[753] Amasya’da eş-Şeyh Ömer Efendi bin Mustafa Efendi bin Osmân Efendi’nin oğludur. Savt ü nağamâtı pek güzel, gâyet muhrik ve musikiye âşinâ olduğundan Amasya’da bir müddet Sultân Bâyezîd Câmii şerîfinde mü’ezzinlik etdi.
Sonra Mekke-i mükerremeye gidip Şerîf Mehmed bin Avn Efendi’nin himmetiyle harem-i şerîf mü’ezzinlerine iltihâk etdi. Tedrîcen terakkî ve ma’aşı tezâyüd ederek 1264’de sadâ ve edâsı, hüsn-i ahlâkı ve şerîf-i müşârün-ileyhin inâyeti sâyesinde mü’ezzin-i sânî ve 1268’de ser-mü’ezzin-i harem-i şerîf oldu. ⁸⁹
Bu târîhten itibâren Mekke-i mükerreme a’yânı sırasına girip mecâlis-i muhtelifede a’zâ ve şerîf-i müşârün-ileyhin mahdûmu Şerîf Abdullah Paşa’nın emâreti ve Hicâz kumândânı Amasyalı Hacı Hasan Paşa’nın kumândânlığı zamanında, Harem-i şerîfin müdür-i umûru olduğu halde 1288’de dâr-ı nâ’îme irtihâl etdi.
Halûk, gâyet dindâr, harem-i şerîfin candan hâdimi ve mu’azzam bir vekalet sâhibi idi. Mahdûmları eş-Şeyh Mustafa, Osmân, Ömer Efendiler lisan ü şekl itibâriyle tamamen te’arrub [754] etmişlerdi. Bunlardan eş-Şeyh Osmân Efendi 1318’de Amasya’da mahkeme a’zâsı olup bir müddet oturdu. Sahib-i tercemenin yeğeni el-Hâc Mehmed Emin Efendi bin Berber Ahmed Ağa da sabâveti zamanında Amasya’dan Mekke’ye gidip ser-mü’ezzin ve müdîr-i harem-i şerîf-i Mekke oldu. Bunun da savt ü edâsı pek muhrikti.
In Modern English
He was the son of Sheikh Ömer Efendi of Amasya, who was the son of Mustafa Efendi, who in turn was the son of Osman Efendi. Because his voice and melodies were very beautiful, his recitation deeply moving, and he was versed in music, he served for a time as muezzin in the mosque of Sultan Bayezid in Amasya.
Later he went to Mecca and, through the favor of Sharif Mehmed bin Avn Efendi, joined the muezzins of the Noble Sanctuary. Rising step by step, his salary increased as well. In 1264 [1847-48], thanks to his voice and delivery, his good character, and the kindness of the sharif mentioned, he became second muezzin, and in 1268 [1851-52] chief muezzin of the Noble Sanctuary.
From that date on he was counted among the notables of Mecca and sat as a member of various councils. During the emirate of Sharif Abdullah Pasha, son of the sharif mentioned, and while Hacı Hasan Pasha of Amasya was commander of the Hejaz, he passed away in 1288 [1871-72] while serving as director of the affairs of the Noble Sanctuary.
He was gentle in temper, deeply devout, a wholehearted servant of the Noble Sanctuary, and the holder of a large power of attorney. His sons, Sheikh Mustafa, Osman and Ömer Efendi, had become entirely Arabized in language and appearance. Of these, Sheikh Osman Efendi served as a member of the court in Amasya in 1318 [1900-01] and stayed there for a while. This man's nephew, Hacı Mehmed Emin Efendi, son of Berber Ahmed Ağa, went from Amasya to Mecca in his youth and became chief muezzin and director of the Noble Sanctuary of Mecca. His voice and delivery, too, were deeply moving.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- savt ü nağamât: voice and melodies; beauty of voice together with knowledge of musical modes
- muhrik: burning, stirring; reaching the listener's heart
- iltihâk etmek: to join a body or group
- tedrîcen terakkî: gradual advancement
- şerîf-i müşârün-ileyh: the sharif mentioned above
- mü'ezzin-i sânî: second muezzin
- ser-mü'ezzin: head of the muezzins, chief muezzin
- a'yân: notables
- mecâlis-i muhtelife: various councils
- müdür-i umûr: manager of affairs
- dâr-ı nâ'îme irtihâl etmek: to depart for the abode of bliss, that is, to die
- halûk: gentle in temper, of good character
- te'arrub: becoming Arabized, coming to resemble Arabs
- sabâvet: childhood and early youth
The Office of Muezzin in the Noble Sanctuary
The office of muezzin in the Haram Mosque followed an arrangement quite different from a post in an ordinary neighborhood mosque. Over time, a separate muezzin came to be appointed for the mihrab of each school of law in the great mosques, and the number of muezzins at the Haram Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque is given as between thirty and seventy. One of them served as chief muezzin and was called reîsülmüezzinîn or şeyhülmüezzinîn. Hüsameddin's "ser-mü'ezzin" in the text and "şeyhü'l-mü'ezzinîn" in his footnote correspond to these titles. The practice of appointing a separate muezzin to each minaret of the Haram Mosque also continued in the Ottoman period.
The chief muezzin of Mecca, called the "müezzin-i zemzemî," also had an official duty. After every evening prayer and at the appearance of the new moon he would go up to the place where he called the prayer, congratulate the emir in a loud voice, and recite an ode praising those who had held authority in Mecca. This custom continued in the Ottoman period. That Hüsameddin stresses the chief muezzin's voice and delivery, and that this person entered the notables of Mecca and took part in councils, suggests that the post was more than reciting the call to prayer; this is an inference, and the text does not say it outright.
Muezzins often held their posts for life, and in large cities muezzins from certain families filled the same office for several generations. The uncle and nephew of the text, who rose one after the other to the same post, fit this general picture. In the footnote, on information Hüsameddin found in the surre registers, it is said that this man became head of the muezzins on the death of Seyyid Ahmed Sâlim Efendi of Amasya, the chief muezzin of Mecca. It appears that more than one native of Amasya held the chief muezzinship of Mecca.
The Period of Sharif Abdullah Pasha
The Sharif Abdullah Pasha of the text came from the Avn family of the emirs of Mecca and was the son of Muhammed bin Abdülmuîn Ibn Avn; it is quite likely that he is the person Hüsameddin calls "Sharif Mehmed bin Avn." Some sources state that Abdullah Pasha was emir of Mecca between 1858 and 1877. The date Hüsameddin gives, 1288 [1871-72], falls within that span. Sharif Hüseyin, who later became emir of Mecca, went to his uncle Emir Abdullah in Mecca when his father died in 1861 and completed his education there.
Another man from Amasya also appears in Mecca in the same years. Şirvânîzâde Mehmed Rüşdü Pasha, the grand vizier, was appointed governor of Jeddah, went to the Hejaz, fell ill with a fever some time after arriving, and died in 1874 at Taif, in the garden of Sharif Abdullah Pasha. Rüşdü Pasha's life comes up again in entry 788 of this book, within the biography of his brother Ahmed Hulûsî Efendi.
No information could be found in other sources about Hacı Hasan Pasha of Amasya, commander of the Hejaz. His name does not appear in general accounts of the military and administrative government of the Hejaz, and no record of this pasha could be reached in local Amasya publications either.
Bibliography