AMASYA 05

Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar · İKİNCİ BÂB · BİRİNCİ FASIL

Emîn Mehmed Efendi, Kör Müftü (the Blind Mufti)

Encyclopedia · History of Amasya, Volume 7, p. 364 • Edited by: Prof. Dr. Safi ARPAGUŞ- Prof. Dr. Ahmet Hakkı TURABİ

Original Text (Ottoman Turkish)

Lâdiklidir. Amasya‘da Canikli el-Hâc Mehmed Efendi’den ikmâl-i tahsîl edib ibtidâ Lâdik’de ders-i âm olup ba’zı hâdisât üzerine Köprü’ye nakl-i ikâmet etdi. Burada tedrîs-i ulûm ederek kıymet-i ilmiyesi takdîr edildiğinden Köprü Müftüsü olduğu halde 1268’de vefât etdi. Meşâhir-i ulemâdan olup bir gözü ma’lûl olmakla “kör” dendi. Sâlih, fakîh idi. Birâderzâdesi Hidâyet Efendi bin Ali’dir.

Our Research Article Editor: Mevlüt Erdem Öztürk

In Modern English

He was from Lâdik. After completing his studies in Amasya with Canikli Hacı Mehmed Efendi, he first gave public lessons in Lâdik; following certain events he moved to Köprü. There he taught the sciences, and since his learning was esteemed he became mufti of Köprü, and he died in 1268 [1851-52]. He was one of the well-known scholars. Because one of his eyes was diseased he was called "blind". He was a good man and a jurist. His nephew, the son of his brother, is Hidâyet Efendi, son of Ali.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

  • ders-i âm: a scholar who holds a licence and gives lessons open to all
  • nakl-i ikâmet: changing one's place of residence, moving
  • tedrîs-i ulûm: teaching the sciences
  • kıymet-i ilmiyye: scholarly worth
  • meşâhir-i ulemâ: renowned scholars
  • ma'lûl: infirm, ailing
  • fakîh: a jurist (scholar of fıkıh, Islamic law)
  • birâderzâde: a brother's son

Lâdik and Köprü

Hüsameddin writes that the sanjak of Amasya consisted of the districts of Amasya, Havza, Hacıköyü, Köprü, Lâdik, Mecidözü and Merzifon (volume 1). Lâdik, where the Blind Mufti was born, and Köprü, where he served, were therefore two districts of the same sanjak. Each of these district centers also had its own mufti; in the parts of the book that narrate eighteenth-century events, the muftis of Köprü, Lâdik, Gümüş and Merzifon are mentioned separately from the mufti of Amasya. Emîn Mehmed Efendi's becoming mufti of Köprü meant leaving Amasya, where he had studied, and taking up a post in a district center. The same entry says that he taught in Lâdik before his muftiship and then moved to Köprü. The "certain events" that led to his move are not specified, and no other record on the matter was seen.

His Teacher Canikli Hacı Mehmed Efendi

In other entries of the book, Canikli el-Hâc Mehmed Efendi appears as the son of Derviş Mustafa, a former mufti of Amasya, and one of the well-known teachers of his time. One of his sons became mufti of Amasya and another mufti of Taşköprü. A later teacher with the same epithet, whose real name was Seyyid Mehmed Hamdi Çarşambavî and who issued a licence to his pupil in 1892, is a different person from this Canikli Mehmed Efendi (we infer this from the gap in time).

Hidâyet Efendi

Entry 377 of the book says that Emîn Mehmed Efendi of Köprü lost his father when he was young, that he grew up with Lâdikli Hidâyet Efendi after his mother married him, and that he was therefore called Hidâyetzâde. Since he was from Lâdik and bore the name Hidâyet, this man may well be the same person as Hidâyet Efendi, son of Ali, named here as the nephew of the Blind Mufti. Hüsameddin does not link the two entries; this is an inference.

No information was found in other sources about the Blind Mufti's name and muftiship.

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, 7. Cilt, p. 364. amasya.bel.tr
  • Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vol. 1, pp. 75–81; vol. 2, pp. 249–256; vol. 4, pp. 664–666 and 670–673; vol. 6, pp. 229 and 238; vol. 7, p. 365 (entry 377); vol. 9, pp. 70–71; vol. 10, p. 212.

Academic studies

Volume 7 contents