Livânelidir. Kazâ dâhilinde Gurcân karyesi İmâmı [414] Yûsuf Sâlih Efendi bin İsmâîl bin Mehmed bin Halîl bin Îsâ mahdûmudur. 1264’de Gurcân’da doğdu. Bunun için Gurcanlı dendi. Livâne’de mukaddimât-ı ulûmu gördükten sonra 1281’de Amasya’ya hicret etdi.
Amasya’da Şirvânî el-Hâc Mustafa Efendi’nin halka-i tedrîsinde ikmâl-i tahsîl ederek 1294’de mücâz ü ders-i âm oldu. Esnâ-yı tahsîlinde Hocazâde İbrâhim Efendi’den de istifâde-i ulûm etdi. Sarâchâne Câmi-i şerîfinde tedrîse başlamışdı.
1302’de Hacıköylü el-Hâc Mahmûd Efendi, Sarâchâne Câmii garbında yaptırdığı medresesini ikmâl etdiğinde buraya ilk müderris ta’yîn edildi. Ba’dehû Sarâchâne Câmii kürsî şeyhi olup, 1314’de talebesine icâzet verip Hicâz’a gitdi.
Mekke-i Mükerreme’de Hâlidiyye hulefâsından eş-Şeyh Abdullah Efendi’den inâbe edib hilâfet aldı. Amasya’ya avdetinde İçerişehir’de kâin hânesini Tekke ittihâz ederek zikr u tevhîde başladı. Bir taraftan halka va’z u nasîhat, diğer taraftan zikr ü tevhîd ve ibâdete mülâzemet ederek 1338 senesinde [415] dâr-ı kudse rihlet etdi.
Âlim, sâlih vâ’iz, kanâ’atkâr, sûfî-meşreb, selef-i sâlihîn sîretine sâlik, uzun boylu tenû-mend müşekkel, beşûş müte’abbid bir zât idi. Mahdûmlarından Mehmed Şâdî Efendi, İstanbul müderrislerinden idi. Tilmîzi Amasya meb’ûsu olan Köprülü Fâzıl Mehmed Ârif Efendi 1341 senesi rebîülâhirinin yirmi beşinci gecesi İstanbul’da vefât etdi. Fâtîh türbesi harîminde medfûndur.
In Modern English
He was from Livâne. He was the son of Yûsuf Sâlih Efendi, imam of the village of Gurcân within the district of Livâne; Yûsuf Sâlih Efendi was a descendant of İsmâîl, son of Mehmed, son of Halîl, son of Îsâ. He was born in Gurcân in 1264 [1847-48]. For this reason he was called Gurcanlı. After taking the introductory lessons in the sciences in Livâne, he migrated to Amasya in 1281 [1864-65].
In Amasya he completed his studies in the teaching circle of Şirvânî el-Hâc Mustafa Efendi, and in 1294 [1877-78] he received the icazet and the authority to give public lessons. During his studies he also learned from Hocazâde İbrâhim Efendi. He had begun teaching at the Saraçhâne Mosque.
In 1302 [1884-85], when Hacıköylü el-Hâc Mahmûd Efendi completed the madrasa he had built to the west of the Saraçhâne Mosque, he was appointed its first müderris (madrasa professor). Later he became the preaching sheikh of the Saraçhâne Mosque. In 1314 [1896-97] he gave his students their icazet and went to the Hijaz.
In Mecca he attached himself to Sheikh Abdullah Efendi, one of the Khalidi caliphs, and received the caliphate. On returning to Amasya he made his house in İçerişehir into a tekke and began the dhikr and tawhid. He gave sermons and counsel to the people on one hand, and on the other did not leave off dhikr, tawhid and worship. In 1338 [1919-20] he passed to the sacred abode, that is, to the hereafter.
He was a scholar, a pious preacher, content with little, of a Sufi temperament, following the way of the righteous forebears, tall, sturdily built, cheerful in countenance and much given to worship. Among his sons, Mehmed Şâdî Efendi was one of the müderris of Istanbul. His student Köprülü Fâzıl Mehmed Ârif Efendi, who became a deputy for Amasya, died in Istanbul on the twenty-fifth night of Rabî' al-Âkhir 1341 [1922-23]. He is buried within the precinct of the Fâtih Tomb.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- livânelidir: he is from the district of Livâne
- mahdûm: son
- mukaddimât-ı ulûm: the first introductory lessons in the sciences
- halka-i tedrîs: a teaching circle formed around a teacher with his students
- mücâz ü ders-i âm: one who has received an icazet and the authority to give public lessons
- kürsî şeyhi: a sheikh who preaches and teaches from the pulpit in a mosque
- inâbe: attaching oneself to a sheikh, entering a Sufi order by repentance
- hilâfet: the sheikh's authorisation of someone to teach the order in his name
- zikr u tevhîd: the remembrance of God and the tawhid dhikr
- selef-i sâlihîn: the righteous people of the past
- beşûş: cheerful in countenance
- müte'abbid: much given to worship
- tilmîz: student
- meb'ûs: deputy in parliament
The Saraçhâne Mosque and the Saraçhâne Madrasa
The Saraçhâne Mosque, where Gürcü Eyyûb Efendi taught, was built in 1372 by Şadgeldi, Emir of Amasya. At first it was known by its founder's name as the Şadgeldi Pasha Mosque; because of the saddlers' shops around it, from the time of Çelebi Mehmed onward it took the name Saraçhâne Mosque.
The Saraçhâne Madrasa to the west of the mosque is described in a study of the madrasas of Amasya as a building on the bank of the Yeşilırmak, on the paved road, put up in wood in 1883 by el-Hac Mahmud Efendi, one of the notables of the district of Hacıköyü. The same study writes that Gürcü el-Hac Eyüp Efendi was the first müderris of this madrasa and that Mehmed Akif Efendi, the deputy for Amasya, was trained there. This agrees with Hüsameddin, except that the date of construction differs by a year or two: the source says 1883, while Hüsameddin speaks of 1302 [1884-85]. It is possible that the difference comes from the start of construction versus its completion, but this is an inference.
The Student Who Became a Deputy
Hüsameddin gives the student's name as Köprülü Fâzıl Mehmed Ârif Efendi. The study above names the same person as Mehmed Akif Efendi. In a record listing the credentials of the members of the Ottoman Chamber of Deputies, a member named "Arif Fazıl Efendi" appears for the Amasya constituency in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd terms. It seems plausible that this member is the person Hüsameddin mentions, but because the names are transmitted differently this is an inference and could not be verified.
The Khalidi Order and Mecca
The Khalidiyya is the Naqshbandi branch known by the name of Khalid al-Baghdadi. Khalid al-Baghdadi sent many caliphs to various regions of the Islamic world, and appointed to Mecca a caliph known as Abdullah Mekkî (also given the nisba Erzincânî). Among Abdullah Mekkî's disciples were Turks, Crimean and Kazan Tatars and people of Southeast Asia, and after his death caliphs of his continued to be active in Mecca. Whether the "Sheikh Abdullah Efendi" who, according to Hüsameddin, gave the caliphate to Gürcü Eyyûb Efendi was this Abdullah Mekkî or another Khalidi caliph in Mecca could not be determined from the sources read.
Length of Life
The years of birth and death (1264 and 1338) correspond in the Gregorian calendar to about 1847-48 and 1919-20, which means a life of around seventy-two years (a calculation). No information was found in other sources on Livâne, the village of Gurcân, Yûsuf Sâlih Efendi, Şirvânî el-Hâc Mustafa Efendi, Hocazâde İbrâhim Efendi or Mehmed Şâdî Efendi.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 388–389. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
Official sources
- Aysun Kanbur - Engin Kanbur, "Medreselerde Eğitim, Yönetim ve Organizasyon Faaliyetleri: Amasya Medreseleri Açısından Bir Değerlendirme", I. Amasya Araştırmaları (13-15 Haziran 2007), 2. Kitap, ed. Yavuz Bayram, Amasya Valiliği Yayın No: 23.
- "Saraçhane Camii", T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kültür Portalı (Amasya İl Kültür ve Turizm Müdürlüğü kaydı).
- "Mebusan Meclisi Üyeleri Mazbataları", Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi Kütüphanesi, https://tbmm.gov.tr/Kutuphane/MebusanMeclisiUyeleri