Köprülüdür. Amasya’da müfessir Hızır Efendi’nin tilmîz ve dâmâdı [272] el-Hâc Osmân, Çorumlu Ahmed Efendilerden ikmâl-i tahsîl edib bir müddet Amasya’da ders-i âm oldu. Sonra Köprü’ye gidip orada neşr-i ulûma himmet ederek Sultân Peykârî Mahallesi câmi-i şerîfine imâm oldu.
İmâmet vazîfesine kanâ’atla tedrîs-i ulûma muvâzabet edib fevkalâde iştihâr etdi. Sonra Orta Câmi-i şerîfinin kürsü şeyhi olduğu hâlde 1138 senesi evâhirinde vefât etdi. “İmâm Hoca” demekle meşhûr vâ’iz, âlim, hadîs ve tefsîre vâkıf, kâmil bir ders-i âm idi. Mahdûmu es-Seyyid Ahmed Efendi yerine imâm olup 1156’da vefât etdi. Bunun mahdûmları es-Seyyid Ebûbekir Niyâzî, Şerîf Lütfullah Efendilere “İmâmzâde” dendi.
In Modern English
He was from Köprü. He completed his studies at Amasya under Hacı Osmân Efendi, pupil and son-in-law of the exegete Hızır Efendi, and under Ahmed Efendi of Çorum, and was for a time at Amasya as a ders-i âm. Then he went to Köprü and tried to spread learning there, and became imam of the mosque of the Sultan Peykârî quarter.
Content with the imamate, he continued teaching without interruption and gained extraordinary fame. Then, while kürsü sheikh of the Orta Cami, he died at the end of 1138 [summer 1726]. He was a preacher and scholar known as "İmam Hoca"; he knew hadith and tafsir well and was a mature ders-i âm. His son Seyyid Ahmed Efendi became imam in his place and died in 1156 [1743-44]. His sons, Seyyid Ebûbekir Niyâzî and Şerîf Lütfullah Efendis, were called "İmâmzâde."
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- tilmîz: pupil, student
- neşr-i ulûm: spreading learning; himmet etmek: to make an effort
- imâmet: the imamate
- tedrîs-i ulûm: teaching learning; muvâzabet: continuing a task without interruption
- iştihâr: gaining fame
- kürsü şeyhi: the official who mounted the pulpit in a mosque to preach and teach the public
- evâhir: the end, the last days
- vâkıf: one who knows a subject well
The Town of Köprü
The place called "Köprülü" and "Köprü" in the entry is today's Vezirköprü. In the Ottoman period the town was a kaza of the sanjak of Amasya, dependent on the beylerbeyilik of Sivas, and it remained attached to Amasya until 1925; in that year it was attached to the province of Samsun. It is accepted that during the grand vizierate of Köprülü Mehmed Pasha it took the name "Vezirköprüsü," and that today's shortened name Vezirköprü comes from this.
The Orta Cami and the Sultan Peykârî Quarter
The Orta Cami, Ebûbekir Efendi's last post, is the Yörgüç Pasha Mosque on Kırımlı Street in the Orta Cami quarter of Vezirköprü. It is understood that certain revenues were set aside in Yörgüç Pasha's waqf deed of 1431 to meet the mosque's expenses. The mosque is still called Orta Cami today, and the quarter still keeps the name. Yörgüç Pasha was the lala of Murad II and the brother of Hayrüddin Hızır Pasha, who built the Hızır Pasha Mosque at Amasya; the charitable works of this great patron of Amasya extended to the towns of the sanjak.
No information was found in the sources read about the Sultan Peykârî quarter and its mosque, where Ebûbekir Efendi first served as imam. No quarter bearing this name is seen among today's Vezirköprü quarters; it is possible that the name changed or that the quarter was merged into another quarter.
His Teachers and Family
One must be careful about the "exegete Hızır Efendi" mentioned in the entry as the teacher of his teachers. In Hüsameddin's work many scholars named Hızır Efendi who lived in Amasya appear; the muftis Cum'azâde, Ca'ferzâde and Bayram Efendizâde Hızır Efendis are only a few of them. From the brief statement in the entry it cannot be understood which is meant. No information about Ebûbekir Efendi himself, his son Seyyid Ahmed Efendi, or his grandsons called "İmâmzâde" was found in other sources.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 91. amasya.bel.tr
Official sources
- T.C. Vezirköprü Kaymakamlığı, "Vezirköprü'nün Tarihçesi" and "Yörgüç Paşa Camii (Orta Camii)" (vezirkopru.gov.tr).
- T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı, Kültür Portalı, "Hızır Paşa Camii - Amasya" (kulturportali.gov.tr).
Other sources
- "Kategori:Vezirköprü'nün mahalleleri" (tr.wikipedia.org).