Saints and Tombs of Bolu

Kemal Ümmi (Ummi Kemal)

A 15th-century Sufi-poet whose real name was İsmail; he used the pen name 'Ümmi Kemal' as he had no formal schooling. Affiliated with the Halvetiyye, he guided the people around Bolu. Known for his Divan and the mesnevis Kırk Armağan and Hazîre-i Kuds; his followers were called Kemalites. He died in 880/1475; his tomb is in Tekke (Işıklar) village southeast of Bolu. (Sources: TDV 'Kemal Ümmî'; Türk Edebiyatı İsimler Sözlüğü) [burial disputed: TDV regards Bolu as most credible]

Abdullah Efendi of Gerede

A late-19th-century Halveti spiritual guide from Gerede; one of the leading deputies of his sheikh Mustafa Safi Efendi, he succeeded to the office of guidance after the latter's death. Sources note that despite lacking formal exoteric education he excelled in esoteric knowledge. He was buried in the cell of his lodge in Gerede, over which a tomb was later built. (Sources: Evliyâlar Ansiklopedisi; Menâkıb-ı Hacı Mustafa Sâfî, Millet Library, Ali Emîrî no. 1111)

Sheikh Fahreddin al-Rumi of Mudurnu

A scholar and Sufi of the Yıldırım Bayezid era who settled in Mudurnu and trained students. He authored works including Müştemilü'l-ahkâm, ed-Daavâtü'l-me'sûre and Ferâidü'l-leâlî. He died in 864/1460 in Mudurnu; his grave is reported near the door of the Yıldırım Bayezid (Great) Mosque (per local tradition; may be disputed). (Sources: evliyalar.net 'Fahreddin Rûmî'; İslâm Âlimleri Ansiklopedisi)

Khayr al-Dīn al-Tūqādī (Hayreddin Tokadi)

Shaykh

A Halvetî sheikh; the guide of Şâbân-ı Velî , the pîr of the Şâbâniyye branch of the Halvetiyye. There is some confusion in the sources about his identity: he has been mistaken for another Hayreddin Efendi from Tokat. He was trained under Cemâl-i Halvetî (d. 899/1494), known as Çelebi Halife, the founder of the Cemâliyye branch of the Halvetiyye. After serving briefly at the Koca Mustafa Paşa lodge in Istanbul he was sent to Bolu. He carried on the work of spiritual guidance at Bolu and Düzce Pazar. He died after 937 (1530). His Circle of Influence — The best known disciple he trained is Şâbân-ı Velî , the founder of the Şâbâniyye branch of the Halvetiyye. He also had such disciples as Muslihuddîn-i Konrapavî and Mahmûd-ı Kürevî. His Tomb and Complex — A tomb attributed to him is found in the village of Elmalık, thirteen kilometres from Bolu; commemorative ceremonies with wide participation are held there during the summer months.

Aqshamsaddin (Akshamsaddin)

Shaykh

The founder of the Şemsiyye branch of the Bayramiyye order, teacher of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror and spiritual leader of the army at the conquest of Constantinople; he was at the same time one of the noted physicians of his age. His given name was Şemseddin Muhammed b. Hamza, but he became famous as Akşemseddin, or simply Akşeyh. He was born in 792 (1390) at Damascus. He was the son of Şeyh Hamza, one of the descendants of Şeyh Şehâbeddin al-Suhrawardî (d. 632/1234), author of the Awârif al-ma'ârif ; on his father's side his lineage goes back to Abû Bakr. At about seven years of age he came with his father to Anatolia and they settled in the district of Kavak, then attached to Amasya (799/1396-97). Having memorised the Qur'an and received a sound religious education, he became a professor at the Osmancık Medrese; it is also evident that he pursued a good medical training at this time. According to the Menâkıbnâme of Enîsî, which contains the fullest information about his life, since "the savour of the inward science never left his mind", at about twenty-five he set out towards Fars and Transoxiana to seek a spiritual guide; he returned, however, without achieving his desire. He then went to Aleppo to attach himself to Zeynüddin al-Hâfî, whose fame had spread as far as Anatolia; but when one night he dreamt that a chain about his neck was held in the hand of Hacı Bayram, he turned back to Ankara. The date of his attachment is not known; after strict ascetic discipline and struggle he swiftly received the licence to guide from his master Hacı Bayrâm-ı Velî , who esteemed him. The cell in which he entered his retreat survives today in the basement of the Hacıbayram Mosque at Ankara and is known by the sheikh's name. He later left his master's side and went to Beypazarı, where he had a mosque and a mill built. When the people showed him great favour and gathered around him, he withdrew to the village of Evlük near Kösdağı in the district of İskilip, today attached to Çorum. After a time he left there too and settled at Göynük, where he again had a mosque and a mill built. He occupied himself partly with the instruction of his children and partly with that of his dervishes; in this period he also made the pilgrimage. After the death of his master Hacı Bayrâm-ı Velî he succeeded him in the office of spiritual guidance (833/1429-30). Akşemseddin, who is thought to have spent his last years at Göynük, died there according to the Menâkıbnâme at the end of Rabî' II 863 (February 1459) . He had seven sons: Sâdullah, Fazlullah, Nûrullah, Emrullah, Nasrullah, Nûrülhüdâ and Hamdullah Hamdi. Of these the youngest, Hamdullah Hamdi (d. 909/1503), was well versed in astronomy, the science of the stars and music, and was also among the leading poets of his time. His Circle of Influence As he was almost always at his master Hacı Bayram's side in his dealings with Murad II, he also came to know his son Mehmed II and continued to meet him after his accession. Although the dates are not known with certainty, Akşemseddin went to the Conqueror at Edirne twice before the conquest of Constantinople: on the first occasion he treated and cured Çandarlıoğlu Süleyman Çelebi, the chief judge of Murad II, and on the second one of the Conqueror's daughters; the Conqueror's daughter then gave him the rice fields at Beypazarı. When the Conqueror set out from Edirne with his army in the spring of 1453 to besiege Constantinople, Akşemseddin, Akbıyık Sultan and the other well-known sheikhs of the age joined him with hundreds of their disciples. Akşemseddin helped to raise the spiritual strength of both the sultan and the army at the most difficult moments of the siege; researchers note that the letters he wrote to the Conqueror at those moments, bringing the good news that victory was near, had a great effect on the conquest being achieved in a short time. After the conquest Akşemseddin delivered the sermon at the first Friday prayer performed in Hagia Sophia. From an inscription on the southern enclosure wall of the Zeyrek Mosque it is understood that he lived and taught there during his years in Istanbul. When after the conquest the sultan wished to abandon crown and throne, to attach himself wholly to the sheikh and to learn the rules of the order from him, Akşemseddin showed great firmness and strove to prevent this desire; realising that he would not succeed, he crossed to the Anatolian side by way of Gallipoli and returned to Göynük. He sent back the gifts the sultan despatched after him to win his goodwill, and likewise would not accept the mosque and lodge the sultan wished to build at Göynük, consenting only to the building of a fountain. The Şemsiyye branch of the Bayramiyye that he founded was continued after him by his son Fazlullah at Göynük, by İbrâhim Tennûrî at Kayseri, by Attaroğlu Muslihuddin at İskilip, and by Hamza al-Şâmî in Ankara and its region. His Poetry and Sufi Line Kemal Eraslan published thirty-eight of his poems, which he found in a manuscript compilation, together with their orthographic features and an annotated glossary. The sources note that he was at the same time a "physician of bodies", that he won fame as a good doctor of his age, and that he had works on medicine. He is held to have been the first physician in the history of medicine to raise the question of the microbe and to put forward the idea that diseases are transmitted in this way, at least 100 years before the Italian physician Fracastoro, who gave definite information in this field. His Works The greater part of his works concern Sufism. The Risâletü'n-nûriyye — also called simply the Nûriyye — is an Arabic work written to defend Hacı Bayrâm-ı Velî and his dervishes, whose fame had spread widely in his day and about whom gossip had accordingly arisen; defending the Sufis he calls the "people of light", he sets out their characteristics and the ethics and etiquette of Sufism. Judging by the dates occurring in the book, it may be said to have been composed between 838 and 841 (1434-1438). The Def'u metâini's-sûfiyye , an Arabic work composed in 856 (1452), answers the charges of unbelief and heresy brought against Muhyiddin Ibn al-'Arabî and certain other great Sufis, showing that there is no difference between their sayings and those of such well-known scholars and masters as Qushayrî, Ghazâlî, Junayd of Baghdad and Najm al-Dîn Kubrâ. The Makāmât-ı Evliyâ is a Turkish work treating such mystical themes as "who is the guide, what is the station of sainthood, and what are its degrees". Two letters he wrote to the Conqueror are also known; and the Nasîhatnâme-i Akşemseddin , a Turkish verse treatise of about forty-five couplets ascribed to him, has likewise been published. His works entitled Risâle-i Zikrullāh , Risâle-i Şerh-i Akvâl-i Hacı Bayrâm-ı Velî and Risâle fî devrâni's-sûfiyye have not come to light. His Tomb and Complex His tomb at Göynük is still a place of visitation. The building inscription above the door of the tomb gives Rabî' II 863 and thus confirms the date of death given by the hagiography. The tomb was built about five years after his death, and the writing on his cenotaph is by his son Mehmed Sâdullah; his sons Mehmed Sâdullah and Nûrullah also lie in this tomb.