Abdurraheem Merzifoni : An awliya from Amasya
He was one of the awliyas through the rising period of Ottoman Empire, during the reign of Murat the second, the father of Sultan Mehmet the second, who conquered Istanbul. District of Merzifon in Amasya was a well known tasawwuf and “ilm” center between 14th and 16th centuries.
Abdurraheem Merzifoni passed away in Merzifon district of Amasya in 1485 and was buried there. He received his education at an early age and became friends with Akshamseddin, who worked as a teacher at a madrasa in Osmancık by then. Akshamseddin would then become the well-known teacher of Sultan Mehmet the second.
Merzifoni wanted to meet Sheik Zeynuddîn-i Hafî, whose legends were being spread in the Anatolian peninsula, as one of an important awliya in that era. Merzifoni met with him in Egypt and spent some time along with his students to advance in tasawwuf studies.
In the year 1428, his teacher Sheik Zeynuddîn-i Hafî, gave him “ber’at” a kind of graduation diploma that ensures the student is now capable of “teaching public” about fundamentals of Islamic sciences as well as the tassawwuf paths. In that diploma Hafi mentions Merzifoni as;
“ After I praise my Lord Almight Allah(j.j) that I must conclude, Abdurrahim Merzifoni is such a student that goes strictly on the path of the awliyas and don’t have any tendency for any other course of action in life, he is determined and sincere in his work and his strong will. I hope to Allah(j.j) that He would set him on this path destined and sound, perpetual as well. “
After completing his “advanced studies in tasawwuf” he came back to Merzifon to spend his entire life as a madrasa teacher in Merzifon, Amasya. His tomb is widely visited today and is in the Cam-i Cedid section of Merzifon.
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