Merzifonludur. Bayram bin Ali oğludur. Amasya’da Iydî Bayram Efendi dersine mülâzemet ederek, ikmâl-i tahsîl edib ondan mücâz ve ders-i âm ve Hacı İlyas Mahallesi imâmı İbrâhim Efendi’ye dâmâd oldu. 1117’de kayın pederinin vefâtı ile Hacı İlyas Mescidi imâmı ve sonra Hâtuniyye Câmii kürsî şeyhi oldu.
İmâmet ve tezkîr ü nasîhat ile iştigâl ederek 1124 senesi cumâdelâhiresinin yirmi dokuzuncu gecesinde vefât etdi. Âlim, vâ’iz, müteşerri’ bir zât idi. Mahdûmları Ali, İbrâhim Efendilerdir. Ali Efendi imâm olup, 1134’de vefâtı ile birâderi İbrâhim Efendi imâm oldu.
Bu da 1152’de fevt olup mahdûmu es-Seyyid Mehmed Efendi ve 1192’de vefâtı ile diğer mahdûmu Hâfız es-Seyyid Hasan Efendi imâm oldu. Bunlara “İmâmhoca-oğulları” dendi. [605]
Hâfız Hasan Efendi 1210’da bilâ-veled vefâtı ile dâmâdı Hâfız Osmân Efendi ve 1239’da bunun da vefâtı ile oğulları Hâfız Mustafa İsmâil Efendiler Hacı İlyas Mescidi imâmı oldular.
In Modern English
He was from Merzifon. He is Bayram, son of Ali. In Amasya he entered the lessons of Iydî Bayram Efendi as an apprentice and completed his studies, received an ijaza from him and gave public lectures. He became son-in-law of İbrahim Efendi, imam of the Hacı İlyas neighborhood. In 1117 [1705-06], on his father-in-law's death, he became imam of the Hacı İlyas Mosque and then pulpit sheikh of the Hatuniye Mosque.
He occupied himself with the imamate, counsel and preaching; he died on the night of the twenty-ninth of Cemaziyelahir 1124 [1712]. He was a scholar, a preacher and a man bound to the sharia. His sons are Ali and İbrahim Efendis. When Ali Efendi, who had become imam, died in 1134 [1721-22], his brother İbrahim Efendi became imam.
When İbrahim too died in 1152 [1739-40], his son Seyyid Mehmed Efendi became imam, and on his death in 1192 [1778], his other son Hâfız Seyyid Hasan Efendi. They were called the "İmamhoca-oğulları" (Sons of the Imam Hodja).
When Hâfız Hasan Efendi died childless in 1210 [1795-96], his son-in-law Hâfız Osman Efendi became imam, and on his death in 1239 [1823-24] his sons Hâfız Mustafa and İsmail Efendis became imams of the Hacı İlyas Mosque.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mülâzemet: apprenticeship, attachment to a teacher for study
- mücâz: holding an ijaza, having received permission to teach
- dâmâd: son-in-law
- kürsî şeyhi: the official who preaches and gives counsel from the pulpit in a mosque
- tezkîr ü nasîhat: reminding and counsel, that is, preaching
- müteşerri': one who lives in accordance with the sharia
- mahdûm: son
- bilâ-veled: childless
- fevt: death
The Hatuniye Mosque
The Hatuniye Mosque, where Hâfız Hâce Ahmed Efendi was pulpit sheikh, lies in the Hatuniye neighborhood of Amasya, on the north bank of the Yeşilırmak. Bülbül Hatun, one of the wives of Bayezid II, also had a primary school (sıbyan mektebi) and a soup kitchen (imaret) built next to the mosque. The mosque was built at the end of the fifteenth or the beginning of the sixteenth century. To its east lies the Enderun Mosque, belonging to the Danishmends, and to its west the Yıldız Bath, belonging to the Seljuks. The mosque consists of two small domes in a row and cross-vaulted spaces at their sides; its last-congregation porch has five domes. The walls were later strengthened against floods of the Yeşilırmak. The entry in the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi relies on the information Hüsâmeddin relays for the state of the school and the soup kitchen; Hüsâmeddin writes that in 1300 [1882-83] the school was still in use.
The İmamhoca-oğulları
The entry shows how a family passed on the imamate from generation to generation. The post stayed within the same family from 1117 to 1239, that is, for about a hundred and twenty years. It passed first from father-in-law to son-in-law, then from father to son, from brother to brother and finally from son-in-law to sons. The townspeople gave this family the name "İmamhoca-oğulları." Hüsâmeddin writes in order the year of death of each imam and who succeeded him.
No source showing the present-day state of the Hacı İlyas neighborhood and Mosque was found. Nor could any information on Hâfız Hâce Ahmed Efendi be found in other sources.
Bibliography