Amasya Müftüsü Tokatî es-Seyyid eş-Şeyh Mustafa Efendi’nin mahdûmudur. Iydîzâde el-Hâc Âkif Mustafa Efendi’den ikmâl-i tahsîl edib ders-i âm ve Sultân Bâyezîd Câmii kürsi şeyhi oldu.
1183 senesi rebiülâhirinin on üçüncü günü Amasya [176] Müftüsü oldu. On ay kadar iftâdan sonra fetvâ meşreb-i ittikâsına uygun gelmediğinden 1184 senesi saferinin on dördüncü günü isti’fâ edib müftülükten çekildi.
Bundan sonra bir münâsebetle İstanbul’a gidip eş-Şeyh Mehmed Emîn Tokatî Efendi’den inâbe ve ahz-ı hilâfetle avdet etdikde Şeyh Garik Mahallesi’nde hânesinin selâmlığını tekke hâline ifrâğ ederek oranın şeyhi oldu. Âyin-i tarîkat icrâ ederek orada bir ocak uyandırdı. 1196’da dâr-ı kudse irtihâl etdi.
Sulehâ-yı ümmetden, âlim, fakîh, müttakî, âbid vâiz bir şeyh-i âlî meşreb idi. Halkın pek ziyâde teveccüh-i itikâdını kazanmışdı. Mahdûmları es-Seyyid Hüseyin, Mustafa Efendilerdir. Es-Seyyid el-Hâc Mustafa Efendizâde Hâfız es-Seyyid el-Hâc Osmân Efendi de fuzalâdan bir şeyh idi.
In Modern English
He is the son of the mufti of Amasya, Tokatî Seyyid Şeyh Mustafa Efendi. He completed his studies with Iydîzâde Hacı Âkif Mustafa Efendi, gave lessons open to all, and became kürsü şeyhi of the Sultan Bayezid Mosque.
On the thirteenth day of Rebiülâhir 1183 [1769-70] he became mufti of Amasya. After giving fatwas for about ten months, because the work of the fatwa did not suit his inclination to piety, he resigned on the fourteenth day of Safer 1184 [1770-71] and withdrew from the office of mufti.
Afterwards he went to Istanbul on some occasion, and on returning with repentance and the khilafa from Şeyh Mehmed Emîn Tokatî Efendi, he turned the selâmlık of his house in the Şeyh Garik quarter into a tekke and became its sheikh. He held the order's ceremonies there and revived a hearth of the path. He died in 1196 [1781-82].
He was one of the righteous of the community, a scholar, a jurist, devout, much given to worship, a preacher, and a sheikh of lofty bearing. He had won the great affection and trust of the people. His sons are Seyyid Hüseyin and Mustafa Efendi. Hâfız Seyyid Hacı Osmân Efendi, son of Seyyid Hacı Mustafa Efendi, was also a sheikh among the learned.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- mahdûm: son
- ikmâl-i tahsîl: completing one's studies
- ders-i âm: a scholar who gives lessons open to all
- kürsi şeyhi: the official who taught and preached from the lectern in a mosque
- iftâ: giving fatwas
- meşreb-i ittikâ: a temperament inclined to piety and fear of God
- isti'fâ: resignation
- inâbe: repenting and turning to God
- ahz-ı hilâfet: receiving the khilafa, that is the sheikh's deputyship, in an order
- selâmlık: the part of a house where guests are received
- ifrâğ: turning something into another form
- tekke: a place where dervishes gather for dhikr
- ocak uyandırmak: to found a circle of dervishes, a hearth of an order
- dâr-ı kuds: the holy abode, the hereafter
- sulehâ: righteous people
- âbid: one given to much worship
The Succession of Muftis
The dates Hüsameddin gives show the sequence of the office of mufti of Amasya in those years. İsmâil Efendi became mufti in 1183 (1769-70) and withdrew on the fourteenth of Safer 1184 (1770-71). In the entry on Kara Müftü İsmâil Hâtif Efendi it is written that Hâtif Efendi became mufti of Amasya on the same day, the fourteenth of Safer 1184. Read together, Hüsameddin's two records suggest the post İsmâil Efendi left was passed on the same day. This is an inference; the text does not state the handover.
That the professorship of the Bayezid madrasa was reserved for the muftis of Amasya, and that its first teacher was Zenbilli Ali Efendi, is reported on the authority of Hüsameddin. İsmâil Efendi's post as lectern teacher in the Sultan Bayezid Mosque belongs to this circle.
The Problem of Mehmed Emîn Tokatî
The name of Mehmed Emîn Tokatî, given as the sheikh to whom İsmâil Efendi attached himself in Istanbul, recalls the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi sheikh Mehmed Emin Tokadî (1664-1745). But according to the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi this sheikh died in 1158 (1745). According to Hüsameddin İsmâil Efendi withdrew from the post of mufti in 1184 (1770-71) and went to Istanbul after that; the gap is about twenty-five years. The person Hüsameddin names therefore cannot be the famous Mehmed Emin Tokadî. It may be another sheikh of the same name or a confusion of names in the text; no source documenting this was found.
The Şeyh Garik Quarter
No information was found in other sources on the tekke İsmâil Efendi set up in the selâmlık of his house or on the Şeyh Garik quarter. In an article examining the zawiyas of Amasya through foundation hurufat records, no record of this quarter or of İsmâil Efendi's tekke was found either; only a bridge called "Garik" (?) in a village appears, and it has no link, or none could be established, with the quarter.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 317–318. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies