Şeyhî Mehmed Efendi's term as mufti did not last a year: in 1087 (1676) he took over the fatwa office of Amasya, first as deputy and a few months later in his own right, and was removed the following year when the former mufti returned. He spent the rest of his career as judge of Sivas and Ankara. He belonged to the seventeenth-century generation of the Şeyh Ya'kûbzâde family, which ran from Halveti sheikhs to muftis; his father too had been mufti of Amasya, and his teacher was his brother-in-law, the celebrated exegete Hızır Efendi. Hüsameddin's description of him as "erudite, a poet" comes with no couplet attached.

Life

The entry in Hüsameddin's Amasya Tarihi proceeds like a list of a scholar's appointments:

Esbak Amasya müftüsü Hacı Mustafa Efendi bin Ya'kûb Efendi bin Abdullah Efendi bin Şeyh Ya'kûb Efendi'nin mahdûmu olup pederinden ve fâzıl-ı meşhûr müfessir Hızır Efendi'den ikmâl-i tahsîl ederek ders-i âm ve müderris-i be-nâm oldu. Amasya medreselerine müderris olarak 1081'de Hüseyin Ağa müderisliğinden terfîan Tokat'da Hâtunîye müderrisi oldu. 1085'de ma'zûlen Amasya'ya gelip sânîyen Hüseyin Ağa müderrisi ve 1087 rebîülevvel gurresinde İstanbul'a giden Amasya müftüsü Iydî Bayram Efendi yerine müftî vekili ve ramazanın gurresinde asâleten Amasya müftüsü oldu. 1088 senesi rebîülevvelinde Iydî Bayram Efendi müftülüğe ta'yin edilmiş olduğundan ma'zûl ve 1089 muharreminde Sivas kadısı oldu. 1090 şâbânında ma'zûlen gelip sonra Ankara kazâsıyla tatyîb edildi. Ba'dehû vefât etdi. Meşâhîr-i ulemâdan fâzıl, şâir, kâmil bir zât-ı sütûde-simât idi. Mahdûmu Abdurrahmân Efendi'dir.

Paraphrased: He was born to Hacı Mustafa Efendi, former mufti of Amasya, whose line went back through Ya'kûb Efendi and Abdullah Efendi to Sheikh Ya'kûb Efendi. He completed his studies with his father and with the famous scholar and exegete Hızır Efendi, received his licence to teach and became a madrasa teacher of repute. After teaching in the madrasas of Amasya he was promoted in 1081 from the Hüseyin Ağa madrasa to the Hatuniye madrasa in Tokat. Dismissed in 1085, he returned to Amasya and became teacher at Hüseyin Ağa a second time. On the first day of Rebiülevvel 1087 he became deputy mufti in place of the mufti of Amasya, Iydî Bayram Efendi, who had gone to Istanbul, and on the first day of Ramadan mufti of Amasya in his own right. In Rebiülevvel 1088, Iydî Bayram Efendi having been reappointed to the office, he was dismissed, and in Muharram 1089 he became judge of Sivas. Dismissed in Şaban 1090, he came back and was then consoled with the judgeship of Ankara. After that he died. He was one of the well-known scholars, erudite, a poet, accomplished and worthy of praise. His son was Abdurrahman Efendi.

In the Western calendar his months as mufti run from the spring of 1676 to the spring of 1677. His judgeship of Sivas began early in 1678 and ended in the autumn of 1679. The word "tatyîb" describes a compensating post given to soothe a dismissed judge; how long he held Ankara, and when and where Şeyhî Mehmed died, are unknown.

The Şeyh Ya'kûbzâde Family

The family took its name from a Halveti sheikh who lived in Amasya in the mid-sixteenth century. Sheikh Ya'kûb Efendi, known as "Şerefeddîn Ya'kûb", was a scholar, the son of Molla Bahşî Halife. After teaching in the madrasas he received his authorisation from Sheikh Cemâleddîn Mehmed Halvetî, became preacher at the Sultan Bayezid Mosque, gave up madrasa teaching and devoted his life to teaching Qur'anic exegesis and hadith. Hüsameddin writes that Prince Mustafa, then governor of the sanjak of Amasya, now and then attended his lessons. He died in 963 (1555-56). His line continued through his son Sheikh Abdullah Efendi and his grandson Ya'kûb Efendi; among Ya'kûb Efendi's sons were the mufti Hacı Mustafa Efendi and Ahmed Efendi, preacher at the Mehmed Pasha Mosque.

Şeyhî Mehmed's father, Hacı Mustafa Efendi, was among the most respected scholars of Amasya in the mid-seventeenth century. According to Hüsameddin's annals he became teacher at the Sultan Bayezid madrasa in 1038 (1628-29) and mufti of Amasya in Muharram 1039 (August 1629). He was dismissed in Ramadan 1045 (February 1636) and replaced by Dursunzâde Mustafa Efendi; at the end of Muharram 1055 (March 1645) he became mufti again on Dursunzâde's dismissal, and he died at the beginning of Ramadan 1056 (October 1646). Hüsameddin calls him "the mainstay of the scholars of Amasya". Among his pupils were poets such as Abdî Efendi and Bezmî Mehmed Efendi, to whom he gave his daughter in marriage. Şeyhî Mehmed's uncle Ahmed Efendi died in Zilkade 1068 (August 1658).

His Teacher Hızır Efendi

The second teacher named in the entry was a scholar who had married into the family. Hızır Efendi the exegete was born in 1006 (1597-98) in the Hacı İlyas quarter of Amasya, married the daughter of Şeyh Ya'kûbzâde Mustafa Efendi, served as mufti of Amasya four times from 1058 onward, and died in Zilhicce 1084 (March 1674). He wrote a Qur'an commentary and works on legal theory and rhetoric; the Sultan Bayezid Mosque would fill to overflowing for his lessons in exegesis. Şeyhî Mehmed, then, studied in the circle of his own brother-in-law. Among Hızır Efendi's pupils in the same years was another poet and teacher, Dursunzâde Sâ'ib Ali Efendi. The fathers of the two young men, Hacı Mustafa Efendi and Dursunzâde Mustafa Efendi, had taken each other's place in the mufti's office of Amasya through the 1630s and 1640s.

Poetry

The words "erudite, a poet, accomplished" at the end of the entry are the only testimony we have to Şeyhî Mehmed Efendi's verse. His poems have not been found, and the records give neither a couplet nor a title. The pen name "Şeyhî" seems to be taken from the "Şeyh Ya'kûb" of the family name; this is an inference and the entry does not say so. The fifteenth-century Şeyhî Mehmed Çelebis of the Şeyh Kırık line bore the same pen name; no kinship with them is known.

Chronology

963 (1555-56): Sheikh Ya'kûb Efendi, ancestor of the family, dies.

1039 (1629): His father Hacı Mustafa Efendi becomes mufti of Amasya.

1056 (1646): His father dies in office as mufti.

1081 (1670-71): Becomes teacher at the Hatuniye madrasa in Tokat.

1085 (1674-75): Dismissed, returns to Amasya and again teaches at Hüseyin Ağa.

1087 (1676): Deputy mufti in Rebiülevvel, mufti of Amasya in Ramadan.

1088 (1677): Removed from the office on the return of Iydî Bayram Efendi.

1089-1090 (1678-1679): Serves as judge of Sivas; then given the judgeship of Ankara.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Online sources