Amasyalıdır. İmâm-ı Sultânî Amasyalı Babazâde Evliya Mehmed Efendi bin Ca’fer bin İlyas bin Baba Mehmed Çelebi mahdûmudur. Amasya’da doğup pederiyle beraber İstanbul’a gitdi. Orada pederinden ve İstanbul ulemâsından ahz-ı ulûm edib ders-i ‘âm oldu.
Pederinin irtihâlinde kürsî meşâyihi silkine girip sırasıyla cevâmi-i selâtîni devrederek Sultân Selîm Hân-ı Evvel câmii şerîfi kürsî şeyhi oldu. Burada vâ’iz iken 1058’de vefât etdi. Pederi gibi âlim, gayet sâlih, hâfız-ı Kur’ân bir vâ’iz-i meşhûr idi. Birâderi Abdullah Efendi mevâlîdendir.
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya. He was the son of the sultan's imam (imâm-ı sultânî) Babazâde Evliya Mehmed Efendi of Amasya, whose father was Ca'fer, whose father was İlyas, whose father was Baba Mehmed Çelebi. Born in Amasya, he went to Istanbul with his father. There, learning from his father and the scholars of Istanbul, he became a scholar who gave lectures open to everyone (ders-i âm).
On his father's death he entered the rank of pulpit sheikhs and, passing in turn through the sultans' mosques, became pulpit sheikh of the Mosque of Sultan Selim I Han. While preacher there he died in 1058 [1648-49]. Like his father he was a scholar, very devout, a hafiz of the Quran, and a famous preacher. His brother Abdullah Efendi belongs to the class of mevâlî (high-ranking müderrises and kadıs).
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- imâm-ı sultânî: the sultan's private imam
- ahz-ı ulûm: learning the sciences
- ders-i âm: scholar who teaches lessons open to everyone
- irtihâl: death
- kürsî meşâyihi silki: the class of pulpit sheikhs who preach and teach from the pulpit in mosques
- cevâmi-i selâtîn: the great mosques built by sultans
- vâ'iz: preacher
- hâfız-ı Kur'ân: one who knows the Quran by heart
- mevâlî: the class of high-ranking müderrises and kadıs
Baba Evliya Mehmed Efendi
Ahmed Efendi's father is Evliya Mehmed Efendi, known in the sources as the sultan's imam, and his life is largely documented. Evliya Mehmed Efendi, one of the master names of his time in the science of kıraat (the methods of reciting the Quran), was appointed imam of Ahmed I in Zilhicce 1025 [December 1616] while serving as imam at a small mosque in Istanbul. He used to give kıraat lessons to his students at the window on the inner side of the Hünkâr Gate beside the qibla of the Hagia Sophia Mosque. He is also mentioned as the teacher of the traveler Evliya Çelebi. He took part as imam in Murad IV's Revan campaign of 1044-45 [1635], fell ill on the road and returned to Istanbul, and Şâmî Yusuf Efendi was appointed in his place. His year of death is given as 1045 [1636] in one study and 1044 [1635] in another. Another study records that Evliya Mehmed Efendi, son of Ca'fer b. İlyas of Amasya, was also known by the name "Kadızâde," bore the nisbe "Amasî," and died in 1044 [1635]. Since this chain of names coincides exactly with the lineage "Evliya Mehmed Efendi bin Ca'fer bin İlyas" given by Hüsameddin, it can be said that the sultan's imam Evliya Mehmed Efendi is most probably the same person as Ahmed Efendi's father. Hüsameddin too, at the beginning of the entry, explicitly calls the father "imâm-ı sultânî."
What Is a Pulpit Sheikhship?
The pulpit sheikhship is a post given in the Ottoman learned establishment to scholars who preach and teach in the great mosques. It is stated that the practice began first at the Mosque of Mehmed the Conqueror in Eyüp; later the mosques of Sultan Selim, Bayezid II, Süleymaniye, Sultan Ahmed and Hagia Sophia were added. According to one ranking relayed, a promotion order was observed in appointments, and scholars rose beginning from Eyüp, passing through the mosques of Sultan Selim, Fatih, Bayezid, Süleymaniye and Sultan Ahmed, to Hagia Sophia. The Sultan Selim Mosque, where Ahmed Efendi held office in 1058, is the second step in this ranking. That is, Hüsameddin's saying "passing through the sultans' mosques in turn" describes a career in keeping with this order of promotion. In time, teaching in madrasas, preaching at the palace and serving as imam-hatip of mosques also entered among the duties of pulpit sheikhs.
Points of Note
Hüsameddin does not give Ahmed Efendi's year of birth in this entry; he writes only that he entered the rank of pulpit sheikhs after his father's death and died in 1058. No separate information on his brother Abdullah Efendi was found in the sources that could be read. The five-generation lineage chain beginning with Baba Mehmed Çelebi suggests that the family was a well-known family of learning and preaching in Amasya.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 161–161. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
- İrfan Başkurt, "Osmanlı'dan Cumhuriyet'e Kürsü Şeyhliği", İslâm Araştırmaları Dergisi, 27, 2012, p. 117-145.
- Ali Durmuş, "Kadızâde Mehmed Efendi'nin Bilinmeyen Risalesi Risâle-i Müdâfa'a Işığında Hayatı ve İlmî Kişiliği", Tokat İlmiyat Dergisi, 8/1, 2020, p. 321-350.
Books
- Murat Akgündüz, "Osmanlı Padişahlarının Özel İmamları: İmâm-ı Sultânîler", İstem, 4/7, 2006, p. 65-74.