Amasyalıdır. Kazasker Amasyalı Muhaşşî Sinânüddîn Yûsuf Efendi bin eş-Şeyh Hüsâmeddîn Hüseyin Efendi bin İlyas bin Hasanzâde Amasya Kadısı Hüseyin Efendi’nin mahdûmudur. Biraderi sudûr-ı ulemâdan Kethüdâ Mustafa Efendi’dir.
Pederi Amasya’da kadı iken 963’de doğdu. Ceddî Sinan Efendi’nin hücre-i himâyesinde büyüdü. Meşâhîr-i fuzalâdan Kadızâde Şemseddîn Ahmed Efendi’den ahz-ı ulûm ederek ondan mülâzım ve 991’de Efdalzâde Medresesi Müderrisi oldu. Ba’dehû medâris-i mu’tâdeyi devredip 1005 senesi ramazânının gurresinde Medîne-i münevvere mollası oldu.
1006 senesi şa’bânında azledilmişken bir hafta sonra [483] ibkâ edildi. 1008 senesi rebîülevvelinde azledildiğinden munfasıl olup Mısır’a gitdi. Orada ikâmet ederek tedrîs-i ulûma himmet etdi. Meşîhat-i İslamiyye tarafından vezâ’if-i mu’ayyene-i mevleviyyetle taltîf edilip 1030 senesi zilka’desinde vefât eyledi.
Âlim, fâzıl, edib, şâir, halûk, sahî, âbid, nezîh bir zât idi. “Zeyl-i Şakâyık-ı Atâyî”de biraderi kazasker Kethüdâ Mustafa Efendi’nin mahdûmu gösterildiği halde yine aynı kitabın müte’addid yerlerinde biraderi olduğu yazılmıştır. Târîhen ve hakîkaten biraderidir. Mahdûmu Ahmed Efendi de başka bir zâtdır.
In Modern English
He was a native of Amasya. He was the son of the chief military judge (kazasker) Muhaşşî Sinâneddîn Yûsuf Efendi of Amasya, son of Şeyh Hüsâmeddîn Hüseyin Efendi, son of İlyas, son of Hasanzâde Hüseyin Efendi, judge of Amasya. His brother was Kethüdâ Mustafa Efendi, one of the great scholars.
He was born in 963 [1555-56] while his father was judge in Amasya. He grew up under the protection of his grandfather Sinan Efendi. Studying under Kadızâde Şemseddîn Ahmed Efendi, one of the famous men of learning, he became his mülâzım (candidate for a müderrisship) and in 991 [1583] became müderris of the Efdalzâde Madrasa. Then, going the round of the ordinary madrasas, at the beginning of Ramadan 1005 [1597] he became judge of Medina-i Munevvere (Medina).
Dismissed in Sha'ban 1006 [1598], he was confirmed in his post a week later. When he was dismissed in Rabi' al-awwal 1008 [1599] he was left without office and went to Egypt. Settling there, he strove to teach. Rewarded by the office of the şeyhülislam with certain judgeship revenues, he died in Dhu al-Qa'dah 1030 [1621].
He was a scholar, a man of virtue, a man of letters, a poet, gentle in temper, generous, devout, and pure. Although in the "Zeyl-i Şakâyık-ı Atâyî" he is shown as the son of his brother, the chief military judge Kethüdâ Mustafa Efendi, in many places of the same book he is written as his brother. By history and in reality he is his brother. His son Ahmed Efendi, however, is another person.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- kazasker: the high judge attached to the army among the Ottomans; there were chief military judges of Rumelia and of Anatolia
- mahdûm: son
- kudât: judges
- sudûr-ı ulemâ: great scholars, the leading men of the learned class (ilmiye)
- hücre-i himâye: under protection, patronage
- mülâzım: a person registered with a great scholar to await a müderrisship
- müderris: madrasa teacher
- medâris-i mu'tâde: the ordinary, usual madrasas
- mollâ: judge of a great city
- munfasıl: without office, out of office
- ibkâ: leaving in office
- meşîhat-i İslâmiyye: the office of şeyhülislam
- vezâif-i mu'ayyene-i mevleviyye: fixed revenues attached to the rank of mevleviyet (molla)
- halûk, sahî, nezîh: gentle-tempered, generous, pure
Muhaşşî Sinan Efendi of Amasya
The "Muhaşşî" of the entry is Sinâneddin Yusuf Efendi, who wrote a voluminous gloss (hâşiye, commentary note) on Beyzâvî's famous commentary Envârü't-tenzîl. According to the encyclopedia entry he was born in 893 [1488] in the village of Sonusa in the sanjak of Amasya (today Uluköy in the Erbaa district of Tokat); his father's name is Hüsameddin, and his grandfather's name İlyas. He studied in Amasya, became a mülâzım in Istanbul of Hayreddin Efendi, the teacher of Suleiman the Magnificent, and after judgeships in Aleppo, Damascus, Bursa, and Edirne became in 1547 judge of Istanbul and chief military judge of Anatolia. In 1561 he was appointed müderris of the Süleymaniye Dârülhadis, in 1575 he left office because of old age, and he died in Istanbul in 986 [1578]. The names Hüsâmeddîn and İlyas in the genealogical chain of the text are the same as the names of the father and grandfather in the encyclopedia; that is, this chain is the chain of Muhaşşî Sinan Efendi.
The way Hüsameddin narrates the kinship between Sinan Efendi and Ahmed Efendi in this entry is not entirely clear. The opening sentence, after giving the order of Sinan Efendi's lineage, says "he is his son"; the next sentence writes that Ahmed was born while his father was judge in Amasya and grew up under the protection of "his grandfather (ceddi) Sinan Efendi." According to this second sentence Sinan Efendi is Ahmed's grandfather; the first sentence is built in such a way that the genealogical chain can be read as Ahmed's own chain. The translation keeps both statements as they are.
The Zeyl-i Şakâyık and the Correction
The note at the end of the entry is a correction to Atâî's work. Atâî's work called Hadâiku'l-hakâik is the Turkish supplement (zeyl) to Taşköprîzâde's Şakâik-ı Nu'mâniyye extending from 1558 to 1634, and is for this reason also called Zeyl-i Şakâyık. The work gives information on the sheikhs, scholars, and poets who lived within the Ottoman borders. Hüsameddin notes that in one place Atâî shows Ahmed Efendi as the son of Kethüdâ Mustafa Efendi, while in many places of the book he counts him as Mustafa's brother, and, saying "by history and in reality he is his brother," finds the second account correct.
His Teacher: Kadızâde Şemseddin Ahmed Efendi
Kadızâde Şemseddin Ahmed Efendi, of whom Ahmed Efendi became a mülâzım, according to the encyclopedia entry served first as judge of Aleppo and Istanbul, became chief military judge of Rumelia, became şeyhülislam in 985 [1577], and died in 988 [1580]. He is remembered as honest and not shy of speaking the truth. The teacher's death is in 1580; Ahmed Efendi's becoming müderris in 991 [1583] is three years after that. No other source was found reporting Ahmed Efendi's judgeship of Medina, his years in Egypt, and his death.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 153–153. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
- Eyyüp Said Kaya, "Sinan Efendi", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/sinan-efendi
- Uluslararası Amasya Âlimleri Sempozyumu (21-23 April 2017) proceedings book II, list of scholars of Amasya (International Symposium on the Scholars of Amasya).
Other sources
- "Kadızâde Ahmed Şemseddin", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi.
- "Atâî", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (on Hadâiku'l-hakāik fî tekmileti'ş-Şekāik).