Amasyalıdır. Amasya’da müderris ve muharrir-i vilâyet olan Tokatlı Ahî Cüneydzâde Mevlânâ Sinâneddîn Yûsuf Çelebi bin Bedreddîn Mahmûd Çelebi bin Cüneyd Tokatî mahdûmudur. 901 senesi hilâlinde Amasya’da doğdu. Mukaddimât-ı ulûmu gördükten sonra İstanbul’a gitdi.
Allâme-i asr olan Amasyalı Kemal Paşazâde Ahmed Şemseddîn Efendi’ye intisâb edib onun halka-i tedrîsinde iktisâb-ı [440] fazl ü kemâl etdi. 925’de üstâdının Anadolu kazaskerliğinden azl ve teftişinde Amasya’ya avdet edib tedrîs-i ulûma başladı. Kâsım Bey Medresesi’ne müderris oldu.
932’de üstâdı Şeyhülislâm olduktan sonra 934’de İstanbul’a gitdi. 935’de Semâniye medreselerinden biri münhal olup pâye erbâbına imtihân fermânı zuhûr etmişdi. Vâki’ olan imtihânda “kıyl” mes’elesi tehaddüs etdikte üstâdını tatyîben buna mülâzemet ihsân edildi.
937’de yirmi akçe ile Hasköy’de Mahmûd Paşa ve 940’da yirmi akçe ile Edirne’de Beylerbeyi Sinan Paşa medreselerine müderris oldu. Ancak kıyl mes’elesinin bâ’isi ve üstâdının hasmı bulunan Çivizâde Muhyiddîn Mehmed Efendi 944’de kazasker ve 945’de şeyhülislâm oldukta medreseden azledildi.
949 senesi muharreminde bizzarûre silk-i kudâta girip hayli kasâbât ve bilâd-ı Rûmeliye kadı olarak teayyün etdi. 977’de yüz otuz akçe ile Dârü’l-mücâhidîn Budin vilâyeti kadısı olup giderken şehr-i recebde [441] vefât etdi. Yol üzerinde medfûndur.¹⁸⁸
Nev’îzâde Atâyî Efendi “Zeyl-i Şakâyık”da diyor ki: Merhûm-i mezbûr fazîlet-i ilmiyye ile meşhûr, meyân-ı emsâlinde elif gibi ser-firâz ve meclis-i bahs ve idârede merâhi saffet-gerden dırâz-ı âlim ü âmil, fâzıl ü kâmil idi. Üstâdının cemî’-i mü’ellefâtını yazıp tashîh ve tahşiye ve harâ’id ve cerâ’idi i’lak-ı nefîse-i ta’lîkâtla tahliye edib ıslâh ve îzâha ve ferâ’iz mollasına ta’lîkâtı, ulûm-i riyâziyye ve kelâma müte’allik kelimâtı vardır.
In Modern English
He was a man of Amasya. He is the son of Mevlânâ Sinâneddîn Yûsuf Çelebi of Tokat, Ahî Cüneydzâde, a müderris and provincial registrar in Amasya, son of Bedreddîn Mahmûd Çelebi, son of Cüneyd of Tokat. He was born in Amasya at the beginning of the year 901 [1495-96]. After studying the basic sciences he went to Istanbul.
He attached himself to Kemal Pashazâde Ahmed Şemseddîn Efendi of Amasya, the great scholar of the age, and gained knowledge and maturity in his teaching circle. In 925 [1519], when his teacher was removed from the Anatolian kazaskership, he returned to Amasya and began to teach. He became a müderris at the Kâsım Bey Madrasa.
In 932 [1525-26], after his teacher became şeyhülislam, he went to Istanbul in 934 [1527-28]. In 935 [1528-29] one of the Semâniye madrasas had fallen vacant and an examination decree had been issued to holders of rank. When the question of "kıyl" arose in the examination, in order to please his teacher, he was granted the right to enter this post (mülâzemet).
In 937 [1530-31] he became müderris at the Mahmûd Pasha Madrasa in Hasköy at twenty akçe, and in 940 [1533-34] at the Beylerbeyi Sinan Pasha Madrasa in Edirne at twenty akçe. But when Çivizâde Muhyiddîn Mehmed Efendi, the cause of the kıyl question and an enemy of his teacher, became kazasker in 944 [1537-38] and şeyhülislam in 945 [1538-39], he was removed from the madrasa.
In the month of Muharrem of 949 [May 1542] he entered the judicial profession of necessity and was appointed judge of many towns and cities of Rumelia. In 977 [1569-70] he was named judge of the province of Buda, the Abode of the Mujahidin, at one hundred and thirty akçe, and died in the month of Receb on the way there. He is buried along the road.
Nev'îzâde Atâyî Efendi says in the Zeyl-i Şakâyık: The said late man was famed for his excellence in learning; among his peers he stood tall like the letter alif, and in the assemblies of debate and administration he was long of neck among the ranks (that is, stood out), a scholar who knew and practised, learned and mature. He wrote out all the works of his teacher and corrected them, furnished them with marginal notes, and adorned the pearls and pages with precious notes; he made efforts of correction and explanation, and has notes on the ferâiz mollası, and words on the mathematical sciences and kelâm.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- muharrir-i vilâyet: an official who writes the records of a region; the exact meaning could not be verified
- mukaddimât-ı ulûm: the basic (introductory) lessons of the sciences
- halka-i tedrîs: teaching circle, the students gathered around a teacher
- azl ve teftîş: dismissal from office and investigation
- Semâniye: the Sahn-ı Semân madrasas in Istanbul
- pâye erbâbı: those who have reached the rank of müderris
- mülâzemet: the right to enter the madrasa cadre, candidacy
- silk-i kudât: the class of judges
- hâşiye, ta'lîkât: explanatory notes written in the margin of a work
- ferâiz: the law of inheritance
- kelâm: the science that discusses the principles of belief by means of reason
His Teacher Kemalpaşazâde
Kemalpaşazâde was born in 1469; in some sources he is said to have been born in Tokat, in others in Edirne, and one source claims he was from Amasya. His father had been appointed commander of the Amasya garrison in 1474. Kemalpaşazâde became Anatolian kazasker on 12 September 1516, was removed from this post in 1519, became şeyhülislam in May 1526, and died on 16 April 1534. The dates Hüsameddin gives, 925 [1519] and 932 [1525-26], agree with this course. Ebüssuûd Efendi is counted among the principal scholars Kemalpaşazâde trained; Abdullah Efendi's name does not appear in the encyclopedia entry.
The Kıyl Question and Çivizâde
What the "kıyl question" was is not explained in the sources consulted. It is recorded in the sources that Çivizâde Muhyiddin Mehmed Efendi sat the examination for the Sahn professorship in 935 [1528-29] and that, although he wrote a treatise superior to those of his rivals, the post was not given to him because of his disrespect to the Fenârîzâdes. The examination Hüsameddin mentions may be this one, but the link is not made in the sources; this is an inference. Çivizâde became Anatolian kazasker in 1537 and şeyhülislam on 21 February 1539 (Hüsameddin's 944 and 945 agree with this), and was dismissed in 1542. Hüsameddin's calling him "his teacher's enemy" is supported by Çivizâde's later slandering of Kemalpaşazâde, while Rumelian kazasker, over some of his views; this conduct was reported to the şeyhülislam Ebüssuûd, and Süleyman left the penalty to Ebüssuûd's discretion. Çivizâde died on 19 September 1547.
Source and Lineage
The quotation from Atâyî in the text comes from a supplement to the biographical dictionary covering 1558-1634. In the footnote it is said that Abdullah Efendi's son Alî Cevherî Efendi was the author of a work called "ed-Dürerü'l-Manzûm"; no information was found in other sources about this work or about Abdullah Efendi's journey to Buda. For Cüneyd of Tokat, Bedreddîn Mahmûd Çelebi, Sinâneddîn Yûsuf Çelebi and the Kâsım Bey Madrasa named in the text, too, no information could be found in other sources. In Atâyî's text the word "merâhi" and some compounds are hard to follow; the rendering is approximate.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 395–396. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
- Şerafettin Turan, "Kemalpaşazâde", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kemalpasazade
- Mehmet İpşirli, "Çivizâde Muhyiddin Mehmed Efendi", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 1993, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/civizade-muhyiddin-mehmed-efendi
- Haluk İpekten, "Atâî, Nev'îzâde", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 1991, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/atai-nevizade