Amasya eşrâfından Çelebi Mehmed Efendi’nin mahdûmudur. Amasya ulemâsından Veliyyüddîn, Zileli Abdurrahman, Ladikli Yahyâ Efendilerden ulûm-ı akliyye ve nakliyyeyi ahz u ikmâl ederek ders-i âm oldu. Kırk yıl tedrîse hasr-ı himmet [501] ederek mükerreren icâzet verdi.
1034’de Halfet Gâzi, 1036’da Hızır Paşa, 1039’da Ayas Ağa, 1041’de altmış akçe ile Yörgüç Paşa Medreselerine müderris ve 1045’de ber vech-i te’bîd Dâru’l-hadîs Osmân Çelebi Medresesi ile mütekâ’id oldu. İki defa Hicâz’a gitdi. 1050 senesi evâsıtında dâr-ı na’îme irtihâl etdi.
Fâzıl, muhakkik, usûlî, gayet müteşerri’, kâmil, bahhas, münâzarayı sever, halûk, zâhid bir zât idi. Mükerreren teklîf edilen kazâ ve iftâyı rededib tedrîse mülâzemet etmişdi. Şâkirdânı çoktur. Mahdûmu el-Hâc Mehmed Efendi’dir.” Hacı Ders-i âm Efendi” demekle meşhûr idi.
In Modern English
He was the son of Çelebi Mehmed Efendi, one of the notables of Amasya. Having learned and completed the rational and transmitted sciences from the scholars of Amasya Veliyyüddîn Efendi, Zileli Abdurrahman Efendi and Ladikli Yahyâ Efendi, he became dersiâm. For forty years he devoted himself to teaching and granted icazets many times.
In 1034 [1624-25] he became müderris of the Halfet Gazi Madrasa, in 1036 [1626-27] of the Hızır Pasha Madrasa, in 1039 [1629-30] of the Ayas Ağa Madrasa, and in 1041 [1631-32], at sixty akçe, of the Yörgüç Pasha Madrasa. In 1045 [1635-36] the Dârülhadis Osman Çelebi Madrasa was left to him for life and he retired. He went twice to the Hijaz. In the middle of 1050 [1640] he passed to the abode of paradise.
He was a man of virtue, a researcher, versed in the science of method, extremely devoted to the sharia, mature, fond of debate and disputation, of good character, who had not set his heart on the world. He declined the kadiship and the office of mufti, offered to him many times, and never left teaching. His students are many. His son is el-Hâc Mehmed Efendi. He was known as "Hacı Dersiâm Efendi."
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- eşrâf: the noble, respected families of a city
- ulûm-ı akliyye ve nakliyye: the sciences based on reason (logic, theology and so on) and those based on transmission (Quranic exegesis, hadith, jurisprudence)
- ahz u ikmâl: learning and completing
- hasr-ı himmet: giving all one's effort to one task
- tedrîs: teaching
- icâzet: diploma giving a student the authority to teach
- ber vech-i te'bîd: for life
- dâr-ı na'îm: abode of blessings, paradise
- muhakkik: scholar who investigates questions in depth
- usûlî: one who knows the principles of jurisprudence
- bahhâs: one who loves scholarly debate
- halûk: gentle and of good character
- kazâ ve iftâ: the kadiship and the office of mufti
- şâkirdân: students
A Lifetime in the Madrasas of Amasya
What makes Ahmed Efendi's life different is a choice that Hüsameddin particularly emphasizes: while most of those trained in the madrasas entered the path of the kadiship, he turned down the kadiship and the office of mufti offered to him many times and was content to teach in Amasya for forty years. It is possible to follow the trace of this choice also through the madrasas listed in the entry. Each of these buildings belongs to a different period of the city, and Ahmed Efendi's career is like a path wandering through Amasya's nearly four-hundred-year madrasa heritage.
His first post, the Halfet Gazi Madrasa, was built, according to its inscription, in 606 [1209-10] and is one of the oldest madrasas of the city; its south wall and east section partly stand. The Hızır Pasha Madrasa is a madrasa kept alive by the waqfs founded in 870 [1465] by Hızır Pasha, the brother of Yörgüç Pasha; the waqf deed also stipulates additional payments to the müderris, muid and students of the madrasa founded by his brother. The Ayas Ağa Madrasa is part of the complex built in the Şamlar quarter by Ayas Ağa, one of the gate ağas of Bayezid II; Hüsameddin reports that the complex was built in 900 [1494-95], and its mosque is still open for worship today. The Yörgüç Pasha Madrasa, on the other hand, was a madrasa attached to the Yörgüç Pasha Mosque that no longer stands; part of the mosque is thought to have been its lecture hall. Hüsameddin's note "at sixty akçe" shows the daily wage Ahmed Efendi received here.
The Dârülhadis Osman Çelebi Madrasa
The Dârülhadis left to Ahmed Efendi for life stood in the Pirinççi quarter by the stream, level with the Hacı Hamza Efendi Mosque. It was built in 933 [1527] for hadith education by el-Hâc Osman Çelebi, son of the kadı Seydi Ali. When the wooden building burned in the fire of 1011 [1602], it was rebuilt in 1018 [1609] by Osman Çelebi's granddaughter Ayşe Hatun, and was renewed several times after later fires. Thus the building where Ahmed Efendi settled in 1045 is the second structure, the one built by Ayşe Hatun. The list of müderrises published by Osman Keskiner begins in the eighteenth century; Ahmed Efendi's name does not appear in this list, so in this respect Hüsameddin's record is valuable information for the seventeenth-century history of the madrasa.
To whom the epithet "Hacı Dersiâm Efendi" in the entry belongs is not clear from the construction of the sentence; since it is known that he went on the pilgrimage twice and spent his life as dersiâm, it is more probable that the epithet belongs to Ahmed Efendi. No information was found in other sources about his teachers Veliyyüddîn Efendi, Zileli Abdurrahman Efendi and Ladikli Yahyâ Efendi.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 158–158. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
- Aynur Durukan, "Hilfet Gazi Medresesi ve Türbesi", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 18, 1998. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/hilfet-gazi-medresesi-ve-turbesi
- M. Okudan, "Hızır Paşa Vakıfları ve Amasya Hızır Paşa Medresesi", İtkan Akademik Araştırmalar Dergisi, 2/2, 2025, p. 133–145. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/itkan/issue/91336/1652232
- M. Baha Tanman, "Ayas Ağa Külliyesi", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/ayas-aga-kulliyesi
- Emine Naza Dönmez, "Yörgüç Paşa Camii", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/yorguc-pasa-camii
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