Amasyalıdır. Amasya‘da sâkin esnâfdan Diyarbekirli Hacı Mahmûd bin Mehmed bin Ahmed mahdûmudur. Şeyhü’l-ulemâ Sipâhi Hâfız Ömer Efendi’den tahsîl-i ulûm-ı şer’iyye edib bir müddet ders-i âm ve 1258’de Kapancızâde el-Hâc Hüseyin Zeki Efendi’nin yaptırdığı muvakkithânesinde muvakkit oldu.
Muahharan Sultân Bâyezîd Câmii vâizi olup yıllarca halkın ahlâkını tehzîbe ve efkâr-ı dîniyyesini tenvîre bezl-i makdûr etdi. Şeyh Hacı Hamza Efendi’nin çıkardığı Ali-Muâviye meselesinde Ehl-i sünnet mezhebini müdâfaa edib 1293 senesi şa’bânının selhinde perşembe günü dâr-ı naîme irtihâl etdi.
Âlim, gâyet müteşerrî, zâhid, sâlih bir vâiz-i meşhûr idi. Uzun boylu, gâyet müşekkel, mehib, vakûr, gâyet nazîf, natûk, latife-gû, tarîkattan müctenîb, meşâyih-i zamana mu’teriz, şer’-i şerîfe pek mütemessik idi. Hacı Hamza Efendi’nin hicviyâtına karşı muzhikât-ı latîfesi vardır. [226] Oğulları Batpazarı esnâfından Mehmed Zeki, Hasan Efendilerdir.
In Modern English
He is a native of Amasya. He is the son of Ahmed, son of Mehmed, son of Hacı Mahmud of Diyarbekir, a tradesman living in Amasya. He studied the religious sciences under Sipâhi Hâfız Ömer Efendi, the head of the scholars, gave public lessons (ders-i âm) for a time, and in 1258 [1842-43] became muvakkit in the muvakkithane built by Kapancızâde Hacı Hüseyin Zeki Efendi.
Later he became preacher of the Sultan Bayezid Mosque and for years did all he could to refine the people's morals and enlighten their religious thought. In the Ali-Muâviye question raised by Sheikh Hacı Hamza Efendi he defended the Sunni school and passed away on a Thursday at the end of the month of Şaban 1293 [1876].
He was a scholar, strongly bound to the law, ascetic, devout and a famous preacher. He was tall, very handsome, awe-inspiring, dignified, very clean, eloquent, witty, kept away from the Sufi orders, objected to the sheikhs of the time and held fast to the law. He had amusing replies to the satires of Hacı Hamza Efendi. His sons are Mehmed Zeki and Hasan Efendi, who are tradesmen of the Batpazarı.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- muvakkit: the official who calculates and announces the prayer times and sets the clock
- muvakkithâne: the small building where the muvakkit works, where the position of the sun is observed and the times are determined
- ders-i âm: one who has received the authority to give public lessons
- tehzîb-i ahlâk: refining morals
- tenvîr-i efkâr: enlightening thought
- müteşerrî: bound to the law
- müctenib: one who keeps away, avoids
- mu'tariz: one who objects
- hicviyât: satires, poems of invective
- muzhikât: amusing words, witticisms
- Batpazarı: the name of a market district in Amasya
The Muvakkit and the Muvakkithane
The muvakkithane of Kapancızâde Hacı Hüseyin Zeki Efendi stands northwest of the Bayezid Complex, north of the madrasa, and is still standing today. According to the five-line inscription above the entrance door, the structure was built in 1256 [1840]; wall paintings of the period are found in its interior. Hüseyin Zeki Efendi had a library and a fountain built together with the muvakkithane and also endowed his properties. The year 1258, in which Hüsameddin says Hacıoğlu İsmail Efendi became muvakkit, is two years after the date of construction on the inscription. This difference could be explained by distinguishing the date of an appointment from the date of completion of the building; but this is an inference.
The Ali-Muâviye Question
The "Sheikh Hacı Hamza Efendi" of whom Hüsameddin speaks must be the Hamza Nigârî named in the entry on Şirvânî in this volume; this is an inference, since no surname is given in this entry. Nigârî was a poet from Karabakh and a Khalidi sheikh. According to the sources, he settled in Amasya in 1866, constantly spoke in his talks and poems of love for Ali and the Ahl al-Bayt, criticized the Umayyad and Marwanid dynasties for their oppression of the Ahl al-Bayt, which disturbed some people, and rumors spread that he cursed the Companions. A petition was drawn up for his removal from Amasya and a complaint was made to the Sublime Porte; in 1885 he was exiled to Harput and died there in 1886. The dispute Hüsameddin calls the "Ali-Muâviye question" must be one aspect of this tension.
Since Hacıoğlu İsmail Efendi died in 1293 [1876], he did not see Nigârî's exile of 1885; the dispute therefore belongs to Nigârî's first years in Amasya, between 1866 and 1876. This too is an inference. It appears that İsmail Efendi defended the Sunni position against Nigârî; the details of the dispute, which of Nigârî's poems Hüsameddin means by "hicviyât," and the text of İsmail Efendi's witty replies could not be found in the sources consulted.
No information about İsmail Efendi or his family was found in other sources.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 332–332. amasya.bel.tr
Official sources
Other sources