Amasyalıdır. Sâhibü’t-terceme es-Seyyid Abdâl Mehmed Çelebi mahdûmudur. Amasya’da “Mazlûm Melîkzâde” ve İstanbul’da “Mazlûm Melîk” demekle meşhûrdur. 925’de Dâru’s-selâm Mahallesi’nde doğdu. Yörgüç Paşa Medresesi Müderrisi İskilipli Ca’fer, Hakala’da Kâsım Bey Medresesi Müderrisi es-Seyyid Muhyiddîn Mehmed Efendilerden ikmâl-i tahsîl ederek ders-i âm ve Ayas Ağa Müderrisi oldu.
958’de üstâdı Ca’fer Efendi Anadolu Kazaskeri oldukta İstanbul’a gidip ondan mülâzım ve 961’den [460] itibâren sırasıyla İbrâhim Paşa, Papas oğlu, Bursa’da Emîr Sultân, İstanbul’da Kızıl Maslak demekle meşhûr Osmân Şâh vâlidesi Medreselerine müderris oldu.
975 cumâdelûlâsının başında Amasya’dan gelen yirmiden ziyâde şâhidlerle nakîbü’l-eşrâf es-Seyyid Tâceddîn bin es-Seyyid Ali el-Hüseynî huzûrunda isbât-ı siyâdet edib 979 zilka’desinde Ca’fer Ağa Müderrisi ve 982 muharreminde “Kemâl-i salâh ve diyâneti ve iffet ve sıyâneti olmağın” Sultân Selîm-i Sânî Şehzâdelerinin muallimi oldu.
Sene-i mezbûre ramazânında Sultân Murâd Hân-ı Sâlisin cülûsunda ta’lîmine me’mûr olduğu şehzâdeler bir gece içinde dünyaya veda etdiklerinden fevkalâde müte’essir olup 983 senesi zilhiccesinin gurresinde Kudüs-i şerîf kadısı ve 985 senesi cumâdelâhiresinde Merzifonî Nişancızâde Ahmed Efendi yerine Medîne-i münevvere mollası oldu.
988 senesi rebîülevvelinde Mekke Kadısı Abdülbâkî Efendi’nin azlinde Mekke-i Mükerreme kadısı olarak Kadı’l-haremeyn olduysa da Medîne kazâsına ta’yîn edilen zevâtın isti’fâ [461] ve istiğnasına binâ’en her ikisi de yerlerinde ibkâ eyledi. Lâkin sene-i mezbûre şa’bânında Taybe ahâlisinin şikâyetleri üzerine bin altın terakkî ile Mekke Kadısı Abdülbaki Efendi Medîne-i münevvere’ye nakledildiğinden ma’zûlen İstanbul’a geldi. Emsâl ve akrânına verilen vazîfe-i tekâ’üd ile müreffehü’l-hâl iken 989 senesi cumâdelûlâsında dâr-ı naîme intikâl etdi.
Atâyî Efendi “Zeyl-i Şakâyık”ında Molla-yı mûmâ ileyhin tarafından zam u telhîs edilen şu tercemesi sonunda diyor ki, “Merhûm merkûm-ı bâl-güşâ-yı me’âric-i ulûm, sâhib-i ahlâk-ı hamîde, fasîhu’l-lisân, sahîhu’l-akîde, sâhib-i sekîne ve vakâr, dîde-dûz-i sahâif-i itti’âz ve i’tibâr, terk ü tecerrüde tâlip, âlem-i envâra müncezip, giriftâr-ı nefs-i zalûm olduğundan ma’mûm, mir’at-ı hâlî sûret-nümâ-yı inkisâr-ı mazlûm idi.” Mahdûmu es-Seyyid Mahmûd Efendi’dir.
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya. He was the son of es-Seyyid Abdal Mehmed Çelebi, whose biography was given earlier. He is known in Amasya as "Mazlum Melikzâde" and in Istanbul as "Mazlum Melik." He was born in 925 [1519] in the Dârüsselam neighbourhood. Completing his education with İskilipli Ca'fer Efendi, müderris of the Yörgüç Pasha Madrasa, and es-Seyyid Muhyiddin Mehmed Efendi, müderris of the Kasım Bey Madrasa in Hakala, he became a teacher giving lessons open to all and müderris of the Ayas Ağa Madrasa.
In 958 [1551], when his teacher Ca'fer Efendi became kazasker of Anatolia, he went to Istanbul and became a mülazım of his. From 961 [1553-54] he became müderris in turn of the madrasas of İbrahim Pasha, of Papasoğlu, of Emir Sultan in Bursa, and, in Istanbul, of the mother of Osman Şah, known as "Kızıl Maslak."
At the beginning of Jumada al-Ula 975 [November 1567], with more than twenty witnesses who came from Amasya, he proved his sayyid descent before the nakîbüleşraf es-Seyyid Tâceddin, son of es-Seyyid Ali el-Hüseynî. In Dhu al-Qa'da 979 [March-April 1572] he became müderris of the Ca'fer Ağa Madrasa, and in Muharram 982 [April-May 1574], "because of the perfection of his righteousness and piety and the soundness of his chastity and self-restraint," tutor of the princes of Selim II.
When Murad III came to the throne in Ramadan of the same year, he was deeply grieved that the princes whose education he had been charged with bade farewell to the world in a single night. On the first day of Dhu al-Hijja 983 [March 1576] he became kadı of Jerusalem (Kudüs-i Şerif), and in Jumada al-Akhira 985 [August-September 1577], in place of Nişancızâde Ahmed Efendi of Merzifon, molla of Medina the Illuminated.
In Rabi' al-Awwal 988 [April-May 1580], when the kadı of Mecca Abdülbâki Efendi was dismissed, he became kadı of the Two Holy Cities (Haremeyn) as kadı of Mecca the Honoured; but since those appointed to the kadılık of Medina did not want the office and refused it, both were left in their places. Yet in Shaban of the same year, upon complaints by the people of Medina, when the kadı of Mecca Abdülbâki Efendi was transferred to Medina with an increase in gold, he was dismissed and came to Istanbul. While living in comfort on the retirement stipend given to his peers and contemporaries, he migrated to the eternal world in Jumada al-Ula 989 [May-June 1581].
Atâyî Efendi says in his "Zeyl-i Şakâyık," at the end of the biography of the said molla, expanded and abridged by himself: "The late one was a man who spread his wings on the high steps of the sciences, of praised character, of correct speech, sound faith, calm and dignity, who did not take his eyes from the pages of admonition and counsel, who left the world and sought solitude, turned toward the world of lights. He was grieved at being a captive in the hand of the tyrannical self; the mirror of his state reflected the hurt of one wronged (mazlûm)." His son is es-Seyyid Mahmud Efendi.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- sâhibü't-terceme: the person whose biography is written; here, the person whose biography was given earlier
- ikmâl-i tahsîl: completing one's education
- mülâzım: a candidate waiting his turn beside a great scholar to enter the ilmiye career
- nakîbü'l-eşrâf: the official who keeps the records of, and looks after the affairs of, those descended from the Prophet (sayyids and sharifs)
- isbât-ı siyâdet: proving one's sayyid descent
- gurre: the first day of the month
- molla: a high-ranking kadı of the great cities
- Kâdı'l-haremeyn: kadı of Mecca and Medina
- isti'fâ ve istiğnâ: withdrawing from office and not wanting an office
- Taybe: one of the names of Medina
- terakkî: an increase made to a salary
- vazîfe-i tekâ'üd: retirement stipend
- müreffehü'l-hâl: in comfort
- zam u telhîs: adding and abridging
His Teachers and the Amasya Madrasas
Ahmed Efendi's first teacher İskilipli Ca'fer Efendi was one of the kazaskers of Süleyman's time; Sun'ullah Efendi, who served four times as şeyhülislam, is his son. The 958 date of the kazaskership that Hüsameddin gives is also the date of Ahmed Efendi's going to Istanbul. The Kasım Bey Madrasa in Hakala, of which his second teacher es-Seyyid Muhyiddin Mehmed Efendi was müderris, was built in 1464 by Kasım Bey, one of Prince Bayezid's beys, and gave education until 1827. Hakala is today the village of Yolpınar, attached to Suluova. The Ayas Ağa Madrasa, Ahmed Efendi's first place as müderris, is the building constructed in 1495 by the chief gatekeeper (kapıağası) Ayas Ağa, also called the Küçük Ağa Madrasa. It is highly probable that the "Hakalalı es-Seyyid eş-Şeyh Muhyiddin Mehmed Çelebi" who appears in the previous entry as Gümüşlüzâde Ahmed Efendi's shaykh is the same person as the teacher here; Hüsameddin uses the same nisba and titles in both entries.
Proving Sayyid Descent
One of the interesting details in Ahmed Efendi's life is that, approaching fifty, he proved his sayyid descent with more than twenty witnesses brought from Amasya. The institution of nakîbüleşraflık in the Ottoman State became institutional when Bayezid II in 900 (1494) charged Seyyid Mahmud, son of his teacher Seyyid Abdullah, with this title to look after the affairs of the sayyids and sharifs. A document called "siyâdet hüccet" was given by the nakîbüleşraf to the person who proved before witnesses that he descended from the Prophet, and possessing this document was considered necessary to benefit from the privileges granted to sayyids. That Ahmed Efendi needed such a proof although his father was called "es-Seyyid Abdal Mehmed Çelebi" suggests that the family's sayyid status may not until then have been tied to an official document.
Tutor of the Princes and the Tragedy of 982
The most dramatic part of the entry is the death of the princes whose education Ahmed Efendi had undertaken. Murad III, coming from Manisa, entered the palace at midnight, and the next day, 8 Ramadan 982 (22 December 1574), the death of Selim II and the accession of the new sultan were officially announced. That night, according to the custom of the dynasty, his five brothers were strangled, and the funerals of these five princes and of Selim II fell on the same day. Ahmed Efendi's students, whom he had been appointed to tutor in Muharram, lost their lives in this event eight months later. Hüsameddin's phrase "he was deeply grieved" and Atâyî's describing him as one "reflecting the hurt of one wronged" bear the trace of this painful memory; whether the epithet "Mazlum" came into use before or after this event is not clear.
Ahmed Efendi's biography in Atâyî's Zeyl-i Şakâyık could not be seen directly; the quotation above rests on Hüsameddin's transmission. No information on Mazlum Melikzâde Ahmed Efendi was found in other sources.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 146–147. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
- Mehmet İpşirli, "Sun'ullah Efendi", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/sunullah-efendi
- Kadir Özköse, "Amasya'da Bulunan Halvetiyye Tekkeleri", Akademiar Dergisi, 5 (December 2018), p. 91-118, https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/606666
- Ayhan Işık, "Osmanlı Devleti'nde Nakîbü'l-Eşrâflık", Alevilik Araştırmaları Dergisi, 8 (2014), https://isamveri.org/pdfdrg/D04118/2014_8/2014_8_ISIKA.pdf
- Bekir Kütükoğlu, "Murad III", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/murad-iii
Official sources
Books