The imamate of the Hızır Paşa Mosque and the sheikhdom of the lodge beside it came to Şükrü Mehmed Efendi as a family inheritance from his grandfather. This Şabani sheikh, known for his mastery of Arabic and Persian literature, wrote hymns (ilahi) that were sung in the dervish lodges of Amasya; he died around 1197 (1782-83). Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, author of Amasya Tarihi, gives him a place among the great sheikhs of the Şabaniyye. Not one of the hymns said to have been sung in the lodge ceremonies survives in writing today.

Şükrü Mehmed Efendi in Amasya Tarihi

In the entry Şükrü Mehmed Efendi-Şeyhzâde el-Hâc Hüsameddin fits the sheikh's lineage and training into two short paragraphs:

Amasyalıdır. Hızır Paşa Câmii ve tekkesi şeyhlerinden Ekincek İbrâhim Efendizâde Hâfız İsmail Efendi'nin mahdûmudur. Iydîzâde el-Hâc Âkif Mustafa Efendi'den ahz-ı ulûm edib ceddînin hulefâsından eş-Şeyh Mustafa Efendi'den münîb oldu.
Pederinin irtihâlinde Hızır Paşa Câmii imâmı ve tekkesi şeyhi olup hüsn-i hâl ve kemâliyle edebiyât-ı Arabîyye ve Farisîyye'de mahâretiyle iştihâr edib 1197 hudûdunda vefât etdi. Meşâyîh-i Şa'bâniye kibârından âlim, âbid, edîb, şâir idi. İlâhiyâtı tekkelerde okunurdu.

A modern rendering: an Amasya man, born to Hâfız İsmâil Efendi, whose own father Ekincek İbrâhim Efendi was one of the sheikhs of the Hızır Paşa Mosque and lodge. He studied under Iydîzâde Hacı Âkif Mustafa Efendi and entered the order through Şeyh Mustafa Efendi, one of his grandfather's successors. When his father died he became imam of the Hızır Paşa Mosque and sheikh of its lodge, and grew famous for his good conduct, his accomplishment and his skill in Arabic and Persian literature; he died around 1197. One of the great sheikhs of the Şabaniyye, he was learned, devout, a man of letters and a poet. His hymns used to be sung in the lodges.

Life

Şükrü Mehmed Efendi belonged to the third generation of a family that had served for decades as imams and sheikhs in the Hızır Paşa quarter. His grandfather, İbrâhim Efendi, sheikh of Eğincik, was trained by the Şabani sheikh İbrâhim Efendi, sheikh of the guilds, and became imam and Quran reciter of the Hızır Paşa Mosque in 1120 (1708-09), adding in 1123 (1711-12) the sheikhdom of the lodge and the professorship of the madrasa. When he died on 16 Receb 1141 (February 1729), his son Şeyh Sâlih Efendi first succeeded him in mosque and lodge. Sâlih Efendi died in 1153 (1740-41), and his son Mustafa Efendi in 1155 (1742-43). Of Şükrü Mehmed's father, Hâfız İsmâil Efendi, Hüsameddin says only that "he was an imam". After these deaths the family's posts at Hızır Paşa seem to have passed to İsmâil Efendi and from him to his son.

Şükrü Mehmed's teacher in learning was Iydîzâde Âkif Mustafa Efendi. Twice mufti of Amasya, this scholar refused every plea to return to the office of mufti, taught for forty-five years and died in 1173 (1760); in Hüsameddin's words, his presence turned Amasya into a university. His training in the Sufi path Şükrü Mehmed received from within the family, from his grandfather's successor Şeyh Mustafa Efendi. When his father died he became imam of the mosque and sheikh of the lodge; his skill in Arabic and Persian literature made him known as more than a lodge sheikh, as a man of letters who took part in the literary gatherings of the town. He died around 1197.

The Hızır Paşa Lodge and the Şabaniyye

The Hızır Paşa Mosque is one of the buildings that Hayreddin Hızır Paşa raised in Amasya in the fifteenth century; the lodge and madrasa beside it formed part of the same endowment. Şükrü Mehmed's family ran this lodge as part of the Şabaniyye. A branch of the Halvetiyye, the Şabaniyye takes its name from Şâbân-ı Velî, who lived in Kastamonu; Şâbân-ı Velî sent his successor Hayreddin Efendi to Amasya, and so the order took root in the town. According to the order's genealogy given by Hüsameddin, the chain of İbrâhim Efendi, sheikh of the guilds, runs from his own sheikh Musliheddîn Mustafa Efendi through Şeyh İsmâil Efendi of Çorum, Ömer Fuâdî Efendi and Muhyiddîn Mehmed Efendi of Kastamonu to Şâbân-ı Velî; in the same entry İbrâhim Efendi of Eğincik is listed among the well-known successors raised in this line. In the Şabani lodges the communal remembrance (zikr) was performed to the accompaniment of hymns, and the singing of Şükrü Mehmed's hymns in the lodges belongs to these ceremonies.

At one point the records do not agree. Another of Hüsameddin's entries states that Seyyid İbrâhim Efendi, preacher of the Hızır Paşa Mosque, became "sheikh of the Hızır Paşa lodge" in 1193 (1779) on the death of Şeyh Ebûbekir Efendi. Since Şükrü Mehmed lived until about 1197, either there was more than one lodge in the quarter known by the same name, or Şükrü Mehmed's sheikhdom ended before his death. Hüsameddin never sets the two pieces of information side by side; which is right could only be settled from the endowment records.

His Poetry

Neither Şükrü Mehmed Efendi's hymns nor his other poems have been found. Hüsameddin's sentence "his hymns used to be sung in the lodges" shows that they were performed at the remembrance ceremonies of the Amasya lodges; whether they were sung from memory or from a notebook is unknown. Hymns of this kind were often written into lodge songbooks (cönk) and collections for the zikr. Hüsameddin mentions no such collection belonging to the Hızır Paşa lodge, and Şükrü Mehmed's hymns have therefore not been identified. Sufi poets signing themselves "Şükrî" or "Şükrü" were raised in other places too; to give a hymn bearing that signature in a songbook to the sheikh of Hızır Paşa, one would need a trace that names Amasya or the lodge.

Chronology

1123 (1711-12): His grandfather İbrâhim Efendi of Eğincik becomes sheikh of the Hızır Paşa lodge and professor of its madrasa.

16 Receb 1141 (February 1729): Death of his grandfather.

1173 (1760): Death of his teacher Iydîzâde Âkif Mustafa Efendi.

Around 1197 (1782-83): Şükrü Mehmed Efendi dies.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Academic studies

Online sources