Esbak Amasya Müftüsü Canikli Hacı Mehmed Efendizâde el-Hâc Hâfız Mehmed Hilmi Efendi’nin mahdûmudur. 1268’de doğdu. Pederinin irtihâlinde yetim olup vâlidesini tezvîc eden Acaralı Osmân Efendi’nin hânesinde büyüdü.
Batumlu el-Hâc Osmân Efendi’den ikmâl-i tahsîl edib mücâz ve pederi mahlûlünden Hızır Paşa Müderrisi, Abdülatîf Efendi Kütübhanesi Hâfız-ı kütübü ve Mahmûd Çelebi Zâviyesi şeyhi ve 1303’de üstâdı müftü oldukta müsevvid ve emînü’l-fetvâ olup 1312’de üstâdı ile beraber Hicâz’a gitdi.
1316 senesi rebiülevvelinde üstâdının fetvâdan azlinde [771] mün’azil ve 1318 senesi cumâdelâhiresinin yirmi dokuzuncu pazar günü öğle vakti merhûm oldu. Ertesi günü Halfet Gâzi mezârlığında pederinin yanına defnedildi. Âlim, fakîh, gâyet halîm, vecîh, beşûş, sükûtî-meşreb, pek sevimli ve muktesıd bir zât idi. Müsevvid Hacı Şükrü Efendi’nin kerîmesinden oğulları Ahmed, Mehmed, Mustafa Efendilerdir. İlk zevcesi Hacı Ahmed Bey’in kerîmesinden bir kızı da vardı.
In Modern English
He is the son of Hacı Hâfız Mehmed Hilmi Efendi, son of Canikli Hacı Mehmed Efendi, a former mufti of Amasya. He was born in 1268 [1851-52]. He was orphaned when his father died, and grew up in the house of Acaralı Osman Efendi, who married his mother.
He completed his studies under Batumlu Hacı Osman Efendi and received his diploma. Of the posts left vacant by his father, he became müderris of the Hızır Pasha Madrasa, keeper of books (hâfız-ı kütüb) of the Abdülatif Efendi Library and sheikh of the Mahmud Çelebi Zawiya. In 1303 [1885-86], when his teacher became mufti, he became müsevvid and fatwa clerk (emînü'l-fetvâ); in 1312 [1894-95] he went to the Hejaz with his teacher.
In Rabi al-Awwal 1316 [1898], when his teacher was dismissed from the office of fatwa, he too left his post. He died at noon on Sunday, the twenty-ninth of Jumada al-Akhirah 1318 [1900]. The next day he was buried next to his father in the Halfet Gazi Cemetery. He was a scholar, a jurist, very gentle, respected, cheerful, quiet by nature, very lovable and thrifty. By the daughter of Müsevvid Hacı Şükrü Efendi he had sons named Ahmed, Mehmed and Mustafa Efendi. By his first wife, the daughter of Hacı Ahmed Bey, he also had a daughter.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- esbak: former, previous
- mahdûm: son
- tezvîc: giving in marriage, marrying
- mücâz: one who has received a diploma and the authority to teach
- mahlûl: an office left vacant by the death or departure of its holder
- hâfız-ı kütüb: official of a waqf library who guarded the books and lent them to students
- müsevvid: official who prepared drafts of fatwas and official letters
- emînü'l-fetvâ: official in a mufti's office responsible for the fatwa records
- mün'azil: dismissed from office
- vecîh: respected, one whose word is heeded
- muktesid: thrifty
- kerîme: daughter
The Canikli Family and the Muftiship of Amasya
In the first volume, while listing the scholars who spread learning in Amasya, Hüsameddin names "Caniklizâde el-Hâc Mehmed" among the renowned, and he also lists the students of an earlier generation, among them "Canikli el-Hâc Mehmed," as men known as teachers of everyone. A study based on the archive of the Meşihat records that in Amasya a Canikli Mehmed Efendi gave a diploma dated 1892, and that a student who studied at the Doğrakiye Madrasa completed his education under him. The same study also mentions Osman Hilmi Efendi, son of Hacı Mehmed, as a mufti of Amasya, and reports that his diploma is tied to a chain of teachers. Whether this mufti is the same person as Hâfız Mehmed Hilmi Efendi, whom Hüsameddin gives as the father, could not be determined; the names are close but no firm identification can be made. From the text we learn that when his teacher became mufti in 1303, this Ahmed Efendi, son of Mehmed Hilmi, became müsevvid and fatwa clerk, and that these two posts existed in the office of the mufti. The withdrawal of the officials beside the mufti upon the mufti's dismissal can be seen in Hüsameddin's entry for 1316.
The Hızır Pasha Madrasa
The Hızır Pasha Madrasa is counted among the madrasas that continued to teach in Amasya at the beginning of the twentieth century. The passing of the chair from father to son occurred, in Hüsameddin's phrase, "from the vacancy left by his father." In the first volume of Hüsameddin's book, the practice of müderris posts changing hands within families, contrary to the conditions of waqf deeds, is mentioned as a complaint from the Tanzimat period: the "deputyship system" established from the year 1241 and the transfer of posts by inheritance are described as a practice contrary to the terms of the waqf deeds. This suggests that Ahmed Efendi's succession to the posts left vacant by his father may be an example of that tradition; the text does not say so outright.
The Abdülatif Efendi Library
The hâfız-ı kütüb was the official in Ottoman waqf libraries responsible for the protection, lending and upkeep of the books. In the waqf deeds this person is required to be trustworthy, pious, learned and capable of protecting the books. Hüsameddin himself wrote that in his youth he had the opportunity to examine many books in the Abdüllatif Efendi Library. No information was found in other sources about the foundation and waqf of this library.
The Mahmud Çelebi Zawiya
The Mahmud Çelebi (Hacı Mahmud Çelebi) Zawiya was built in the inner city of Amasya, in the Karatay quarter, in 807 [1404] by Ammadzâde Bedreddin Mahmud Çelebi, a member of the Naqshbandi order; the researcher bases this information on the 2022 edition of Hüsameddin. The zawiya's income came from the revenues of several villages belonging to the kazas of Argoma and Geldiklanâbâd. In the waqf registers the names of its staff, such as doorkeeper, reciter of the juz and cook, appear. Many people were appointed to the sheikhship over time; in the list of sheikhs derived from Hüsameddin there are names such as Mehmed Arif Efendi, Hacı Yusufzâde and several Ahmeds. Which of these Ahmeds is the Ahmed Efendi of the text, and when his sheikhship began and ended, could not be determined.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 238–238. amasya.bel.tr
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vol. 1, section on learning and the ulema of Amasya (original edition p. 260-261).
Academic studies
- Murat Alandağlı, "Hurufat Kayıtlarında Amasya Zaviyeleri", Turkish Studies, 19/1 (2024), p. 1-27. https://dx.doi.org/10.7827/TurkishStudies.72905
- Hasan Telli, "Meşîhat Arşivine Göre Amasya Müderrisleri", Kocatepe İslami İlimler Dergisi, 7/2 (2024), p. 732-758.
Other sources
- "Hüseyin Hüsâmeddin Yasar" entry, TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi.