Amasyalıdır. Mehmed Çelebi mahdûmudur. “Mahzenü’l-Fıkh” mü’ellifi ve Amasya Müftüsü olan Mevlânâ Musliheddîn Mûsâ Çelebi’den ulûm-ı şer’iyye ve edebiyyeyi ahz ve tahsîl ederek ders-i âm ve müderris, sonra kadı oldu.
Muahharan Habîb-i Karamanî hulefâsından Seydî Halîfe’nin halîfe-i zîşânı “Şehre Küstü” demekle meşhûr eş-Şeyh Sinâneddîn Yûsuf Çelebi’ye intisâb ederek terk-i mâsivâ etdi. Şeyhinin irtihâlinde tekkesi şeyhi olup 966’da dâr-ı kudse irtihâl etdi.
Âlî Bey Künhü’l-Ahbâr’ında Amasya meşâyihi sırasında diyor ki: “Şeyh İlyâs Halvetîlerdendir ki mecnûn [267] deyû mülakkabdır. Hâl-i hayâtında bir ay evvel mevtini ta’yin etmişdir. Senete sittin ve sittîn ve tis’imie de fevt şod”.
“Deli Şeyh” diye meşhûr olduğu anlaşılan bu zât, âlim, kâmîl, hadîd-meşreb, mazınne-i kerâmet bir zât idi. Hulafâsından Zileli Muhyîddîn Mehmed Çelebi ve Amasyalı Hüsâmeddîn Hüseyin Çelebi meşhûrdur. Mahdûmu “Memik Çelebi” demekle meşhûr Bedreddîn Mahmûd Çelebi’dir.
In Modern English
He was from Amasya. He was the son of Mehmed Çelebi. He studied the religious sciences and literature under Mevlânâ Musliheddîn Mûsâ Çelebi, the author of "Mahzenü'l-Fıkh" and mufti of Amasya, became a müderris (madrasa professor) giving public lectures (ders-i âm), and then a kadı (judge).
Later he attached himself to Sheikh Sinâneddîn Yûsuf Çelebi, famous as "Şehre Küstü," the honoured successor of Seydî Halîfe, himself a successor of Habîb-i Karamânî, and renounced everything but God. At his sheikh's death he became sheikh of his lodge, and he departed this world in 966 [1558-59].
Âlî Bey says in his "Künhü'l-Ahbâr," among the sheikhs of Amasya: "Sheikh İlyâs belongs to the Halvetîs; he is called 'mad' [267]. While still alive he announced his death a month in advance. He died in the year 966." (The last sentence is a Persian phrase.)
This person, who was evidently known as the "Mad Sheikh," was a scholar, a perfected man, hot-tempered, and believed to work miracles. Among his successors Muhyîddîn Mehmed Çelebi of Zile and Hüsâmeddîn Hüseyin Çelebi of Amasya are well known. His son is Bedreddîn Mahmûd Çelebi, famous as "Memik Çelebi."
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- ulûm-ı şer'iyye ve edebiyye: the religious sciences and literature
- ders-i âm: a müderris who gives public lectures
- intisâb: attaching oneself to a sheikh, becoming his disciple
- terk-i mâsivâ: abandoning everything except God
- halîfe-i zîşân: honoured successor; a disciple authorized to succeed or train others on the sheikh's behalf
- irtihâl: death, departure from this world
- mecnûn: mad
- mülakkab: given a nickname
- hadîd-meşreb: fiery, hot-tempered
- mazınne-i kerâmet: believed to perform miracles
- hulefâ: successors (khalifas)
The Nickname Şehre Küstü
For Sheikh Sinâneddîn Yûsuf, mentioned in the text, Hüsameddin wrote a separate entry in the same volume. According to that account, Sinâneddîn was the son of Bâlî; he studied under Musliheddîn Mûsâ, the author of "Mahzenü'l-Fıkh," and under Bahşî Çelebi, served for years as a public lecturer at the Mehmed Pasha Madrasa, and then attached himself to Seydî Ali Çelebi, the well-known successor of Habîb-i Karamânî, giving up teaching. At his sheikh's death he became sheikh of the Mehmed Pasha Lodge and preacher of its mosque. In 949 he criticized in a sermon the extravagance at the circumcision feast of Süleyman Çelebi, son of Şehzade Mustafa, then governor of Amasya, and was dismissed from his post. He then withdrew to an empty spot on the hillside above the Çeribaşı Quarter and, in Hüsameddin's words, "as if he had taken offence at the city." His disciples built him a lodge there, a house, a fountain in front of it and a large garden beside it. Sinâneddîn lived there for ten years in prayer and remembrance, and died in Şaban 959. The lodge became known as the Şehreküstü Lodge, and when houses were built around it the area became the Şehreküstü Quarter.
A study of the Halveti lodges gives the same episode more briefly: the Şehre Küstü Lodge was built by the disciples of Pîr Sinan (d. 957/1550), and he himself was its first sheikh. Because he criticized Şehzade Mustafa in his sermons, Pîr Sinan was barred from preaching, and the public was forbidden to attend his sermon gatherings. The sheikhship passed after him to his successor Derviş Ali Halvetî and then to Sheikh Ahmed Efendi, and the lodge stood until 1241 [1826]. The two sources differ on the date of death: Hüsameddin says 959, this study 957. Hüsameddin writes that after 1300 the quarter became an Armenian quarter, that it burned down completely in the great fire of 1332, and that only a fountain and the grave remained.
İlyâs Halîfe's Place
In the text İlyâs Halîfe is said to have become sheikh of the lodge after Sinâneddîn's death. According to the Sinâneddîn entry, however, his successor was his khalifa İmâmzâde Hâfız Abdülkerîm Efendi. The two records do not agree; İlyâs's sheikhship may have been spoken of for a different lodge, but the source does not explain this. The study of the Halveti lodges states that the Hızır Pasha Lodge was founded in 971 [1564] and that its first sheikh was an İlyâs Efendi known as "Molla Şeyh." This name and title match the heading of Hüsameddin's entry, but 971 falls five years after the death date of 966 that Hüsameddin gives. Whether they are the same person could not be established.
An important source on the lodges states that the Halvetiye entered Amasya through Pîr İlyâs (d. 833/1429); this İlyâs is not the İlyâs Halîfe discussed here.
Another Scholar of the Same Name
There is a famous scholar born in Amasya, Muhaşşî Sinan Efendi, and in a footnote of the article on the Halveti lodges his name is mentioned together with the Halvetîs. According to the TDV entry, this Sinan Efendi was born in 893 [1488]; his father's name was Hüsameddin and his grandfather's İlyâs; he served as kadı of Aleppo, Damascus, Bursa, Edirne and Istanbul, then as kazasker of Anatolia, and died in Istanbul in 986 [1578]. Hüsameddin, on the other hand, presents Şehreküstü Sinâneddîn Yûsuf as the son of Bâlî, whose gravestone reads "Pîr Sinâneddîn Yûsuf bin Bâlî." The two names do not designate the same man.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 345. amasya.bel.tr
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, vol. 7, entry "Pîr Sinâneddîn Yûsuf el-Halvetî-Şehreküsdü."
Books
- Kadir Özköse, "Amasya'da Bulunan Halvetiyye Tekkeleri", Akademiar, no. 5, Ankara 2018, p. 91–118.
- Eyyüp Said Kaya, "Sinan Efendi", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, 2009.