Amasyalıdır. Vâ’iz-i meşhûr Amasya Müftüsü Hâbilzâde Mehmed Efendi’nin mahdûmudur. Hattât-ı meşhûr Dervîş Alî ve Fazlullâh Efendilerden hutût-ı mütenevvi’ayı ahz ve te’allüm edib ilm-i kıraati de ders-i âm demekle meşhûr Hâfız Mehmed Efendi’den tahsîl etdi.
Şeyhî Mehmed Ağa Dârü’l-kurrâsı Şeyhî Sun’ullâh Efendi’den ilm-i vücûh-i [371] kıraati aldı. 1087’de üstâdının irtihâline binâen mezkûr Dârü’l-kurrâ’nın şeyhi oldu. Bir taraftan ta’lîm-i hutût diğer taraftan ta’lîm-i vücûh ederek 1113’de vefât etdi. Hattât, me’ârif-âşinâ bir şeyhu’l-kurrâ idi.
Mahdûmu Yahyâ Efendi olup¹⁷⁶ dâmâdı meşâhîr-i ulemâdan Hızır Paşa Müderrisi olduğu hâlde İstanbul’da vefât eden Veliyyüddîn Efendi ve bunun mahdûmu kibâr-ı mevâlîden Abdülkerîm Efendi’dir. Bunlara Hâbilzâde dendi. Birâderi eş-Şeyh Sun’ullâh Efendi Bursa’da 1095’de vefât etdi. Bu da meşâhîr-i hattâtînden idi.
In Modern English
He was from Amasya. He was the son of the famous preacher Hâbilzâde Mehmed Efendi, Mufti of Amasya. He learned various styles of writing from the famous calligraphers Dervîş Alî and Fazlullâh Efendi, and studied the science of Qur'anic recitation with Hâfız Mehmed Efendi, who was known for giving public lessons.
At the Dârülkurrâ of Şeyhî Mehmed Ağa (a school of Qur'an recitation) he learned the science of the variant readings of recitation from Şeyhî Sun'ullâh Efendi. When his teacher died in 1087 [1676-77], he became the sheikh of that Dârülkurrâ. Teaching calligraphy on the one hand and the variant readings on the other, he died in 1113 [1701-02]. He was a calligrapher, and a şeyhülkurrâ (head of the recitation masters) with a keen interest in learning and culture.
His son was Yahyâ Efendi. His son-in-law, one of the well-known scholars, was Veliyyüddîn Efendi, who died in Istanbul while serving as professor at the Hızır Pasha Madrasa; the latter's son was Abdülkerîm Efendi, one of the great madrasa professors. These were called Hâbilzâde. His brother, Şeyh Sun'ullâh Efendi, died in Bursa in 1095 [1683-84]. He too was one of the famous calligraphers.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mahdûm: son
- hutût-ı mütenevvi'a: various styles of writing
- ilm-i kıraat: the science of reciting the Qur'an according to the rules
- ilm-i vücûh-i kıraat: the science that teaches the different ways the Qur'an may be read
- ders-i âm: one who gave public lessons, regarded as a teaching scholar
- dârülkurrâ: a school where Qur'an recitation and its variant readings were taught
- şeyhülkurrâ: the head teacher of a dârülkurrâ
- me'ârif-âşinâ: interested in learning and culture
- dâmâd: son-in-law
- kibâr-ı mevâlî: great madrasa professors
The Family and Its Titles
The entry describes a branch of a family more than a single person: the father Hâbilzâde Mehmed Efendi, Mufti of Amasya and famous preacher; the son, the calligrapher and şeyhülkurrâ of the title; his son Yahyâ Efendi; and, besides, the son-in-law Veliyyüddîn and his son Abdülkerîm Efendi, two madrasa professors. Hüsameddin says the name "Hâbilzâde" was given to those descended from this line. The text does not explain how the name arose, and no other record of the Hâbilzâde family could be found in the sources read.
The sentence structure is unclear in two places. First, it is not clear whether the "son-in-law" belongs to Yahyâ Efendi or to the subject of the entry himself. Second, the teacher Şeyhî Sun'ullâh Efendi is said to have died in 1087, while the brother of the same name died in Bursa in 1095, so the two cannot be the same man. Because the text names both the teacher and the brother in the same way, two separate people are inferred here. No definite relationship is stated.
Genealogy in the Marginal Note
In the margin of the page Hüsameddin added a separate note on later generations of the family. According to it, a son named Mehmed Hüdâyî Efendi was among the madrasa professors of Tokat, and his son Ehlullâh Efendi had a good many endowments and charitable works in Tokat; Hüsameddin bases this on the "Tokat Evkâfı Defteri" (Tokat Endowments Register). Yahyâ Efendi, for his part, was sheikh of the Bâyezîd Pasha Soup Kitchen (imaret) in Amasya; when he died in 1159 [1746] his son Ehlullâh Efendi became sheikh of the imaret, and when the latter died in 1171 [1757] his son Feyzullah Efendi took the same post. The name Ehlullâh appears in the note to refer to two different people; which Ehlullâh is which cannot be settled with certainty from the wording of the note.
The Bâyezîd Pasha Soup Kitchen and the Dârülkurrâ
The Bâyezîd Pasha Mosque stands on the east bank of the Yeşilırmak, opposite the Künç Bridge, in the Bayezid Paşa district. The mosque, believed to have been built in 1414 by Bayezid Pasha, who later became grand vizier, is of the inverted-T plan like contemporary mosques in Bursa; the General Directorate of Foundations restored it in 2006. The sources read give no detail on the founding of the soup kitchen beside the mosque or on its sheikhs, so the Hâbilzâde family's tenure as sheikhs of the imaret rests only on Hüsameddin's note.
On the dârülkurrâ it can be said that Evliya Çelebi, who toured Amasya in the 17th century, recorded that ten madrasas and two hundred primary schools operated in the city, together with dârülkurrâs and dârülhadîs. The activity of the Dârülkurrâ of Şeyhî Mehmed Ağa described by Hüsameddin falls in the late years of the same century, between 1087 and 1113. Whether that dârülkurrâ still stands, or where it was, is not stated in the sources read.
Searches on the Hâbilzâde family and the calligraphers named (Dervîş Alî, Fazlullâh Efendi, Şeyhî Sun'ullâh) turned up no other source; what is known of these people rests on Hüsameddin alone.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 376. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
Official sources