Emrî Ahmed Efendi-Mecdîzade

In Modern English

He was from Amasya. He was the son of Hâfız Abdurrahman Kâmil Efendi, Mufti of Amasya. Having completed his studies with his father…

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

• mahdûm: son
• ikmâl-i tahsîl: completing one's studies
• derkenâr: marginal note

An Unfinished Record

The text breaks off in mid-sentence. According to the footnote of the editors who prepared the book, the author left the marginal note on Emrî Ahmed Efendi incomplete. For this reason Ahmed Efendi's studies, posts and date of death cannot be learned from Hüsameddin. The following details come from other sources that fill this gap.

Ahmed Emrî Yetkin

The son of the Mufti of Amasya Abdurrahman Kâmil Efendi and a poet with the pen name "Emrî" is Ahmed Emrî Yetkin, who was born in Amasya in 1304 [1886-87] and died there on 6 May 1974; Hüsameddin's entry "Emrî Ahmed Efendi-Mecdî-zâde" most probably describes him. The match is an inference from the father's name, the pen name and the family name. According to his own autobiography he was a child of a family of ulema descent. After primary school he attended the rüşdiye for two and a half years, then studied at the Bekir Pasha Madrasa, where his father was müderris, and received an ijaza in 1908. He graduated from the Dârülmuallimîn and in 1911 became a licensed public lecturer [ders-i âm]. He served as clerk of the Amasya Sharia Court, as teacher of Turkish and penmanship at the Dârülhilâfe Madrasa, and then as accounts clerk and public-works official, and retired in 1943. He left treatises such as "Sübha-i Emrî" (Ankara 1971) and manuscript anthologies of poems; one anthology is in the Amasya Beyazıt Library. His correspondence with Mevlevis is known. These details complete the note that Hüsameddin left unfinished.

His Father: Abdurrahman Kâmil Efendi

The family called "Mecdî-zâde" in the text is most probably the family of the Mufti of Amasya Abdurrahman Kâmil Yetkin (1850-1941); being a hâfız, the office of mufti and the nickname "Mecîdîzade" suggest this, but the match is an inference. Born in Amasya, his forebears had come some two centuries earlier from Bakhchysarai in Crimea and settled in the village of Doğla in Mecitözü; this is why the family was called "Mecîdîzade." Abdurrahman Efendi completed his memorisation of the Qur'an in 1861, continued at the Mehmed Pasha Madrasa after the Amasya Rüşdiye, received an ijaza in 1879 and in the same year was appointed müderris at the Bekir Pasha Madrasa in Amasya. In May 1900 he was made mufti of Amasya, retired in September 1915 on reaching the age limit, and in July 1922 was appointed mufti of Amasya again and remained in the post until his death.

When Mustafa Kemal Pasha came to Amasya on 12 June 1919 he was among the first to receive him; the sermon he gave the next day at the Beyazıt Mosque had a great effect on the town, and he was one of the seventeen members of the Amasya Association for the Defence of National Rights. His brother Sâdık Efendi and his children Ahmed Emrî, Sabri and Mustafa Niyâzî are recorded as having served as muftis and preachers. That Ahmed Emrî was a son of Abdurrahman Kâmil Efendi is also written in other sources. Hâfız Abdurrahman Kâmil's sermons at the Sultan Bayezid Mosque and a work called "Nakd-i Hâtır" are also on record.

Bibliography

Primary sources

• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 350–350. amasya.bel.tr

Academic studies

• Kâmil Şahin, "Yetkin, Abdurrahman Kâmil", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/yetkin-abdurrahman-kamil
• Muammer Ülker, "Yetkin, Ahmet Emri", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/yetkin-ahmet-emri

Books

• Yakup Şafak, "Ahmed Emrî Yetkin'in Yazma Bir Mecmuası ve Bu Mecmuada Bulunan Mevlevî Şairler", Mevlâna ve Mevlevîlik Harsiyatı 1, Selçuk Üniversitesi Yayınları, Konya, 2025, p. 753–768.