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The first representative in Manisa of the Ma'rifiyya branch of the Rifa'iyya-Sayyadiyya order; founder and first shaykh of the Entekkeliler Lodge in the İbrahim Çelebi quarter of Manisa.
He was born in Antakya (Antioch), which is why his lodge became popularly known as "Entekkeli". He studied in Egypt and in Istanbul.
After his studies he became a disciple, at Kartal, of the pir of the Ma'rifiyya, Sayyid Muhammad Fath al-Ma'arif; on receiving his authorization he was sent to Manisa to guide the people.
Around 1833 he first taught at the Hatuniye and İbrahim Çelebi madrasas in Manisa; then, with the support of Rüstem Ağa, one of the notables of Manisa, he guided disciples for eighteen years in the lodge he opened on the north side of the İbrahim Çelebi Mosque. Beside the lodge he also ran a bakery oven.
He died in 1851.
His Circle of Influence — He married his daughter to Hasan Rüşdi Efendi (d. 1919), a native of Manisa, gave him authorization and seated him as shaykh. Hasan Rüşdi Efendi served as guide at the Entekkeliler Lodge for sixty-two years; in his time the lodge's followers are said to have reached 10,000 people. The custom peculiar to the lodge of holding a "milk mevlid" on the nights of the Ascension is still maintained at the İbrahim Çelebi Mosque.
His Poetry and Sufi Line — The source records that he possessed a lofty state of ecstasy (vecd); he also wrote poems under the pen name "Vehbi".
His Tomb and Complex — The source states that his successor Hasan Rüşdi Efendi, after the funeral prayer at the Çaşnigir Mosque, was buried in the lodge's graveyard beside his master; accordingly, Ahmed Vehbi Efendi's grave lies in the graveyard of the Entekkeliler Lodge. The grave of the lodge's last shaykh, Hüseyin Kemaleddin Efendi, was also moved to the tomb in the lodge in 1968.
Miracles
What follows are reports that appear in the source as TRANSMITTED accounts; the atlas records them not as 'this happened' but as 'this is what the sources relate'.
The blazing oven — It is related that Ahmed Vehbi Efendi, who ran an oven beside his lodge, would at times enter the blazing oven and display wonders (keramet). (Source: TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, MA‘RİFİYYE, vol. EK-2)
Differing Scholarly Views
Location of the grave — The source does not mention Ahmed Vehbi Efendi's grave by name; it only says that his successor was buried in the lodge's graveyard "beside his master". The grave the atlas marks rests on this indirect information and awaits confirmation from an independent source.
Sources
- TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (DİA) · vol. EK-2, pp. 196-198, entry “MA‘RİFİYYE”
The sources for this record are listed below (Mandatory Sources).
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