The zaviye (dervish lodge) he built in Amasya and endowed with his property was known in the city as the "Müftüzâde" or "Müftüoğlu Tekkesi"; Ahmed Efendi was buried there when he died, and the building itself burned in the great fire of 1099 and its site was forgotten. The son of Tâceddîn Efendi, mufti of Amasya, Müftüzâde Ahmed Efendi grew up in Amasya, taught in the city's madrasas, then served as judge (kadı) in Amasya, Şebinkarahisar, Sivas and Erzurum, spent his retirement in Amasya and died there in 1035 (1626). From Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar's pen he emerges as "âlim, şâir, edîb, derviş meşreb, muhibb-i sûfiyye", that is, a poet, a man of letters, of a dervish disposition and a lover of the Sufis. Notes on the lodge and on his patron Hoca Ömer Efendi, with the entry in present-day Turkish, are found at Ahmed Efendi-Müftüzâde.

The Entry in the Source

Amasya Müftüsü iken 1009'da vefât eden Tâceddîn Efendi'nin mahdûmudur. Amasya ulemâsından tahsîl-i ulûm edib ders-i âm oldu. Ba'dehû Amasya medreselerine müderris, sonra kadı olup terfî'en Amasya, Karahisâr-ı Şarkî, Sivas gibi bilâda kadı ve bu esnada İstanbul müderrisiliği rü'ûsünü alıp silsile-i ulemâya dâhil oldu.
Hâce-i sultânî Amasyalı Ömer Efendi'nin sâye-i ikbâlinde Erzurûm kadısı olup 1031 senesi evâhirinde ma'zûlen Amasya'ya geldi. Sene-i mezbûre zilhiccesinde Mehmed Paşa Medresesiyle mütekâ'id olup 1035 senesi zilka'desinde vefât etdi. Zâviyesinde medfûndur.
Âlim, şâir, edîb, derviş meşreb, muhibb-i sûfiyye idi. Amasya'da bir zâviye yaptırıp emlâkini bu hayrâtına vakfetdi. Bu zâviye "Müftüzâde Tekkesi" demekle meşhûr oldu.

In English: He is the son of Tâceddîn Efendi, who died in 1009 (1600-01) while mufti of Amasya. Having studied with the scholars of Amasya, he became a ders-i âm. Then he became professor in the madrasas of Amasya, then judge; rising, he served as judge in towns such as Amasya, Karahisâr-ı Şarkî and Sivas, and in the meantime received the rank of an Istanbul professorship and entered the hierarchy of the ulema. Under the patronage of the sultan's tutor Ömer Efendi of Amasya he became judge of Erzurum, and at the end of the year 1031 came to Amasya, dismissed. In Zilhicce of that year he retired with the Mehmed Paşa Madrasa and died in Zilkade 1035. He is buried in his zaviye. He was a learned man, a poet and man of letters, of a dervish disposition and a lover of the Sufis. He built a zaviye in Amasya and endowed his property to this charity. This zaviye became known as the "Müftüzâde Tekkesi".

Life

Ahmed Efendi seems never to have left Amasya to study; the entry has no record of his going to Istanbul to become the candidate (mülâzım) of a great scholar. After becoming professor in the madrasas of Amasya he moved to the judiciary, serving as judge first in his own city and then in Şebinkarahisar and Sivas, and in these years he received the honorary rank of an Istanbul professorship and entered the chain of ranks of the learned hierarchy. The highest step in his career is the judgeship of Erzurum, which Hüsameddin attributes directly to the patronage of the sultan's tutor Ömer Efendi of Amasya. At the end of 1031 (1622) he was dismissed from this post and returned to Amasya. In Zilhicce of the same year (October 1622) the professorship of the city's Mehmed Paşa Madrasa was given to him as a retirement stipend, and he died in Zilkade 1035 (July-August 1626).

Records of His Muftiship

The sixth-volume entry is silent on any muftiship. Two other places in the book, however, call him mufti. In the third volume, in the section on the events of the Celâlî years, it is written that when the mufti of Amasya Emîr Ali Efendi died in Rebîülâhir 1014, Şücâeddîn Efendi of Trabzon, appointed in his place, was attacked by brigands on the road and died a month later, and that in his place "Müftü Tâceddîn Efendizâde Ahmed Efendi" became mufti of Amasya in Cemâziyelâhir 1014 (October-November 1605). The section on dervish lodges in the first volume likewise introduces the founder of the Müftüoğlu Tekkesi as "Amasya müftülerinden Tâceddîn Efendizâde Ahmed Efendi", one of the muftis of Amasya. These two records show that between his judgeships Ahmed Efendi served for a time as mufti of his own city; how this fits in order with the posts listed in the entry is unclear.

The record about his father does not fit neatly either. The entry says that Tâceddîn Efendi died in 1009 while mufti. In the sequence of muftis described in the third volume, however, there are Tâceddîn Efendi of Amasya, who held office from 996 until Ramazan 1004, and Karamânî Hâce Tâceddîn Efendi, who came shortly after him and resigned in Zilhicce 1006; in 1009 the office passed from Köse Ahmed Efendi to Emîr Ali Efendi and no Tâceddîn appears at that time. Which of these two Tâceddîns was Ahmed Efendi's father cannot be determined from the book.

The Müftüzâde Tekkesi

According to the record in the first volume the zaviye was built in 1012 (1603-04). Hüsameddin says that the lodge belonged to the Halvetîs and names as its first sheikh Şeyh Ali Efendi, one of the deputies (halife) of Aziz Mahmud Hüdâyî, followed in turn by Şeyh Mustafa, Şeyh Ramazan and Şeyh Yakub Efendi. That a deputy of Hüdâyî became sheikh of the lodge agrees with its founder being described as "derviş meşreb, muhibb-i sûfiyye". The building burned in the great fire of 1099 and its site was forgotten; Hüsameddin writes that there is no information about where it stood. Ahmed Efendi's grave must have been lost together with the zaviye.

Poetry

No trace of Ahmed Efendi's poems has been found today; Hüsameddin, too, put no sample couplet or title of a work into his entry.

Chronology

1012 (1603-04): The Müftüzâde Tekkesi is built.

Cemâziyelâhir 1014 (October-November 1605): According to the third volume, he becomes mufti of Amasya.

End of 1031 (1622): Dismissed from the judgeship of Erzurum, he returns to Amasya.

Zilkade 1035 (July-August 1626): He dies and is buried in his zaviye.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources