Deşt-i Kıpçakda kâin Kazân şehri ahâlisinden [218] Halîl’in oğludur. Amasya’ya gelip ulemâdan tahsîl-i ulûm ederek ders-i âm oldu. Halka va’z u nasihat, hastalara du’âlar kıra’at ederek fevkalâde iştihâr etdi. Rukye yazar, nusha verir idi. Nefes ve nushası mü’essir olduğundan hânesi erbâb-ı hâcâtın melce’i oldu.
Üç def’a Hicâz’a gitdi. Üçüncü def’asında Mekke-i Mükerreme’de 1275 zilhiccesinde vefât etdi. Âlim, sûfî nihâd, rukye-nüvis, küşâde-rû, kanâ’at-kâr bir şeyh idi. Taşköprülü eş-Şeyh el-Hâc Abdullah Efendi’den müstahlef idi.
In Modern English
He was the son of Halîl, of the people of the city of Kazan in the Deşt-i Kıpçak (the Kipchak steppe). He came to Amasya, studied under the scholars, and became a ders-i âm (a madrasa professor authorized to teach publicly). By preaching and giving counsel to the people and reciting prayers over the sick, he won very great renown. He wrote rukyas (prayers recited for healing) and gave amulets. Because his breath and his amulets were believed to be effective, his house became a refuge for the afflicted and the needy.
He went to the Hejaz three times. On his third journey he died in Mecca the Honored in the month of Dhu al-Hijja 1275 [July 1859]. He was a scholar, a sheikh of a Sufi disposition, who wrote rukyas, cheerful in countenance and content with little. He was a deputy (halife) of Sheikh el-Hâc Abdullah Efendi of Taşköprü.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- Deşt-i Kıpçak: the Kipchak steppe, the grasslands stretching from north of the Black Sea to the Volga region
- kâin: located, situated
- va'z u nasihat: sermon and counsel
- kıra'at: reading, recitation
- iştihâr: gaining fame
- rukye: a prayer recited and blown over someone for healing or protection
- nusha: amulet, a paper with a prayer written on it
- mü'essir: effective, efficacious
- erbâb-ı hâcât: people in need
- melce': refuge
- sûfî nihâd: of a Sufi disposition
- rukye-nüvis: one who writes rukyas
- küşâde-rû: cheerful-faced
- müstahlef: made a deputy (halife), one who received authorization from his sheikh
From Kazan to Amasya
Kazan, from which İbrâhim Efendi came, was one of the most important Islamic cities of the Volga region. It was the capital of the Khanate of Kazan, founded by Ulugh Muhammad, khan of the Golden Horde, in 1437 (in 1445 according to some historians); thanks to its position on the roads leading to Siberia and Central Asia it had grown into a great trading center and was soon adorned with mosques, palaces and madrasas. After it passed under Russian rule in 1552, the city's Islamic identity was largely erased; the bishopric founded in 1555 undertook intensive activity to Christianize the Muslim population. After 1708 Kazan was the center of the Kazan governorate of the Russian Empire.
It is not known when or by what route İbrâhim Efendi came to Amasya. Judging from the information Hüsameddin gives, he pursued his studies in Amasya, reached the rank of madrasa professor (müderris) there, and settled in the city. He is not the only scholar who came from the north of the Black Sea and settled in Amasya. Hicâbî Abdülbâkî Efendi, mentioned in the preceding entries, also migrated from Crimea and settled in Amasya in 1774, and one of his deputies was Sheikh el-Hâc Yasin Efendi of Dagestan. These examples show that newcomers from Crimea and the Caucasus also found a place in the madrasas and lodges of Amasya.
Rukya and Amulets
Hüsameddin ascribes İbrâhim Efendi's fame above all to his reciting and blowing of prayers and to the amulets he gave. Rukya means in the dictionary "to cure by reciting and blowing"; as a term it is the recitation and blowing of a passage of the Qur'an, of the names and attributes of God, or of a prayer, for healing or protection. The form in which these prayers are written on paper and carried is called a muska (amulet). Because the hadith sources contain reports permitting rukya as well as reports forbidding it, scholars have held differing views on the matter. The founders of the legal schools saw no harm in rukya that does not lead to polytheism (shirk) or to abuse; Hanafi jurists also said that rukya is permissible as long as it is believed that it is God who grants healing, whereas they held it forbidden to have a "love amulet" made, even between spouses. Present-day researchers stress the need to distinguish recitation in the nature of prayer from magical incantation.
Hüsameddin describes İbrâhim Efendi as a "scholar" and a "ders-i âm"; that is, he was a madrasa professor with a madrasa education. His reciting prayers for the people and writing amulets shows how permeable the boundary between madrasa and lodge was in nineteenth-century Amasya. Hüsameddin's mentioning this practice with praise also reflects the outlook of his own time.
His Death in Mecca and His Sheikh
İbrâhim Efendi went to the Hejaz three times and died in Mecca on the third, in the month of Dhu al-Hijja 1275. Since Dhu al-Hijja is the month of the pilgrimage, his death evidently coincided with the days of the hajj. No information was found in other sources about Sheikh el-Hâc Abdullah Efendi of Taşköprü, named as his sheikh, or about İbrâhim Efendi himself.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 75–75. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
Books