The family name İkincizâde comes from the father, İkinci Ömer Ağa, commander of the Amasya Janissaries. His son Sânî Abdullah Efendi took the road of the madrasa: he taught in the madrasas of Amasya in the last quarter of the seventeenth century, won a professorship at the Edirne Dârülhadis by presenting a work to Şeyhülislam Seyyid Feyzullah Efendi, and was appointed mufti of Amasya at the end of his life. Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar places him in the eighth volume of his Amasya Tarihi, among the Amasyans whose names begin with the letter "sin", and counts "poet" and "man of letters" among his qualities. Yet every work known to us is a commentary, a gloss or a treatise; not one couplet of his has been found. He died in the spring of 1120 (1708), in the second year of his tenure as mufti.

Hüsameddin's Entry

Following a madrasa career step by step, from his teachers to his grandsons, the entry can also be read with notes on the page Sânî Abdullah Efendi-İkincizâde el-Hâc. Hüsameddin states plainly that part of his information comes from the preface to Sânî's own works:

Sânî Abdullah Efendi-İkincizâde el-Hâc Amasyalıdır. Amasya yeniçerilerinin serdârı İkinci Ömer Ağa'nın mahdûmu olduğu kendi te'lîfâtının dîbâcesinde yazılıdır. Amasya fuzalâsından müftî-i allâme Hızır ve Mehmed Paşa müderrisi Çillîzâde Ömer Efendilerden ikmâl-i tahsîl ederek ders-i âmm-ı meşhûr oldu. Üstâdı Ömer Efendi'nin 1095'de irtihâlinden sonra meydân-ı fazîlet kendisine münhasır olduğundan talebe ve şâkirdân-ı irfânı fevka'l-âde çoğaldı. Sultân Bâyezîd câmi-i şerîfi, tefsîr-i şerîf okuttuğu esnâda dinleyenlerle dolardı. 1098'de Fîrûz Ağa müderrisi olup Amasya'da tedrîs-i ulûm ederdi. Erbâb-ı hasedin urûk ve a'sâbını tahrîk eden bu hâlet Havzalılar'ı teşvîk ederek müderrisi bulunduğu Fîrûz Ağa medresesi Havza'da olduğundan bâhisle kendisinin Havza'ya gelmesini ricâ ve ısrâr etdirdiler. Bundan dolayı canı sıkılıp Amasya ve medreseyi terk edib 1111'de İstanbul'a ba'dehû Edirne'ye gidip Şeyhülislâm es-Seyyid Feyzullâh Efendi nâmına te'lîf etdiği "Şerh-i Âdâb-ı Hüseyniyye" hâşiyesini müşârün-ileyhe takdîm ederek Edirne'de Dârü'l-hadîs müderrisliğine nâ'il oldu. Orada dört yıl kadar neşr-i fezâ'il edib isbât-ı fazîlet etdiği esnâda 1115 senesi rebîülevvelinde kopan kıyâmette efendisi maktûl ve evlâd u müntesibleri menkûb olduğundan Hicâz'a gitdi. Avdette yine Amasya'ya gelip tedrîse devâm etdi. Bu esnâda Hızır Paşa müderrisi olup talebe-i ulûm her taraftan dersine akın etdi. 1118 senesi şevvâlînin on üçüncü günü Müftü Hacı Efendizâde el-Hâc Ömer Efendi'nin vefâtına binâ'en Amasya müftülüğü uhde-i istîhâline tevcîh edilip riyâset-i ilmiyye kendisine müntehî oldu. Bir buçuk yıldan ziyâde tedrîs u iftâ ile iştigâl ederken 1120 senesi rebîülevvelinde hastalandı. 10 gün sonra dâr-ı na'îme irtihâl etdi. Gâyet âlim, fâzıl, ulûm-ı akliyye ve nakliyyede mütebahhir, vakûr, kâmil, şâir, edîb, nâdire-dân bir zât-ı sütûde-simât olduğu âsârından bellidir. "Şerh-i Tehzîb" üzerine haşiyesi, tefsîrden ba'zı mevâki'-i müşkileye ta'likâtı, ba'zı mesâ'il-i mühimmenin îzâhı hakkında risâleleri vardır. Mahdûmu Amasya müftüsü ve şeyhü'l-imâre el-Hâc Mehmed Efendi ve hafîdi yine Amasya müftüsü Hâfız Abdurrahmân Efendi ve bunların evlâdı "Müftüzâde"likle meşhûrdur. Müşârün-ileyhin diğer mahdûmu mevâliden el-Hâc Ömer Efendi'dir.

In plain English: He was from Amasya. That he was the son of İkinci Ömer Ağa, commander of the Amasya Janissaries, is written in the preface to his own works. He completed his studies under two Amasya scholars, the learned mufti Hızır Efendi and Çillîzâde Ömer Efendi, professor at the Mehmed Pasha Madrasa, and became a well-known teacher of public lessons. When his master Ömer Efendi died in 1095, the field of learning was left to him alone, and his students multiplied beyond measure. The Mosque of Sultan Bayezid would fill with listeners when he taught Qur'anic exegesis. In 1098 he became professor of the Fîrûz Ağa Madrasa and went on teaching in Amasya. This stirred the envious to the core; they incited the people of Havza to insist, on the grounds that the Fîrûz Ağa Madrasa where he was professor was in Havza, that he come to Havza. Annoyed by this, Sânî left Amasya and the madrasa, went in 1111 to Istanbul and then to Edirne, presented to Şeyhülislam Seyyid Feyzullah Efendi the gloss "Şerh-i Âdâb-ı Hüseyniyye" he had written in his name, and obtained the professorship of the Dârülhadis in Edirne. He taught there for about four years, proving his learning, when in the upheaval that broke out in Rebiülevvel 1115 his patron was killed and his patron's children and dependants were stripped of their property; he therefore went to the Hejaz. On his return he came back to Amasya and continued teaching. At this time he became professor of the Hızır Pasha Madrasa, and students flocked to his lessons from every side. On the thirteenth day of Şevval 1118, on the death of Mufti Hacı Efendizâde Hacı Ömer Efendi, the office of mufti of Amasya was given to him and the leadership of the city's learned class passed to him. After more than a year and a half spent in teaching and issuing fatwas, he fell ill in Rebiülevvel 1120 and died ten days later. His works show him to have been a most learned and accomplished man, deeply versed in the rational and transmitted sciences, dignified, mature, a poet, a man of letters and a connoisseur of rarities, worthy of praise. He has a gloss on the "Şerh-i Tehzîb", notes on certain difficult passages of exegesis, and treatises explaining certain important questions. His son Hacı Mehmed Efendi, mufti of Amasya and sheikh of the imaret, and his grandson Hâfız Abdurrahman Efendi, also mufti of Amasya, and their descendants are known as the "Müftüzâde". His other son is Hacı Ömer Efendi, one of the high-ranking judges.

Life

The first firm date Hüsameddin gives belongs to his teacher: when Çillîzâde Ömer Efendi died in 1095 (1683-84), Sânî rose to first place in Amasya, and the exegesis lessons he gave in the Bayezid Mosque drew crowds. His year of birth is not recorded. Since he must have long finished his madrasa training by then, a birth around the middle of the seventeenth century may be supposed, though this is no more than an estimate. The year 1095 that appears as his death date in the master list is in fact the year his teacher died, not Sânî's.

The story of his departure from Amasya is the liveliest part of the entry. When he became professor of the Fîrûz Ağa Madrasa in 1098 (1686-87), the madrasa was in Havza, yet Sânî kept giving his lessons in Amasya. According to Hüsameddin, those who envied his fame set the people of Havza in motion, and the professor was asked to come to the place where the madrasa stood. On paper the demand was fair; Hüsameddin, however, presents it as an instrument of jealousy and writes that Sânî "was annoyed". In 1111 (1699-1700) he went first to Istanbul, then to Edirne, and by presenting to Şeyhülislam Feyzullah Efendi the gloss he had written in his name he became professor of the Edirne Dârülhadis. His career was now tied to a patron.

That patronage collapsed in the summer of 1703. The event Hüsameddin calls "the upheaval that broke out in Rebiülevvel 1115" is the Edirne Incident, which ended with the deposition of Mustafa II. The revolt began on 17 July 1703, when the armourers demanded their accumulated pay; Feyzullah Efendi was caught at Pravadi while trying to flee, brought to Edirne and killed under torture, and his son Fethullah Efendi was killed in Istanbul. This is the man Hüsameddin calls Sânî's "patron". As the property of the şeyhülislam's men was being plundered, Sânî's journey to the Hejaz may have meant keeping his distance until things calmed down as much as making the pilgrimage; the source does not state this second aspect openly.

On his return Amasya took him back. He became professor of the Hızır Pasha Madrasa, and on 13 Şevval 1118 (January 1707) he was appointed to the office of mufti, left vacant by the death of Hacı Efendizâde Hacı Ömer Efendi. Hüsameddin calls this office "riyâset-i ilmiyye", the leadership of the city's learning. His tenure lasted a little over a year and a half: he fell ill in Rebiülevvel 1120 (May-June 1708) and died within ten days. The place of his grave is not recorded.

Works

Hüsameddin lists four works or groups of works. The first is the gloss on "Şerh-i Âdâb-ı Hüseyniyye" that opened doors for him in Edirne; in madrasa usage "âdâb" is the name given to the rules of disputation, and the title suggests the work belongs to that field, though nothing certain can be said without seeing the text. The second is a gloss on the "Şerh-i Tehzîb". The third consists of explanatory notes on difficult passages of exegesis, and the fourth of treatises on certain important questions. Hüsameddin must have seen at least some of these, since he says he read the name of Sânî's father "in the preface to his own works". The libraries where these copies are held today could not be identified.

Connection with Amasya

Leave aside the years in Istanbul and Edirne and the journey to the Hejaz, and Sânî's life is spent entirely in Amasya. He was born there, studied with Amasya teachers, taught in the city's madrasas and died there as mufti. With a father among the city's Janissary officers and a son and grandson who held the same office of mufti, the family stands at the very centre of the learned establishment of eighteenth-century Amasya. The pen name "Sânî" means "second" in Arabic and echoes the family name İkincizâde, "son of the Second". Hüsameddin does not say that the pen name was derived from the family name; the fact that the two names mean the same thing is our own observation.

Poetry

Hüsameddin's verdict of "poet" rests, in his own words, on the fact that "his works show" it; yet all the works he lists are in prose, and the entry quotes not a single couplet. None of Sânî's poems has reached us. Madrasa authors often placed verse passages at the beginning or end of their glosses, but there is no record showing this for Sânî. Other poets also used this pen name; Sânî Yûsuf Çelebi, who lived in the sixteenth century and was called "the second Joseph" for his beauty, is one of them and should not be confused with İkincizâde Abdullah Efendi.

Family

Two of Sânî's sons appear by name in Hüsameddin. Hacı Mehmed Efendi became mufti of Amasya like his father and also held the sheikhship of an imaret under the title "şeyhü'l-imâre"; Hüsameddin does not say which imaret. Hacı Ömer Efendi entered the mevâlî, the ranks of the high judges. His grandson Hâfız Abdurrahman Efendi was also appointed mufti of Amasya. The line that began with the son of a Janissary commander thus held the same office for several generations and came to be known as the "Müftüzâdeler".

Chronology

1095 (1683-84): His teacher Çillîzâde Ömer Efendi dies; Sânî becomes the teacher with the most students in Amasya.

1098 (1686-87): Professor of the Fîrûz Ağa Madrasa.

1111 (1699-1700): Leaves Amasya; Istanbul and Edirne, professorship of the Edirne Dârülhadis.

1115 (1703): His patron Feyzullah Efendi is killed in the Edirne Incident; Sânî goes to the Hejaz.

13 Şevval 1118 (January 1707): Becomes mufti of Amasya.

Rebiülevvel 1120 (May-June 1708): Falls ill and dies ten days later.

Bibliography

Online sources