Amasyalı Mehmed oğludur. Yağmur köylü el-Hâc İsmâil, Kadızâde Mehmed Efendilerden ahz-ı ulûm ü maârif edib İstanbul’a gitdi. Orada Amasyalı Mihekzâde Mustafa Efendi’den mülâzım olup mu’tad üzere Amasya medreselerini devrederek Yörgüç Paşa ve Hâtuniyye-i Tokat müderrisi ve buradan kadı oldu. [516]
1056’da mülâzımı olduğu Mihekzâde’nin himmetiyle ber-veçh-i mevleviyyet Antalya, 1059’da Sivas, 1062’de Canik kadısı ve 1064’de Mehmed Paşa Medresesiyle mütekâ’id olup Kurşunlu Mahallesi’nde ikâmet ve tedrîs ü ibâdetle iştigâl etdi.
1068’de Hicâz’a gidip edâ-yı hâc etdikten sonra avdet ederken yolda 1069 senesi evâ’ilinde dârı-bekâya irtihâl etdi. Fâzıl, afîf, kâmil bir zât idi. Mahdûmu Abdulbaki Efendi ve Hafîdi Ahmed Efendi de kibâr-ı kudâtdan idiler. Bunlara “Hâfız Ahmed Efendizâdeler” dendi.
In Modern English
He was the son of Mehmed of Amasya. After acquiring knowledge and learning from Hacı İsmâil Efendi of Yağmur village and from Kadızâde Mehmed Efendi, he went to Istanbul. There he became the mülâzım (the ilmiye candidate waiting in line under him) of Mihekzâde Mustafa Efendi of Amasya. As was customary, passing through the madrasas of Amasya in turn, he served as müderris at the Yörgüç Pasha Madrasa and the Hâtuniye Madrasa in Tokat, and from there moved on to the kadiship.
In 1056 [1646-47], through the support of Mihekzâde, whose mülâzım he was, he became kadı of Antalya with the rank of mevleviyet (grand kadiship), in 1059 [1649-50] of Sivas, and in 1062 [1651-52] of Canik. In 1064 [1653-54] the Mehmed Pasha Madrasa was given to him and he retired; living in the Kurşunlu quarter, he busied himself with teaching and worship.
In 1068 [1657-58] he went to the Hijaz and performed his pilgrimage; on the return, on the road, in early 1069 [1658], he passed to the eternal world. He was a man of virtue, chastity and maturity. His son Abdülbâki Efendi and his grandson Ahmed Efendi were also among the great kadıs. This family was called "the Hâfız Ahmed Efendizâdes."
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- ahz-ı ulûm ü maârif: acquiring knowledge and learning
- mülâzım: candidate who earns the right to müderrisship or the kadiship by waiting in line beside a great scholar
- mu'tad üzere: as was customary
- medreseleri devretmek: passing through the madrasa grades in order
- ber-veçh-i mevleviyyet: with the rank of grand kadiship (molla)
- himmet: support, patronage
- mütekâ'id: retired
- tedrîs: teaching
- dâr-ı bekâya irtihâl: death, migration to the hereafter
- afîf: chaste, pure
- mahdûm / hafîd: son / grandson
- kibâr-ı kudât: great kadıs
His Patron Memekzâde Mustafa Efendi
The Mustafa Efendi of Amasya whom Hüsameddin writes as "Mihekzâde" is the scholar known in the sources by the epithet Memekzâde or Memikzâde; Hüsameddin too, in the fourth volume of his work, mentions him by the name "Memikzâde Mustafa Efendi." According to Mehmet İpşirli, Mustafa Efendi was the son of Mehmed Efendi of Amasya, one of the scholars of the time of Mehmed III. After teaching for ten years in the great madrasas of Istanbul he moved to the kadiship, became kadı of Galata in Şâban 1056 (September 1646) and of Istanbul in Safer 1057 (March 1647), and then rose twice to the kazaskership of Rumeli. On 9 Cemâziyelevvel 1066 (5 March 1656), during the Çınar Incident, he was appointed şeyhülislam and dismissed thirteen hours later at the objection of the soldiery; for this reason he is regarded as the person who held the şeyhülislamate for the shortest time in Ottoman history. He was then appointed kadı of Mecca and died in Aleppo, where he stayed for a time.
The year 1056, in which Ahmed Efendi moved to the kadiship of Antalya with the rank of mevleviyet, coincides with the period in which his patron rose to the kadiship of Galata and then Istanbul; this makes Hüsameddin's phrase "through the support of Mihekzâde" understandable. A point worth noting is that the fathers of both Ahmed Efendi and Mustafa Efendi are called "Mehmed of Amasya." The text speaks of no kinship between the two families; whether the same name is coincidence or closeness is not known.
The Madrasas Where He Taught
The Yörgüç Pasha Mosque was built in 1428 by Yörgüç Pasha, who had served as sanjak bey of Amasya, remained in the city as lala of Prince Murad, and rose to the vizierate in the time of Murad II; the mosque stands today. The Hâtuniye Madrasa in Tokat was built in 890 [1485] in the name of Gülbahar Hatun, mother of Bayezid II; it is beside the Hâtuniye Mosque in the Meydan quarter and has been repaired and opened to visitors. The Mehmed Pasha Madrasa that Ahmed Efendi received as his retirement post belongs to the complex on the bank of the Yeşilırmak of Hızır Paşazâde Mehmed Pasha (d. 900/1495), vizier of Bayezid II and lala of Prince Ahmed. According to the mosque's inscription, construction was completed in Muharrem 891 (January 1486). Of the complex's mosque, madrasa, soup kitchen, tomb, tabhane, zâviye and fountain, only the mosque, its adjoining wing rooms and the tomb have reached the present; the madrasa in which Ahmed Efendi taught has disappeared.
That his son Abdülbâki Efendi later served as kadı of Amasya is recorded in other volumes of Hüsameddin's work. The family's being called "Hâfız Ahmed Efendizâdes" suggests that Ahmed Efendi was a hafiz of the Quran; the text does not say this separately.
Bibliography
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