Merzifonludur. Yahya bin Hamza mahdûmu olub mukaddimât-ı ulûmu Amasya‘da Şeyhülislâm Gümüşlüzâde Mevlânâ Celâleddîn Abdurrahman Çelebi’den görüp Mâverâünnehr’e gitdi. Buhârâ’da “Hâce Muhammed Pârsâ” demekle meşhûr Mevlânâ Hâfızüddîn Muhammed bin Muhammed bin Mahmûd el-Buhârî el-Hâfızî’den tahsîl-i kemâlât ederek 821’de icâzetnâme ahzıyla Merzifon’a geldi.
Orada tedrîs ve neşr-i ulûma nasb-ı nefs edib talebesi çoğaldı. Asrında Merzifon bir Dârülfünûn oldu. Mevlânâ Ferîdeddîn Mehmed el-Devvânî vefâtında Sultâniye-i Merzifon müderrisi, ba’dehû Merzifon’un müftü ve kadısı olduğu halde 852 senesi cumâdelâhiresinin onuncu günü dâr-ı bekâya rihlet etdi. Orada türbesi ve seng-i mezârı vardır.
Fâzıl, muhakkik, usûlî, ulûm-ı şer’iyye ve akliyyede mütebahhir, [263] eyâlet-i Rûmiyyede üstâdü’l-küll idi. Kabrini ziyâret edib seng-i mezârında mahkûk olan tarih-i irtihâlini zabt ve buraya nakl etdim.
Silsile-i ilmiyyesi şöyledir: Mevlânâ Şücâeddîn İlyâs bin Yahya bin Hamzatü’l-Merzifonî, Mevlânâ Hâce Muhammed Pârsâ, Mevlânâ eş-Şeyh Ebû Tâhir Muhammed bin Muhammed et-Tâhirî el-Buhârî, Mevlânâ Sadrüşşerî’a Ubeydullah bin Mes’ûd el-Buhârî, ceddi Mevlânâ Tâcüşşerî’a Mahmûd el-Buhârî, pederi Şemseddîn Ahmed bin Ubeydullah el-Buhârî el-Mahbûbî.
Pederi Mevlânâ Cemaleddîn Ubeydullah bin İbrâhim el-Mahbûbî el-Buharî, Rüknülislâm Muhammed bin Ebîbekir el-Cûğî es-Semerkandî, İmadeddîn Ömer ez-Zerencerî, pederi Şemsüleimme Bekir bin Mehmed ez-Zerencerî, Şemsüleimme Muhammed bin Ahmed bin Ebî Sehl es-Serahsî, Şemsüleimme Abdülaziz bin Ahmed el-Hulvânî, Kadı Ebu Ali el-Hüseyin bin Ali en-Nesefî, İmâm Ebubekir Muhammed bin el-Fazlü’l-Buhârî.
Üstazüleimme Abdullah bin Yakûb es-Sebezmûnî, Ebu Hafs Abdullah es-Sağirü’l-Buhârî, Ebu Hafs Ahmed bin Hafs el-Kebirü’l-Buhârî, İmâm-ı sâlis Mehmed bin el-Hasan eş-Şeybânî, [264] İmâm-ı A’zam Nu’man bin Sâbit el-Kûfî.
Şakirdân-ı marifeti pek çokdur. Mahdûmları Lütfullah, Mehmed Çelebilerdir. El-Hâc Lütfullah Çelebizâde İlyâs Çelebi ve Mehmed Çelebizâde Lütfullah Çelebi’dir. İkinci İlyâs Çelebizâde Mehmed Çelebi olup ulemâ ve kudâtdan idiler.
In Modern English
He was from Merzifon. He was the son of Yahya, son of Hamza. After studying the basic sciences in Amasya under Şeyhülislam Gümüşlüzâde Mevlânâ Celâleddin Abdurrahman Çelebi, he went to Mâverâünnehir (the lands of Central Asia beyond the Oxus). In Bukhara he studied the advanced sciences under Mevlânâ Hâfızüddin Muhammed bin Muhammed bin Mahmud el-Buhârî el-Hâfızî, famous as "Hâce Muhammed Pârsâ," and, having received an icâzetnâme in 821 [1418-19], came to Merzifon.
There he devoted himself to teaching and spreading the sciences, and his students multiplied. In his time Merzifon became a Dârülfünûn (place of higher learning). On the death of Mevlânâ Ferîdeddin Mehmed ed-Devvânî he became müderris of the Sultaniye of Merzifon, and later, while he was mufti and kadı of Merzifon, he passed to the abode of eternity on the tenth day of the month of Cemâziyelâhir in the year 852 [1448]. His türbe and gravestone are there.
He was learned, a researcher, a scholar of the principles of jurisprudence, deep in the religious and rational sciences, and the master of all in the province of Rum. I visited his grave, noted the date of death carved on his gravestone, and transferred it here.
His chain of learning is as follows: Mevlânâ Şücâeddin İlyas bin Yahya bin Hamza el-Merzifonî; Mevlânâ Hâce Muhammed Pârsâ; Mevlânâ Sheikh Ebû Tâhir Muhammed bin Muhammed et-Tâhirî el-Buhârî; Mevlânâ Sadrüşşerîa Ubeydullah bin Mes'ud el-Buhârî; his grandfather Mevlânâ Tâcüşşerîa Mahmud el-Buhârî; his father Şemseddin Ahmed bin Ubeydullah el-Buhârî el-Mahbûbî.
His father Mevlânâ Cemaleddin Ubeydullah bin İbrahim el-Mahbûbî el-Buhârî; Rüknülislam Muhammed bin Ebûbekir el-Cûğî es-Semerkandî; İmâdeddin Ömer ez-Zerencerî; his father Şemsülemme Bekir bin Mehmed ez-Zerencerî; Şemsülemme Muhammed bin Ahmed bin Ebî Sehl es-Serahsî; Şemsülemme Abdülaziz bin Ahmed el-Hulvânî; Kadı Ebû Ali el-Hüseyin bin Ali en-Nesefî; Imam Ebûbekir Muhammed bin el-Fazl el-Buhârî.
Üstazülemme Abdullah bin Yakub es-Sebezmûnî; Ebû Hafs Abdullah es-Sağîr el-Buhârî; Ebû Hafs Ahmed bin Hafs el-Kebîr el-Buhârî; the third imam Muhammed bin el-Hasan eş-Şeybânî; Imam-ı Azam Numan bin Sâbit el-Kûfî.
His students are very many. His sons are Lütfullah and Mehmed Çelebi. The son of Hacı Lütfullah Çelebi is İlyas Çelebi, and the son of Mehmed Çelebi is Lütfullah Çelebi. The son of the second İlyas Çelebi is Mehmed Çelebi, and these were among the scholars and kadıs.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mukaddimât-ı ulûm: the basic lessons that serve as an introduction to the sciences
- Mâverâünnehir: the lands of Central Asia beyond the Oxus (Amu Darya); Bukhara and Samarkand are there
- icâzetnâme: a document by which a teacher authorizes a student to teach and transmit knowledge
- nasb-ı nefs: devoting oneself to a task
- Dârülfünûn: a place of learning and teaching; here, figuratively, a center of higher education
- müderris: teacher at a madrasa
- dâr-ı bekâya rihlet: death
- seng-i mezâr, mahkûk: gravestone, carved on it
- mütebahhir: deep in a subject, with knowledge like an ocean
- usûlî: scholar of the principles of jurisprudence
- eyâlet-i Rûmiyye: the province of Rum (the Amasya, Tokat and Sivas region)
- şakirdân-ı marifet: students of learning
- silsile-i ilmiyye: the chain by which learning passes from teacher to teacher
Hâce Muhammed Pârsâ
According to Hamid Algar's article, Muhammed Pârsâ was born in Bukhara in 749 [1348], joined Bahâeddin Nakşibend, attached himself after Nakşibend's death (791 [1389]) to his successor Alâeddin Attâr, and after Attâr's death (802 [1400]) continued his guidance activity together with teaching the religious sciences, especially hadith. In Bukhara he also ran a madrasa next to his lodge. His full name is "Ebü'l-Feth Celâlüddîn Hâce Muhammed b. Muhammed el-Hâfızî el-Buhârî"; the name "Hâfızüddin" that Hüsameddin writes agrees with it in the nisbas and the first two names, while the epithet differs.
Pârsâ set out from Bukhara for his second pilgrimage in Muharrem 822 [February 1419] and died in Medina on 24 Zilhicce 822 [11 January 1420]. Hüsameddin's statement that İlyas Çelebi received an icâzetnâme and returned in 821 [1418-19] does not contradict this calendar: the teacher set out on the pilgrimage shortly after giving his student the icâzet. However, the article read does not mention İlyas Çelebi or any student from Merzifon; this teacher-student relationship rests on Hüsameddin's report and could not be verified in another source.
The Sultaniye of Merzifon
The madrasa in Merzifon was built by Çelebi Sultan Mehmed between 817 and 820 [1414-1417] and was known among the people as the "Sultâniye of Merzifon." After its founding, scholars such as Ferîdüddîn-i Dîvânî, Seydî Şemseddin Ahmed-i Kırîmî, Rükneddin Abdülkerim of Amasya and Nizâmeddin Abdurrahman-ı Âftâbî served as müderris there. That the Ferîdeddîn Mehmed ed-Devvânî whom Hüsameddin names as İlyas Çelebi's predecessor is the same as Ferîdüddîn-i Dîvânî is suggested by the similarity of the spelling; this is an inference. That İlyas Çelebi returned a year after the building was completed fits the chronology, but İlyas Çelebi is not named among the müderris in the source read. The date of Ferîdeddîn Devvânî's death was also not found in the source.
The Hanafi Chain of Learning
Since the chain Hüsameddin gives extends to Imam-ı Azam Ebû Hanîfe (Numan bin Sâbit), it is a Hanafi chain of learning. Şükrü Özen's article presents Sadrüşşerîa, in the chain, as a Hanafi scholar who belonged to a family that produced many scholars in Bukhara and who died in 747 [1346]. The same article notes that there is great confusion in the sources over the names of Sadrüşşerîa's grandfathers: although his paternal grandfather was Tâcüşşerîa Ömer (d. 709 [1309]) and his maternal grandfather Burhânüşşerîa Mahmud (d. 730 [1329-30]), some authors took these two to be the same person. The appearance of the name "Tâcüşşerîa Mahmûd" in Hüsameddin's chain resembles this confusion; but because it is not known from which source Hüsameddin took this list, this is an inference.
Each link of the long list Hüsameddin gives could not be verified one by one in the sources read. No further information was found on Ebû Tâhir Muhammed et-Tâhirî el-Buhârî and Gümüşlüzâde Celâleddin Abdurrahman Çelebi in the chain. No sources were found either for his sons Lütfullah and Mehmed Çelebi or for his grandsons.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 343–344. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies