Köprülüdür. Köprü Çelebisi demekle meşhûr Osmâncıklı Çelebi es-Seyyid el-Hâc Mustafa Efendi’nin ahfâdından ve ulemâdan es-Seyyid Mehmed Sa’îd Efendi bin es-Seyyid Abdullah Hâşim Efendi bin es-Seyyid Mehmed Sa’îd Efendi bin es-Seyyid Abdullah Efendi bin Çelebi es-Seyyid el-Hâc Mustafa Efendi’nin mahdûmudur.
Amasya‘da Canikli el-Hâc Mehmed ve Sipâhi Hâfız Ömer [90] ve Köprü’de es-Seyyid el-Hâc Osmân Rûmî Efendilerden ikmâl-i tahsîl edib ders-i âm ve 1259’da pederinin vefâtı üzerine Fâzıl Ahmed Paşa müderrisi oldu.
1263’de altı ay kadar müftü olup ba’de’l-azl, 1264’de sâniyen Köprü Müftüsü oldu. Bu sefer üç yıl kadar makâm-ı fetvâda bulunup 1267’de azliyle 1271’de sâlisen müftü oldu. Bu sefer de onüç yıl kadar mesned-i fetvâyı işgâl edib 1284’de ma’zûl ve 1289’da dördüncü defa Köprü Müftüsü oldu.
Bu def’asında on yedi yıl kadar müftü olup 1306 senesi rebîülevvelinde doksan yaşlarında dâr-ı bekâya irtihâl eyledi. Otuz üç yıl Köprü Müftüsü olup gâyet fakîh, âlim, âkil, müdebbir, mü’eddeb, vakūr, hayır-hâh, nüktedân bir zât idi. Evlâd ve ahfâdı çoktur. Bunlardan mahdûmu es-Seyyid Mehmed Sa’îd Efendi’den başkası okumadı.
In Modern English
He is from Köprü. He is a descendant of Osmâncıklı Çelebi es-Seyyid Hacı Mustafa Efendi, known as Köprü Çelebisi, and a scholar. He is the son of es-Seyyid Mehmed Sa'îd Efendi, who was the son of es-Seyyid Abdullah Hâşim Efendi, son of es-Seyyid Mehmed Sa'îd Efendi, son of es-Seyyid Abdullah Efendi, son of Çelebi es-Seyyid Hacı Mustafa Efendi.
After completing his studies in Amasya under Canikli Hacı Mehmed and Sipâhi Hâfız Ömer, and in Köprü under es-Seyyid Hacı Osmân Rûmî Efendi, he gave public lessons, and in 1259 [1843-44], on the death of his father, he became müderris (madrasa professor) of the Fâzıl Ahmed Pasha Madrasa.
In 1263 [1846-47] he was mufti for about six months and was dismissed; in 1264 [1847-48] he became mufti of Köprü for the second time. This time he held the office of fatwa for about three years, was dismissed in 1267 [1850-51], and in 1271 [1854-55] became mufti for the third time. This time too he remained in the office of fatwa for about thirteen years, was dismissed in 1284 [1867-68], and in 1289 [1872-73] became mufti of Köprü for the fourth time.
In this last term he served as mufti for about seventeen years and died in the month of rebîülevvel of the year 1306 [November-December 1888], at about ninety years of age. Having been mufti of Köprü for a total of thirty-three years, Es'ad Ahmed Efendi was a man of great understanding in jurisprudence, a scholar, intelligent, prudent, well-mannered, dignified, charitable and appreciative of wit. His children and grandchildren are many. Of these, none but his son es-Seyyid Mehmed Sa'îd Efendi studied.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mahdûm: son
- ahfâd: grandchildren, the generations that continue a lineage
- ulemâ: scholars
- ikmâl-i tahsîl: completing one's education
- ders-i âm: the authority or duty of giving lessons open to everyone
- ba'de'l-azl: after being dismissed from office
- sâniyen, sâlisen: for the second time, for the third time
- makâm-ı fetvâ, mesned-i fetvâ: the office of mufti
- ma'zûl: dismissed from office
- dâr-ı bekâya irtihâl: dying; "departing for the abode of permanence"
- fakîh: a scholar who knows Islamic law well
- müdebbir: prudent, one who arranges affairs well
- mü'eddeb: well-mannered, well brought up
- nüktedân: one who appreciates subtle speech and wit
The Fâzıl Ahmed Pasha Madrasa in Köprü
The madrasa where Es'ad Ahmed Efendi was müderris is today in the Vezirköprü district of Samsun. The place Hüsameddin calls Köprü was a town attached to Amasya; the district takes its name from Köprülü Mehmed Pasha, who had ties to this region in the seventeenth century and later became grand vizier. His son Fâzıl Ahmed Pasha was born in Köprü in 1045 [1635-36]; his mother was Ayşe Hanım, daughter of Yûsuf Ağa, the voyvoda of the town. In his youth Fâzıl Ahmed Pasha worked in Istanbul as a müderris with the title "paşazâde" and later moved on to the grand vizierate. The madrasa in Köprü also bears his name.
According to the records of the Vezirköprü District Governorate, the madrasa was built by Fâzıl Ahmed Pasha in 1662, and the neighbourhood in the district bears the same name. Its roof was at first covered with lead and was later covered with tiles; the building cracked in the earthquake of 1943 and was repaired. Used for various purposes until 1964, the madrasa then served as a public library. Pink Karacaviran stone was used inside and out; around an arcaded rectangular courtyard stand domed madrasa cells and a square-plan, domed classroom-mosque.
Being Mufti of Köprü
In the Ottoman Empire the mufti was the official who answered the religious and legal questions of the public, that is, who wrote fatwas. At first the names mufti and şeyhülislam were used interchangeably; later şeyhülislam was given only to the mufti of Istanbul, and the muftis in the provinces were known by the title mufti. The fees charged for giving a fatwa were very low; in the middle of the nineteenth century a fatwa cost two or three kuruş at the fetvahane in Istanbul, and the fees collected in provincial muftiships are not included in these figures. The order of offices Hüsameddin gives shows that a provincial muftiship was not a permanent post: a person was dismissed and reappointed from time to time.
Points to Note
It is possible to add up the terms of office Hüsameddin gives: six months, three years, thirteen years and seventeen years. The total comes to slightly over thirty-three years, which agrees with the author's "thirty-three years". If he died at ninety, his birth falls in the early nineteenth century; this is an inference, since the book does not state a birth date. About Osmâncıklı Mustafa Efendi, nicknamed "Köprü Çelebisi" at the beginning of the text, no separate information was found in the sources we examined. No record of Es'ad Ahmed Efendi himself was found in other sources either; for his life, the only source is the information Hüsameddin relates.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 291–292. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
Official sources