Amasya’da ulemâdan tahsîl-i ulûm edib bir müddet ders-i âm [155] oldu. Ba’dehû Târik-i Nakşî’ye sülûk ederek Mahmûd Çelebi Tekkesi şeyhi es-Seyyid el-Hâc Ömer Efendi’ye intisâb etdi. 1097’de bunun kasr-ı yediyle Mahmûd Çelebi Tekkesi şeyhi oldu.
1115’de tekke-i mezbûre şeyhliğinden kasr-ı yed edib Hacı Mustafa Câmii kürsi şeyhi ve 1132’de Abdullah Paşa Câmiinde cüz-hân ve 1137’de sâniyen Mahmûd Çelebi Tekkesi şeyhi olduğu halde 1140 senesi şevvâlinde vefât etdi. Âlim, vâiz bir şeyh idi. Mahdûmu Hâfız Mehmed Efendi kendisinden iki ay evvel vefât etmişdi.
In Modern English
He studied under the scholars of Amasya and for a time gave public lessons. He then entered the Nakşibendî order and attached himself to Seyyid Hacı Ömer Efendi, sheikh of the Mahmûd Çelebi Lodge. In 1097 [1685-86], when Ömer Efendi withdrew from the post, he became sheikh of the Mahmûd Çelebi Lodge.
In 1115 [1703-04] he gave up the sheikhdom of that lodge and became kürsü sheikh at the Hacı Mustafa Mosque; in 1132 [1719-20] he became a cüzhan at the Abdullah Pasha Mosque; and in 1137 [1724-25] he became sheikh of the Mahmûd Çelebi Lodge for a second time. He died in Shawwal 1140 [1728]. He was a learned sheikh and a preacher. His son Hâfız Mehmed Efendi had died two months before him.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- ders-i âm: title of a müderris authorized to give public lessons
- Târik-i Nakşî'ye sülûk: entering the Nakşibendî order
- intisâb: attaching oneself to a sheikh
- kasr-ı yed: withdrawing from a post
- kürsi şeyhi: person who carried out the duty of teaching from the pulpit in a mosque (as far as can be told from its use in the text)
- cüz-hân: waqf employee who recited a section of the Qur'an as the endowment required
- sâniyen: for a second time
- mahdûm: son
The Title of Ders-i Âm
Ders-i âm means "a lesson open to everyone." In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the word was often used as the title of müderrises who gave public lessons in mosques. To become a ders-i âm one had to graduate from a madrasa, receive an icazet (certificate), and then pass one more examination. Eighteenth-century mosque and madrasa waqfs are seen to give ders-i âm posts a larger place.
The Abdullah Pasha Mosque
The Abdullah Pasha Mosque, where İsmâil Efendi became a cüzhan in 1132, stands in the Sofular quarter of Amasya; it is also known as the Sofular Mosque and the Dârülhadis Mosque. It was built as a mosque and hadith madrasa by Beylerbeyi Hacısinanbeyzâde Abdullah Pasha (d. 1490-91), one of the notables of Bayezid II's time, and its waqf deed was drawn up in 1501-1502 by the founder's son, Defterdar Abdülkerim Bey. Abdülkerim Bey added a Qur'an-recitation hall (dârülkurrâ) to the east of the building in 1505, but that part has not survived. The building stands and is used today only as a mosque.
What the Search Could Not Find
Searches on the Mahmûd Çelebi Lodge and the Hacı Mustafa Mosque produced no information on these buildings; the founding, waqf and sheikhs of the lodge could not be verified in this research. No other source with information on İsmâil Efendi himself was found either.
Bibliography
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 311–311. amasya.bel.tr