Amasyalı Halîl’in oğludur. Amasya ulemâsından ve hâssaten Tefsîrî Mehmed Efendi’den ikmâl-i tahsîl edib ders-i âm oldu. Ayas Ağa müderrisliğinden kadı olup devr-i bilâd ederek 1120 muharreminde Amasya kadısı ve 1121 senesi rebiülevvelinde Ya’kûb Paşa müderrisliği ile mütekâ’id olduğu hâlde 1126’da vefât etdi. Meşâhîr ve kudâtdandır.
Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar · İKİNCİ BÂB · BİRİNCİ FASIL
Ebûbekir Efendi — el-Hâc Kadı
Encyclopedia · History of Amasya, Volume 6, p. 90–91 • Edited by: Doç. Dr. Recep Orhan ÖZEL - Doç. Dr. Metin HAKVERDİOĞLU
Original Text (Ottoman Turkish)
Our Research Article
Editor: Mevlüt Erdem Öztürk
In Modern English
He was the son of Halîl of Amasya. Reading under the scholars of Amasya, and especially under Tefsîrî Mehmed Efendi, he completed his studies and became a ders-i âm. From the professorship of the Ayas Ağa Madrasa he moved to the judgeship; after serving as kadı in various towns, in Muharrem 1120 [March-April 1708] he became kadı of Amasya. In Rebîülevvel 1121 [May-June 1709] the professorship of the Yâkûb Pasha Madrasa was given to him in return for retirement, and while retired he died in 1126 [1714]. He was one of the well-known people and judges.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- ikmâl-i tahsîl: completing one's studies
- ders-i âm: a müderris who had received authority to teach lessons open to the public and students in a mosque
- devr-i bilâd etmek: to go around the lands; here, to serve in turn as kadı in various kazas
- mütekâ'id: retired
- meşâhîr: famous people, well-known persons
- kudât: judges
His Teacher Tefsîrî Mehmed Efendi
Tefsîrî Mehmed Efendi, named in the entry as his teacher, is the author of one of the most widely read Turkish Qur'an commentaries of the Ottoman period. His real name was Muhammed b. Hamza, and he is known by the nisbas el-Ayıntâbî, es-Sivâsî and ed-Debbâğ. According to Orhan İyibilgin's study, he wrote his commentary called Tercüme-i Tibyân at the request of Sultan Mehmed IV, who asked him to translate the Qur'an into Turkish and explain the subtleties of its meaning. In his work Ayıntâbî drew on the commentaries of Baghawi, Râzî and Baydawi. Because it was written in Turkish in a style the people could understand, the commentary was copied many times and printed at various presses.
Tefsîrî's connection with the Amasya ulema can also be traced in other sources. In a study describing the Âkifzâde family of Amasya, it is written that Îdî Bayram Efendi (d. 1121), one of the family's elders, studied under scholars such as "Tefsîrî Mehmed Efendi of Sivas (d. 1111)," and afterwards served as mufti of Amasya and müderris of the Second Bayezid Madrasa. Hüsameddin too, in the annals of the fourth volume, counts "the mufti of Sivas, the famous scholar Tefsîrî Mehmed Efendi" among those who died in 1111 [1699-1700]. Accordingly, the subject of the entry was trained in the circle of students of this commentator, who taught around Sivas and Amasya in the last quarter of the seventeenth century.
The Ayas Ağa and Yâkûb Pasha Madrasas
The Ayas Ağa Madrasa, Ebûbekir Efendi's last professorial post before the judgeship, stands today. The building, located in the Şamlar quarter of Amasya between Zübeyde Hanım Street and Türbedar Street, was built in 1495 by Ayas Ağa, the kapıağası of Bayezid II. The madrasa, also called the Küçük Ağa Madrasa among the people, is one of the classical Ottoman madrasas with a U plan; it has an inscription and a waqf deed, is registered as a monument, and its upkeep is the responsibility of the General Directorate of Waqfs.
The Yâkûb Pasha professorship, given as a retirement post, bears the name of Yakup Pasha, one of the emirs of the time of Çelebi Mehmed. The building that Yakup Pasha had built at Amasya in 1413, known today as the Çilehane Mosque, is essentially a Halvetî tekke; it consists of a mescit, tekke and cells for spiritual retreat, was heavily damaged in the 1939 earthquake and was repaired by the General Directorate of Waqfs in 1964. What connection the professorial post Hüsameddin mentions had with this building complex is not explicitly stated in the sources read.
A Short Career as Kadı
Ebûbekir Efendi first received licenses from local teachers, then served as müderris in the town, then as kadı went around various kazas and finally came to the judgeship of the town where he was born. This Amasya judgeship was short, and a year later a madrasa post was attached to him as retirement income. No information about his father Halîl, named in the entry, or about Ebûbekir Efendi's family was found in other sources.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, pp. 90–91. amasya.bel.tr
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 4 (events of the year 1111).
Academic studies
- Orhan İyibilgin, "Tefsîrî Mehmed Efendi ve Tibyân Tefsiri", Türkiye Araştırmaları Literatür Dergisi, 18 (2011), pp. 387-404.
Official sources
- T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı, Kültür Portalı, "Ayas Ağa (Küçük Ağa) Medresesi" cultural inventory record and "Çilehane Camii" (kulturportali.gov.tr).
Other sources
- "Amasyalı Âkifzâde Abdürrahim Efendi (v. 1231/1816)", İsmailağa Telif (telif.ismailaga.org.tr).