Amasyalıdır. 1028 şevvâlinde Halep’te vefât eden Bağdâd mollası Bafralı Muharrem Efendi’nin mahdûmudur. Pederi Amasya’da tedrîs-i ulûm etdiği esnâda 998 senesi saferinde doğdu. 1008’de pederiyle beraber İstanbul’a gitdi.
İstanbul ulemâsından tahsîl-i ulûm edib Şeyhülislâm Hocazâde Mehmed Efendi’den mülâzım ve ders-i âm olarak 1031 senesi zilka’desinde silk-i müderrisîne girdi. Usûlü üzere medâris-i mu’tadeyi devrederek 1054 saferinde Yenişehir mollası oldu.
Dört yıl kadar uzlet çekip 1059 recebinde Şam, 1063 zilhiccesinde Edirne pâyesiyle Galata mollası ve 1067 [541] şevvâlinde İstanbul kadısı oldu.
Üç ay kadar devam eden kazâsında halkı memnûn edemediğinden 1068 senesi muharreminde Güzel Hisar Aydın kazâsı arpalığıyla azl ve tekâ’üde sevk edildi. On yıl kadar zikr ve ibâdetle meşgûl olduğu halde 1077 senesi cumâdelâhiresinde dâr-ı bekâya rihlet etdi. Âlim, kâmil olup yaşı seksene ermişdi.
In Modern English
He was from Amasya. He was the son of Bafralı Muharrem Efendi, Mulla of Baghdad, who died in Aleppo in Şevval 1028. He was born in Safer 998 while his father was teaching in Amasya. In 1008 he went to Istanbul with his father.
Having acquired learning from the scholars of Istanbul, as a mülâzım of Şeyhülislam Hocazâde Mehmed Efendi and a teacher giving lectures open to all, he entered the company of müderrises in Zilkade 1031. Going in due order through the usual madrasas, in Safer 1054 he became Mulla of Yenişehir.
He withdrew into seclusion for about four years; in Receb 1059 he became Mulla of Damascus, in Zilhicce 1063 Mulla of Galata with the rank of Edirne, and in Şevval 1067 kadı of Istanbul.
Since he could not satisfy the people during his kadılık, which lasted about three months, in Muharrem 1068 he was dismissed with the arpalık of the district of Aydın in Güzelhisar and sent to retirement. After occupying himself with dhikr and worship for about ten years, in Cemâziyelâhir 1077 he departed for the abode of immortality. He was a learned and mature person, his age approaching eighty.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- molla: high-ranking member of the ilmiye serving as kadı of the great cities
- mülâzım: candidate waiting his turn for a müderrisship or kadılık
- silk-i müderrisîn: the company of müderrises
- medâris-i mu'tâde: the usual order of madrasa grades
- uzlet: withdrawal into seclusion
- pâye: rank, grade
- kazâ: the office of kadı, the judicial district of a kadı
- arpalık: a district assigned as income to a retired or unemployed scholar
- tekâ'üd: retirement
- rihlet etmek: to die
A Career in the Ilmiye
The entry shows, year by year, how a scholar of Amasya climbed the steps of the Ottoman ilmiye. It is possible to read the dates Hüsameddin gives together: Ahmed Efendi, born in 998, went to Istanbul in 1008 at the age of ten, entered the müderrisship in 1031, became Mulla of Yenişehir in 1054 and kadı of Istanbul in 1067. The time from Şevval 1067 to Muharrem 1068 comes to three months and agrees with the "about three months" of kadılık in the text. Between 998 and 1077 there are 79 Hijri years; this too agrees with the saying "his age had reached eighty". The information that his father died in Aleppo in 1028 belongs to Hüsameddin.
About Şeyhülislam Hocazâde Mehmed Efendi, who is mentioned in the text, no additional information was found in this research. It is known that Hocazâde Mesud Efendi, of the same surname, became şeyhülislam in 1656; but it is not clear whether he is the one who took Ahmed Efendi as mülâzım around 1031. No information was found in another source about Bafralı Muharrem Efendi and his son.
Bibliography