Ürgüblüdür. İcâzet-nâmelerinde kendisinin imzâsı ve evlâdının beyânı üzere Ürgüb kasabasında Kasab oğlu Hasan bin Mustafa bin İsa mahdûmudur. Takrîben [694] 1133’de doğdu. İptidâ Hâdim Müftüsü iken 1169’da vefât eden allâme-i zaman Ebû Saîd Mehmed Hâdimî Efendi’den tahsîl-i ulûm ederek icâzet-nâme aldı.
1165’de Amasya’ya gelip Yörgüç Paşa Medresesi’nde ikâmet ve Amasya fuzalâsından İydîzâde el-Hâc Mustafa Akif, emîr-i müderris es-Seyyid el-Hâc Ahmed, Laz Hoca el-Hâc İbrâhim, Lâdik’te Şeyhülislâm Medresesi müderrisi Amedî Mehmed Efendilerden Mevâkıf, Telvîh, Hidâye, Sünen-i Buhârî ve Müslîm kitâblarını kemâl-i itkân ile kıra’at etdi. Her birinden icâzet-nâmeler alıp ders-i am oldu.
Esâtize-i müşârün-ileyhimin vefâtında yerlerini tutan bir ders-i âm-ı meşhûr olduğundan 1182’de inhilâl eden Hızır Paşa müderrisliği içinde açılan imtihâna on kadar ders-i âm efendilerle girip fâzıl-ı meşhûr Seküköylüzâde el-Hâc Mehmed Kâşif Efendi’nin sorduğu müşkil su’allere verdiği cevaplarını hey’et-i ilmiyyeye beğendirmiş olduğundan Hızır Paşa müderrisliği uhdesine tevcih edildi. Bununla fazîlet-i ilmiyyesi anlaşıldı.
Meşâhîr-i esâtizeden Mümeyyiz Mehmed Kâşif, Seküköylüzâde [695] Muhaddis el-Hâc Osmân, Çelebizâde el-Hâc Hüseyin, Uzun Müderris el-Hâc Süleyman Efendiler gibi fuzalânın vefâtlarından sonra Amasya’da teferrüd edib mükerreren icâzetler verdi. Pek çok ulemâ yetiştirdi. İlm ü fazlı derecesinde nüfûz ve şöhreti artıp “Üstâzü’l-küll” oldu. Talebe her taraftan akın akın Amasya’ya gelip medreseler dolup taştı.
1206’da ulemânın ibrâmıyla bu ana kadar istemediği Amasya müftülüğünü kabûl edib 1207 senesi rebîülevvelinde Kadı Ahmed Reşid Efendi’yi bir mes’ele-i fıkhiyyeden dolayı hânesinde darb etdirdiğinden azledildi. Fakat cumâdelûlâsında yine ulemânın ibrâmıyla sânîyen Amasya müftüsü olup 1208 zilhiccesinde mütesellim-i livâya hiddet edib azli kabûl etdi.
1209 senesi rebîülevvelinin gurresinde sâlisen Amasya müftüsü olup şevvâlinde ma’zûl ve 1211 senesi recebinde dördüncü defa Amasya müftüsü olduğu halde 1213 senesi şevvâlinin on birinci günü seksen yaşlarında dâr-ı kutse intikâl etdi. Hz. Pîr İlyas türbesinin şimâl-i şarkiyyesinde yol üzerinde üstâdı Laz Hoca İbrâhim Efendi’nin yanında medfûndur. [696] Tilmizi Akifzâde es-Seyyid Abdurrahim Efendi bin el-Hâc İsmâil Kâmil Efendi “el-Mecmû” adlı eserinde diyor ki; “Gâyet fâzıl, muhakkik, usûlî bir allâme-i müdakkık olup pek müteşerri’, âbid, müteverri, zâhid, te’ayyüşü sâde, telebbüsü külfetden âzâde, bünyesi cesîm, orta boylu, kebîrü’l-imâme, gâyet mehîb, vakûr, mü’eddeb idi.
Mizâcında hiddet, meşrebinde salâbet, kavlinde sadakât, fi’ilinde ciddiyet olup, zalemeye karşı seyf-i sârim olduğu halde talebe, fukara ve mesâkine gâyet mülâyim ve şefûk idi. Nevâdir-i eslâfa letâ’if ve tevârihe, muhâzarâta âşinâ olduğundan bezm-i sohbeti gâyet latîf, müfît, mizâha mâ’il idi.
Mikdat Ahmed Paşa Amasya mutasarrıflığı zamanında evkâfı istimlâk için a’mâl-i nüfûz ve şiddet eylediği, ulemâ ve a’yânı asıp kestiği zamanlarda fevkalâde metânet, medenî cesâret ibrâz ederek şu kanlı zâlimi tahvil-i fikr ve niyete icbâr eylediği meşhûrdur.
Allâme-i müşârün-ileyh her gecenin sülüs-i ahîrinde yatağından kalkıp [697] teheccüd namazını edâ eder sonra Sultân Bâyezîd Câmii şerîfine gelip minberin yanına oturur. Fikr ü ibâdetle vakt-i salâta kadar iştigâl ederek sabah namazını edâdan sonra Kur’ân-ı Kerîm’den bir cüz-i şerîf okur. Ba’dehû birinci dersine başlar.
Bu ders-i ikmâl etdikten sonra Duha namazını kılar. Sonra ikinci ve üçüncü derslerini okutur. Bunları ikmâl edene kadar öğle ezânı okunur. Öğle nâmazını kıldıktan sonra hânesine avdet edib bir müddet kaylule yapar. Sonra kalkıb mütala’ât ile iştigâl ve ikindi nâmazını hânesi civârında olan Enderûn câmii şerîfinde edâ eder. Orada dördüncü dersini okuturdu.
Ekser eyyâmında sâ’im, geceleri kâ’im, tefsîr-i Kur’âna mülâzım, takrîr-i hadîse müdâvim, ferâseti gâlib, kuvve-i hâfızası mükemmel, kütüb-i sûfiyyeyi mütâla’aya münhemik, kelimât-ı sûfiyyeyî hüsn-i te’vilde bî-nazîr idi. Mesâ’il-i kelâmiyye, mebâhis-i fikhıyye, ka’vâid-i usûliyye ve mantıkîye ve Arabîye hıfzında olduğundan istifsâr olundukda bilâ-tereddüd cevaplar verir. Delâ’il-i ulemâyı ibârâtı ile ezberden nakl ü îrâd eylerdi. [698]
Gâyet münâzır, behhâs, sür’at-i intikâle mâlik olup ulemâ-i vücûdiyye ve meşâyih-i sûfiyye ile derin mübâhaselere girişerek şeriâtı bi-hakkın müdâfa’a, anları edille-i şer’iyye ve sûfiyye ile ilzâm ve iskât ederdi. A’yân-ı sâbiteyi mevhûmat-ı faraziyye itibâr eden vücûdiyyûnu “İslâm’ın sofistâ’ileri” diye ta’yîb ve zevâhir-i şeri’atı inkâra mü’eddî olan kelimât-ı melâmîyeyi redd ü tezyîf etmekte bir âyet-i ilâhiyye idi. Kaddesallahu rûhahû ve nevvera zarîhahû”.
Asrında riyâset-i ilmiyye kendisine müntehî ve münhasır olan şu allâme Amasya’ya geldiği zaman fuhûl-ı ulemânın vücûdu ile tedrîse cesâret edemeyip onlardan telemmüze mübâderet ve bunlardan icâzet alarak tedrîse mübâşeret etdiği elsîne-i ulemâda tevâtüren sâbit olduğu düşünülürse Amasya’nın o zamanlardaki mevki-i ilmiyyesi derhâl anlaşılır.
1207’de Ayıntablı Kara Osmânzâde Ahmed Efendi’ye şu allâmenin verdiği icâzetnâmeyi gördüm. Müşârün-ileyhin Amasya’da Akif, Ahmed, İbrâhim, Mehmed Efendilerden ahz-ı ulûm ve telemmüz etdiği kendi el yazısıyla manzûrum oldu. Yazısı rik’aya yakın bir hatt-ı talîk idi. [699]
Allâme-i müşârün-ileyhin tilmizleri, şakirdân-ı irfânı pek çoktur. Bunların içinde sudûr ve mevâlî de vardır. Hele kadılar, müftüler, müderrisler sayılamaz. Silsile-i ilmiyyesi, sülâle-i zâtîyesi gibi Amasya’da mevcutdur. Silsile-i ilmiyyesi dört koldan Sadrü’ş-şerîa, Pir İlyâs Halvetî, Seyyid Şerîf Cürcanî, Sa’adeddîn Taftazanî hazaratına müntehî olur.
Müşârün-ileyhin mahdûmları es-Seyyid Mehmed Kâşif, Hasan Arif, Ahmed Necib Efendilerdir. Es-Seyyid Mehmed Kâşif Efendi 1233’de vefât edib mahdûmu es-Seyyid Abdürrezzak Efendi de ulemâdandır. Es-Seyyid Hasan Arif Efendi 1241’de bilâ-veled vefât etdi. Müftü es-Seyyid el-Hâc Necib Ahmed Efendi de 1253’de ve es-Seyyid Abdürrezzak Efendi 1254’de vefât etdiler.
Müftü Hacı Necib Efendizâde es-Seyyid Ahmed Efendi 1294’de vefât edib oğulları Hâfız Mustafa, Mehmed Kâşif, Ali Efendilerdir. Ali Efendi yirmi yaşlarında 1303’de bilâ-veled ve Mehmed Kâşif Efendi 1327’de ve ulemâdan Hâfız Mustafa Efendi de 1328’de vefât etdiler. Bunların hepsine “Ürgüplüzâdeler” dendi. [700]
In Modern English
He was from Ürgüp. According to the signature on his icazetnames and the account of his children, he was the son of Kasapoğlu Hasan bin Mustafa bin İsa in the town of Ürgüp. He was born about 1133 [1720-21]. He first learned and received icazet from Ebû Saîd Mehmed Hâdimî Efendi, the great scholar of his age, who was mufti of Hadim and died in 1169.
In 1165 he came to Amasya and stayed at the Yörgüç Pasha Madrasa. From the scholars of Amasya, İydîzâde Hacı Mustafa Akif, the emîr müderris Seyyid Hacı Ahmed, Laz Hoca Hacı İbrahim, and Âmedî Mehmed Efendi, müderris of the Şeyhülislam Madrasa in Ladik, he read the books Mevâkıf, Telvîh, Hidâye, and the Sünen-i Buhârî and Müslim with complete thoroughness. He received an icazetname from each of them and became a teacher who gave public lectures (ders-i âm).
Since he was a well-known ders-i âm who took the places of the said teachers at their deaths, when the müderrisship of Hızır Pasha fell vacant in 1182 he entered the examination opened for it together with about ten ders-i âm efendis. Because his answers to the hard questions put by the well-known scholar Seküköylüzâde Hacı Mehmed Kâşif Efendi pleased the ilmiye committee, the müderrisship of Hızır Pasha was given to him. By this his superiority in learning was made plain.
After the deaths of famous teachers such as Mümeyyiz Mehmed Kâşif, Seküköylüzâde Muhaddis Hacı Osman, Çelebizâde Hacı Hüseyin and Uzun Müderris Hacı Süleyman Efendis, he remained alone in Amasya and gave icazet many times. He raised a great many scholars. In proportion to his learning and superiority, his influence and fame grew, and he became "Üstâzü'l-küll" (the teacher of everyone). Students came flocking to Amasya from every side, and the madrasas overflowed.
In 1206, at the insistence of the scholars, he accepted the muftiship of Amasya, which until then he had not wanted. In Rebîülevvel 1207 he was dismissed because he had Kadı Ahmed Reşid Efendi beaten in his house over a question of fiqh. But in Cemaziyelevvel, again at the insistence of the scholars, he became mufti of Amasya for the second time; in Zilhicce 1208 he became angry with the mütesellim of the livâ and accepted his dismissal.
At the beginning of Rebîülevvel 1209 he became mufti of Amasya for the third time and left office in Şevval. In Receb 1211, while mufti of Amasya for the fourth time, he passed to the next world on the eleventh day of Şevval 1213, at about eighty years of age. He is buried northeast of the tomb of Pîr İlyas, on the road, beside his teacher Laz Hoca İbrahim Efendi.
His student Akifzâde Seyyid Abdurrahim Efendi bin Hacı İsmail Kâmil Efendi says in his work "el-Mecmû": "He was a very learned, investigative scholar, deeply versed in the science of principles (usûl), and meticulous. He was very devout, devoted to worship, abstaining from the forbidden, remote from the world, simple in livelihood, unostentatious in dress, large of body, middling in height, with a large turban, extremely imposing, dignified and well-mannered.
There was firmness in his temper, steadfastness in his bearing, truthfulness in his speech, seriousness in his conduct. Though he was a sharp sword against the oppressors, he was very gentle and compassionate toward students, the poor and the destitute. Because he knew well the witticisms and stories of earlier great men, histories and the manners of conversation, his gatherings were most pleasant, beneficial and inclined to jest.
It is famous that during Mikdat Ahmed Pasha's tenure as mutasarrıf of Amasya, when this pasha used influence and violence to expropriate waqfs and was hanging and cutting down scholars and ayans, he showed extraordinary steadfastness and civil courage and turned this bloody tyrant from his idea and intention.
The said scholar would rise from his bed in the last third of every night and perform the teheccüd prayer, then come to the Sultan Bâyezîd Mosque and sit beside the minbar. Until prayer time he would occupy himself with thought and worship, and after the morning prayer he would read one juz of the Holy Qur'an. Then he would begin his first lesson.
After finishing this lesson he would perform the duha prayer, then teach his second and third lessons. By the time he finished these, the noon call to prayer was being recited. After performing the noon prayer he would return home and take a kaylule (midday nap) for a while. Then he would rise and occupy himself with reading, perform the afternoon prayer at the Enderun Mosque near his house, and teach his fourth lesson there.
For most of his life he fasted by day and worshipped by night; he was devoted to Qur'anic exegesis, constant in the explanation of hadith, strong in intuition, and excellent in memory. He was immersed in reading Sufi books and was unequaled in interpreting Sufi sayings well. Since the questions of kalam, matters of fiqh, rules of usûl, logic and the Arabic sciences were all in his memory, he answered without hesitation when asked. He recited the scholars' evidences from memory with their exact wording.
He debated very well, was skilled in bringing evidence, and grasped quickly. He entered into deep disputes with the scholars who defended wahdat al-wujûd and with the Sufi sheikhs, defended the sharia as it deserved, and silenced and refuted them with evidences from the sharia and from Sufism. He criticized the supporters of the vücûdiyye, who regarded the scientific forms of beings (a'yân-ı sâbite) as imaginary suppositions, as "the sophists of Islam," and in rejecting and belittling the Melâmî sayings that lead to denying the outward rulings of the sharia he was like a divine verse. May God sanctify his soul and illuminate his grave."
This great scholar, in whom the headship of learning in his time came to an end and who alone held it, did not dare to teach when he came to Amasya because of the presence of the great scholars; he studied under them, received icazet, and then began to teach. If one considers that this is firmly established in succession on the tongues of the scholars, the level of learning in Amasya at that time is immediately understood.
In 1207 I saw the icazetname that this scholar gave to Ayıntablı Kara Osmanzâde Ahmed Efendi. I saw in his own handwriting that he had studied in Amasya under Akif, Ahmed, İbrahim and Mehmed Efendis. His writing was a talik script close to rik'a.
The said scholar's students and seekers of knowledge are very many. Among them are also senior scholars (sudûr and mevâlî). The kadıs, muftis and müderrises cannot be counted. His chain of learning, like his lineage, lives on in Amasya. The chain of learning reaches, through four branches, Sadrüşşerîa, Pîr İlyas Halvetî, Seyyid Şerîf Cürcânî and Sa'deddin Taftazânî.
The sons of the said man are Seyyid Mehmed Kâşif, Hasan Arif and Ahmed Necib Efendis. Seyyid Mehmed Kâşif Efendi died in 1233, and his son Seyyid Abdürrezzak Efendi is also among the scholars. Seyyid Hasan Arif Efendi died childless in 1241. Müftü Seyyid Hacı Necib Ahmed Efendi died in 1253 and Seyyid Abdürrezzak Efendi in 1254.
Müftü Hacı Necib Efendizâde Seyyid Ahmed Efendi died in 1294; his sons are Hâfız Mustafa, Mehmed Kâşif and Ali Efendis. Ali Efendi died childless in 1303 at about twenty, Mehmed Kâşif Efendi in 1327, and Hâfız Mustafa Efendi, one of the scholars, in 1328. All of them were called "the Ürgüplüzades."
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- icâzet-nâme: a document by which a teacher states that he has given his student authority to teach and transmit a book
- ders-i âm: a teacher authorized to give general lectures in a madrasa
- teferrüd: being alone, coming to the fore
- mütesellim-i livâ: a local administrator regarded as the deputy of the sanjak bey or mutasarrıf, who collected taxes
- te'ayyüş, telebbüs: livelihood, dress and attire
- teheccüd: the voluntary prayer performed in the last part of the night
- duha: the mid-morning prayer
- kaylule: midday nap
- münâzır, behhâs: one skilled in debate, one who investigates every subject in depth
- vücûdiyye: those who defend the doctrine of wahdat al-wujûd
- sudûr, mevâlî: senior scholars and kadıs
The Teacher at the Head of the Chain of Icazet
Hâdimî Efendi is Ahmed Efendi's teacher and appears as the starting point in the chain of icazet of the müderrises of Amasya. Hasan Telli's study, based on documents of the Meşîhat archive, reports that the chain of teachers in the icazetnames of the müderrises of Amasya converges on Ebû Saîd Muhammed el-Hâdimî and continues from him in two main branches, one of which goes back to Imam Bukhari and the other to Abu Hanifa. The chain Hüsameddin gives for Ahmed Efendi, on the other hand, is tied to Sadrüşşerîa, Pîr İlyas Halvetî, Seyyid Şerîf Cürcânî and Taftazânî. The documents Telli examined belong to müderrises of the reign of Abdülhamid II; that is, Hâdimî's trace continues in icazetnames a hundred years after the Ahmed Efendi of this entry.
The Scholarly Standing of Amasya
Telli writes that more than forty madrasas have been identified in Amasya and that the city was an important center of attraction in the educational life of the region. The picture in the entry agrees with this general assessment: in 1165, when Ahmed Efendi came, the city had madrasas such as Yörgüç Pasha and Hızır Pasha, and in Ladik the Şeyhülislam Madrasa, and a great number of teachers lecturing in them. The point Hüsameddin draws attention to is this: even a scholar in whom the headship of learning was later concentrated did not dare to teach when he came to Amasya, but first studied under the teachers there. Hüsameddin counts this as an indicator of the scholarly level of Amasya.
Mufti, Dismissal and Mütesellim
According to Hüsameddin, Ahmed Efendi was mufti of Amasya four times, was dismissed from his first term for having Kadı Ahmed Reşid Efendi beaten, and left the second of his own accord out of anger at the mütesellim. According to the sources, the mütesellim is the official who, as deputy of the beylerbeyi or sanjak bey, acted in their place when they were not at their posts and collected taxes. In the eighteenth century a large part of the mütesellimliks passed into the hands of local dynasties, which prepared the ground for the rise of local powers. A mufti's conflict with a mütesellim can be understood in this context.
Points of Note
The entry gives in detail the daily teaching routine of a mufti: the night prayer, thought and worship in the mosque, the morning prayer, four separate lessons, the midday nap and the last lesson after the afternoon prayer at the Enderun Mosque. This description is transmitted from the work "el-Mecmû" by his student Akifzâde Abdurrahim Efendi; that is, it was written through a student's eyes and has the character of praise. Hüsameddin also adds his own observation: he saw an icazetname given by Ahmed Efendi and his handwriting.
The account that Mikdat Ahmed Pasha, during his mutasarrıflık of Amasya, exerted pressure to expropriate waqfs and hanged scholars is known only from this transmission; no information was found in other sources on this pasha or this event. No source other than this entry could be reached on Ahmed Efendi either.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 216–217. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies