Köprülüdür. Abdullatîf Mahallesi halkından Ahmed bin Mustafa bin Ali mahdûmudur.
Kendisinin rivâyetine göre Hazret-i Ebûbekir es-Sıddîk Efendimizin neslindendir. 1258
senesi ramazânının yirmi sekizinde doğdu. Köprü’de Onbaşızâde Mehmed, İğnecizâde
Mehmed Râşid, Çelebizâde Ahmed Said Efendilerden mukaddimât-ı ulûmu görüp 1280’de
Amasya‘ya geldi.
Fuzalâdan ders-i âm-ı meşhûr Hâcezâde İbrâhim Efendi’nin halka-i tedrîsine
mülâzemetle sıra derslerini bundan ikmâl ederek 1294’de mücâz oldu. Bu esnâda Amasya
Müftüsü Sofuzâde Mehmed Hulusî, Şirvânî Mustafa, Cânikli Mehmed [336] ve Mecdîzâde
Mustafa Sâdık Efendilerin fıkıh, usûl, tefsîr, meâni derslerinden istifâde etdi.
Badehû Köprü’ye avdetle ders-i âm olup fazîlet-i ilmîyyesi zâhir oldukda Şehîd Müftü
Medresesi müderrisi ve üstâdı Müftü Es’ad Efendi’nin müsevvidi oldu. 1306’da Esad
Efendi’nin vefâtına binâen Köprü Müftüsü oldu.
Bilâ-fâsıla yirmi iki yıl müftü olduğu halde 1324 senesi şevvâlinin yirmi dokuzuncu
cumartesi gecesi vefât etdi. Meşâhir-i ulemâdan, fakîh, beşûş, sâlih, halîm biraz da müdâhin,
kadir nâ-şinâs idi. Oğulları Ahmed Nuri, Abdullah, Abdurrahman, Mehmed Kâmil
Efendilerdir. Usûl-i hadîsden “Ferâ’idü’l-Fevâ’id” adlı bir eseri ve şerhi ve ba’zı eş’ârı da
vardır.
In Modern English
He was from Köprü. He was the son of Ahmed, of the people of the Abdullatîf quarter; Ahmed was the son of Mustafa, and Mustafa the son of Ali.
According to his own account he was a descendant of Hazret-i Ebûbekir es-Sıddîk. He was born on the twenty-eighth of Ramadan in the year 1258 [1842]. In Köprü he went through the introductory lessons of the sciences with Onbaşızâde Mehmed, İğnecizâde Mehmed Râşid and Çelebizâde Ahmed Said Efendis, and in 1280 [1863-64] he came to Amasya.
He joined the teaching circle of the well-known Hâcezâde İbrâhim Efendi, one of the learned men, who gave lessons open to all, completed the sequence of set lessons with him, and received his licence in 1294 [1877-78]. During this time he also benefited from the lessons in fıkıh, usûl al-fiqh, tafsir and meânî (rhetoric) given by the mufti of Amasya, Sofuzâde Mehmed Hulusî, by Şirvânî Mustafa, Cânikli Mehmed and Mecdîzâde Mustafa Sâdık Efendis.
He then returned to Köprü and gave public lessons; when his learning became evident he became müderris (madrasa professor) of the Şehîd Müftü Madrasa and müsevvid (assistant who drafted fatwas) to his teacher, the mufti Es'ad Efendi. When Es'ad Efendi died in 1306 [1888-89] he became mufti of Köprü.
After serving without interruption as mufti for twenty-two years, he died on the Saturday night of the twenty-ninth of Şevval in the year 1324 [1906]. He was among the renowned scholars; a jurist, cheerful, good, mild in temper, and also somewhat flattering and unappreciative of worth. His sons are Ahmed Nuri, Abdullah, Abdurrahman and Mehmed Kâmil Efendis. He also has a work on the science of hadith called "Ferâ'idü'l-Fevâ'id", a commentary on it, and some poems.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mahdûm: son
- rivâyet: an account that is related or handed down
- mukaddimât-ı ulûm: the introductory lessons of the sciences
- halka-i tedrîs: a teaching circle
- mülâzemet: training by attending a teacher's lessons
- sıra dersleri: the set sequence of textbooks read at a madrasa
- mücâz: one who has received a licence and gained the right to teach
- usûl: usûl al-fiqh, the principles of Islamic law
- meâni: the branch of rhetoric concerned with meaning
- müsevvid: the assistant who drafts fatwas beside a mufti
- beşûş: cheerful
- halîm: mild in temper
- müdâhin: flatterer, one who fawns to win favor
- kadir nâ-şinâs: unappreciative of worth
- eş'âr: poems
His Teacher Hâcezâde İbrâhim Efendi
Cömerdoğlu's principal teacher in Amasya was Hocazâde (in this entry Hâcezâde) İbrâhim Efendi, whom Hüsameddin describes separately in volume 6. İbrâhim Efendi was the son of Canikli Ali Efendi, one of the scholars of Samsun; he came to Amasya in 1262 [1846], studied with İnepazarlı el-Hâc İsmâil Hakkı, İskilipli el-Hâc Hüseyin, Caniklizâde Müftü el-Hâc Hâfız Mehmed and İbikli el-Hâc Hasan Efendis, and received his licence from Hasan Efendi. Because his lessons were productive and his pupils numerous, he gained great renown in scholarly circles and issued licences to a great many people. In 1288 [1871-72] his opposition to the statements of Mir Hamza Nigârî, one of the Khalidi sheikhs, against the Companions of the Prophet brought him fame among the people and the scholars. In 1295 [1878] he lost the sight of both eyes, and he continued in his duties as preacher of the Yörgüç Pasha Mosque and professor of its madrasa until his death. He died in 1315 [1897-98]. Hüsameddin describes him as a man mature in the religious sciences and in theology, fond of disputation, of sharp temper, and devout.
Among İbrâhim Efendi's pupils, names such as Kürd Hasan Efendi (who came in 1271 and died in 1308) and Müderris Ahmed Efendi (born in 1274, who received a licence from him) also appear in the book. In the entry on İbikli Hasan Efendi it is likewise said of him: "among his pupils the learned Hâcezâde İbrâhim Efendi is very famous".
Traces of Him as Mufti of Köprü
A study based on the Meşîhat Archive documents says that Mustafa Tevfik Efendi, born in Köprü, received his second licence from a certain Mehmed Efendi, "mufti of the town of Köprü". The teacher's chain of transmission is traced to Hocazâde İbrâhîm er-Rüşdî b. Ali el-Cânîkî el-Amâsî. In the summary of the same study this mufti appears as "Mehmed Emîn Efendi", while the body of the text says only "Mehmed Efendi". The name, the place of office in Köprü and the link with Hocazâde İbrâhim all match Cömerdoğlu Emîn Mehmed Efendi; it is therefore a strong possibility that they are the same person. This is an inference; the study does not state it outright. The licence covers logic, concepts and various sciences.
When Hüsameddin became naib of Köprü in 1321 [1903-04] (Giriş, pp. 17–18), Cömerdoğlu's muftiship was still running; the two served in the same town at the same time. This is a calculation; the entry does not mention such a relationship. The book's introduction also says that when Sofuzâde Hulûsî Mehmed Efendi died childless, his house in Kağnılı Pazarı passed to the author. Since he bears the same name and epithet as Sofuzâde Mehmed Hulusî, the mufti of Amasya counted among Cömerdoğlu's teachers, it is very likely that they are the same person; this too is an inference. Volume 1 writes that Mecdîzâde Hâfız Abdurrahmân Kâmil Efendi became müderris in 1305 [1887-88] and Mecdîzâde Hâfız Mustafa Sâdık Efendi in 1315 [1897-98].
No independent record was found connected with Cömerdoğlu's work "Ferâ'idü'l-Fevâ'id"; the work's existence rests only on Hüsameddin's report and could not be verified. No information could be found in other sources about the Şehîd Müftü Madrasa and the mufti Es'ad Efendi either.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, 7. Cilt, pp. 365–366. amasya.bel.tr
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Giriş, pp. 12–15 and 17–18; vol. 1, pp. 161–167 and 174–178; vol. 6, pp. 77–78 and 240; vol. 8, pp. 633–634.
Academic studies