efendi died in 1013 [1604-05] and the Şeyhülislam Hüseyin Hüdâyî Efendi died as a martyr in 1043 [1633-34].
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- kerîmezâde: grandson through a daughter
- mücâz: one who has received a license and gained the authority to teach and pass on learning
- mülâzım: a candidate waiting for appointment in the scholarly career; one registered on this path by attaching himself to a teacher
- nasb: appointment
- neşr-i fezâil-i ilmiyye: spreading scholarly learning
- cülûs: accession to the throne
- tahvîl: conversion, turning into something else
- ebyât: verses
- i'zâm: sending away
- sudûr-ı ulemâ: senior-ranking scholars
- hamî: protector, patron
- hasm-ı cân: mortal enemy
- azl: dismissal
- dîbâce: the preface of a book
- hüccet: a court document
- tasallüf: self-regard, pride
- hafîd: grandson
- kudât: kadıs
The Career Hüsameddin Describes Agrees with Present Knowledge
Ahîzâde Yûsuf Efendi appears in the sources as a Hanafi jurist from Tokat; he is also known as Ahî Çelebi, and his father's name is Cüneyd. This agrees with Hüsameddin's record, "the son of Ahî Cüneyd Tokâdî." Among his teachers are named Ahmed Kırîmî, Molla Selâhaddin, the teacher of Sultan Bayezid, and Molla Hüsrev; these agree with the names Seydî Ahmed Kırîmî, Salahaddîn Mûsâ and Hüsrev Mehmed Çelebi in Hüsameddin. The order of his professorships is also the same: the Molla Hüsrev Madrasa in Bursa, the Haceriyye (Taşlık) in Edirne, the Kalenderiyye and Vezir Mahmud Pasha madrasas in Istanbul, then the Bursa Sultaniye, and finally the Sahn-ı Semân. To this sequence Hüsameddin adds several details the sources do not give: the fall from favor in 893, the Hüseyin Ağa Madrasa in Amasya, the journey to the Hijaz, the professorship at the Edirne Dârülhadîs, and his three appointments to the Sahn.
The Sahn-ı Semân Madrasas
The Sahn-ı Semân lies within the Fâtih Mosque complex. Construction of the complex began in 867 [1463], and the eight high-ranking madrasas were completed in 875 [1470]; it takes its name from these eight madrasas. Four madrasas are lined up on each side of the mosque. These madrasas were counted among the highest educational institutions of the time, and the sciences based on reason and on transmitted tradition were taught in them. Hüsameddin writes that Ahîzâde Yûsuf was brought to these madrasas as müderris three times. According to the sources, Ahîzâde had the Ahîzâde Mosque built, which stands on today's Darüşşafaka Street near the Fâtih Mosque, endowed his books to it, and was buried in the mosque's cemetery.
His Works
Ahîzâde's most important work is "Zahîretü'l-ukbâ fî şerhi Sadri'ş-şerîati'l-uzmâ." A supergloss (hâşiye) on the commentary that Sadrüşşerîa es-Sânî wrote on the "Vikâyetü'r-rivâye" of his grandfather Burhânüşşerîa Mahmûd, this work was written between 891 and 901 [1486-1496]. This span of dates agrees with Hüsameddin's account of the "Commentary on Sadrü'ş-şerîa," on which he labored for ten years and which he completed in 901. The book has also been known as "Hâşiye-i Çelebi" and has been printed several times in Calcutta, Lucknow, Lahore and Kanpur; a copy in the author's own hand is held in Kayseri. His creed treatise "Hediyyetü'l-mühtedîn," explaining expressions that lead to unbelief, is also printed today (Istanbul 1983). The book "el-Ferâizü'z-Zekiyye" that Hüsameddin describes does not, however, appear in the list of works we consulted; the list includes a work called "Terceme-i Ferâiz-i Sirâciyye." Whether the two are the same work could not be determined.
The Question of the Death Date
Hüsameddin writes that Ahîzâde died in 914 [1508-09], and in a footnote discusses the 902 entry in the Sicill-i Osmânî and the silence of the translation of the Şakâ'ik on this point; he says that the date 902 may be an allusion to his dismissal from the Sahn professorship. The encyclopedia entry, on the other hand, gives his death date as 905 [1500] and also records that some sources have 902 [1497] and 904 [1499]. Hüsameddin relies on the date 913-914, on Ahîzâde's own note in his book, and on his signature on a document. Between this and the 905 of the encyclopedia entry there are nine years. Which one is correct could not be determined in this study.
The Ahîzâde Line: Şeyhülislam Hüseyin Efendi
The Şeyhülislam Hüseyin Hüdâyî Efendi named at the end of Hüsameddin's list is most probably the şeyhülislam known in the sources as Ahîzâde Hüseyin Efendi. He was born in 1572 and was the son of Ahîzâde Mehmed Efendi, one of the chief military judges of the time of Selim II. He served as kadı and chief military judge in Bursa, Istanbul, Anatolia and Rumelia, and became şeyhülislam on 10 February 1632. After remaining in this office for nearly two years, he was executed near Büyükçekmece on the order of Murad IV. This is known as an event in which the exile that was the usual penalty for a member of the learned class in the Ottoman state was set aside. In poetry he used the pen name Hüdâî. He had a madrasa built in Fâtih known as the Çukur Madrasa and converted a church in Balat into a mosque. Hüsameddin's record "he died as a martyr in 1043" is consistent with this execution. The "Mehmed Efendi, son of Nurullah Efendi" whom Hüsameddin gives as his father may be the same person as the "Ahîzâde Mehmed Efendi" of the encyclopedia, but no source confirming this was found.
What Could Not Be Found
No information was found in other sources on Rükneddîn Ahmed Cendî, Seydî Ahmed Kırîmî, Salahaddîn Mûsâ Çelebi, the Egyptian embassy of Alâeddîn Ali Çelebi, Hacı Hasanzâde Mehmed Efendi, or Müeyyedzâde Abdurrahman Efendi. The present state of the mosque in the Üçler Quarter in Amasya and of the Hüseyin Ağa Madrasa has also not been verified.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 267–269. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
Books