Shortly after the month of Recep in 1144 (1731-32), Âkif Mustafa Efendi, mufti of Amasya, left for the pilgrimage and handed the office of fatwa to his brother Râ'if Mehmed Efendi. This deputyship, arranged without the permission of the Şeyhülislam, became the subject of a complaint, and a few weeks later Âkif was dismissed from the muftiship. In the year-by-year chronicle of Amasya's events this is the only record in which Râ'if is mentioned for his own doings. His own entry presents him as a teacher who taught at the Sultan Bayezid Mosque and the Saraçhane madrasa and who, like his elder brothers, was "âlim, edîb, kâmil, şâir": learned, cultivated, accomplished, a poet. He died in 1145 (1732-33). The author of Amasya Tarihi, Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, found some of his poems, but they burned.

Life

Râ'if's entry stands at the head of the "râ" section that opens the tenth volume of Amasya Tarihi:

Amasyalıdır. Mevâlî-i kirâmdan Amasya müftüsü Merzifonî Bayram Iydî Efendi bin Mustafa Efendi bin Abdî Efendi'nin mahdûmudur. Pederi Amasya müftüsi iken 1097'de doğdu. Amasya'da Merzifonî Mustafa Efendi'den ikmâl-i tahsîl ederek ders-i âm oldu. Pederinin 1122 senesi rebîülâhirinde intikâline binâ'en te'ehhül edib Sultân Bâyezîd Câmi-i şerîfinde Mi'mâr Kâsım Ağa dersiyyesi verildi. Ba'dehû Sarâçhâne Medresesi müderrisliği de tevcîh ve ma'îşeti te'mîn edilerek tedrîs-i ulûm-ı edebiyye ve şer'iyyeye hasr-ı evkât ederek 1145 senesinde irtihâl eyledi. Birâderleri gibi âlim, edîb, kâmil, şâir, fünûn-ı edebiyyede mâhir bir zât idi. Mahdûmu ricâlden İsmet Mustafa Efendi yetîm kalıp birâderi Allâme Mustafa Âkif Efendi'nin vesâyetinde büyüdü. Elde edilen eş'ârı ma'alesef yandı.

The passage in English: He came from Amasya; his father was the Amasya mufti Bayram Iydî Efendi of Merzifon, one of the senior judges, whose own father was Mustafa Efendi, and his grandfather Abdî Efendi. He was born in 1097 (1685-86), while his father was mufti of Amasya. He completed his education in Amasya with Mustafa Efendi of Merzifon and became a ders-i âm. On his father's death in Rebîülâhir 1122 he married, and he was given the Mimar Kâsım Ağa lectureship (dersiyye) at the Sultan Bayezid Mosque. Later the teaching post of the Saraçhane madrasa was also conferred on him, and with his livelihood secured he devoted all his time to teaching the literary and religious sciences until he died in 1145 (1732-33). Like his brothers he was a learned, cultivated and accomplished man, a poet and a master of the literary arts. His son İsmet Mustafa Efendi, who became a statesman, was left an orphan and grew up under the guardianship of his uncle, the great scholar Mustafa Âkif Efendi. The poems of his that had been obtained burned, unfortunately.

A dersiyye was a salary set aside by a benefactor for a lesson that he stipulated should be taught in a particular mosque. Râ'if's first post was such a stipend: a lesson at the Sultan Bayezid Mosque attached to the name of Mimar Kâsım Ağa. The teaching post of the Saraçhane madrasa was added on top of it, and the entry says plainly that only then was his livelihood secured. Hüsameddin tells of the marriage, too, as if it followed from the father's death. One may suppose that, with the headship of the family changing hands, the young teacher set up his own household; the entry does not give the reason.

His birth date leaves a question. In the entry on his elder brother Îdîzâde Âkif Mustafa Efendi Hüsameddin writes the same sentence: he too was born in 1097, while his father was mufti of Amasya. The two brothers may have been twins, or one of the dates may have been transmitted wrongly; the book offers no explanation. His teacher, Mustafa Efendi of Merzifon, is identified in the entry on his brother Abdurrahîm: he too was a Merzifon scholar who later became mufti of Amasya.

The Deputyship of 1144

The chronicle of events that Hüsameddin appended to the fourth volume tells the year 1144 thus: in the month of Recep the deputy governor (mütesellim) of Amasya set out for Hamadan with war contributions and troops for the Iranian campaign, and after him the mufti Âkif Efendi went to the Hejaz, leaving his brother Râ'if Mehmed Efendi as his deputy. "Ancak bu gidişi ve vekîl edişi şeyhü'l-islâmdan istîzân edilmemişdi": but leave for this journey and this appointment had not been asked of the Şeyhülislam. Since Âkif's muftiship did not suit some of the notables, his unauthorized departure was reported to the office of the Şeyhülislam, a complaint was lodged, and on 15 Şaban 1144 (February 1732) Âkif was dismissed and Sheikh Mustafa Efendi became mufti once again.

By this record Râ'if's deputyship as mufti can have lasted only a few weeks. The dismissal was aimed at Âkif alone; no charge is made against Râ'if. A year later he too was dead. This brief deputyship, falling within his elder brother's term as mufti, also shows how close the brothers stood to each other: Âkif left his brother in his place when he set out on the pilgrimage, and after Râ'if's death he became guardian to his son.

Family

Râ'if came from a family of scholars and poets of Merzifon origin. His father Bayram Iydî Efendi moved from the teaching post of the Sultan Bayezid madrasa to the muftiship of Amasya in 1085 (1674-75), and died at Eskişehir on 19 Rebîülâhir 1122 (June 1710) on his way to take up the judgeship of Konya. In the record of his death Hüsameddin counts him among the "fuzalâ-yı şu'arâ", the learned poets, and adds that his sons Âtıf Mehmed, Âkif Mustafa, Râ'if Mehmed and Seyyid Abdurrahîm were all "meşâhîr-i ulemâ ve şu'arâdan", among the famous scholars and poets. Of these, Âtıf Ahmed Efendi was a witty poet and teacher who died in 1138, and Âkif Mustafa Efendi was a poet with a divan who twice served as mufti of Amasya. Seyyid Abdurrahîm Efendi served as kadi in Niksar, Zile, Merzifon and Çorum and, after leaving the judgeship of Erzurum, died in Amasya in 1161 (1748).

"Abdîzâde", the family name carried in the title of the entry, goes back to his great-grandfather Abdî Efendi. Hüsameddin presents this Abdî Efendi as a poet of Merzifon and also calls the cousins descended from the same line "Abdîzâde": among them were Eşref Abdurrahman Efendi, mufti of Merzifon and molla of Cyprus, and the kadi-poet Hâsim Mustafa Efendi. Hüsameddin himself was also known as "Abdîzâde", but in his book he draws no link between his own lineage and this Abdî Efendi of Merzifon.

Of Râ'if's son İsmet Mustafa Efendi the entry says only that he was "ricâlden", one of the statesmen; what offices he held is not known. Râ'if Mehmed Efendi-Harem Kethüdâsızâde, who follows immediately in the same section, was a nineteenth-century official of the pious endowments and has nothing to do with this family.

Poetry

Râ'if Mehmed Efendi's poems are lost, though once they were within reach. Hüsameddin's phrase "elde edilen eş'ârı", the poems of his that had been obtained, shows that the author once found some of these poems; the note "ma'alesef yandı", unfortunately burned, suggests that they were lost while in the author's hands. How many poems there were, in what forms and where he found them, the author does not record.

Chronology

1085 (1674-75): His father Bayram Iydî Efendi becomes mufti of Amasya.

1097 (1685-86): Born in Amasya.

19 Rebîülâhir 1122 (June 1710): His father dies at Eskişehir on his way to the judgeship of Konya; Râ'if marries and receives a lectureship at the Sultan Bayezid Mosque.

After Recep 1144 (January 1732): Becomes deputy mufti in place of his elder brother Âkif Efendi, who has left for the pilgrimage.

15 Şaban 1144 (February 1732): Âkif Efendi is dismissed for leaving a deputy without permission.

1145 (1732-33): Dies.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources