Where is the tomb of aziz mahmud hudayi? What is the life of aziz mahmut hudayi?
Aziz Mahmud Hudayi lodge, which is located in the district with the same name in Üsküdar, was built in 1594-1595 by Aziz Mahmud Hudayi, the founder of Jalwati Sufi Order. The lodge, which was founded in the form of a kulliyah (Islamic-Ottoman social complex), consists of a kitchen, a cemetery, tombs, mosque, tevhidhane (the place where mawlawi ritual was performed), a library, a section for women, and houses.
Aziz Mahmud Hudayi was one of the notable friends of Allah in Istanbul. His name Hudayi and title “aziz (highly esteemed)” were given to him by his Sheikh.
Before he adhered to his Sheikh Uftada, he had been serving as a judge and a professor in Bursa. An interesting case brought to his court by a woman who wanted to divorce her husband changed his life completely. He resigned from being a judge and professor, adhered to Sheikh Uftada, and became his disciple. His master gave him the title “Hudayi.”
After Hudayi came to Istanbul and established his lodge, his lodge in Üsküdar turned into a school of wisdom and knowledge in a very short time. Sultans of the time became his students. Sultan Murat III, Ahmed Han I, Osman II and Murad IV were some of his students who adhered to him.
Because of his following prayer that he made before his death, his tomb turned into one of the places frequently visited by many people of Istanbul:
“O Lord! Those who enter our way till the very last day and those whose paths cross with our tomb and recite a Fatiha even if it be once in their lives are among us. May they not drown in the sea, and not experience poverty in their old age. May they not die until they salvage their iman (faith). May they know the time of their death and let us know the time of their death. May they not die by drowning in the sea.”
Aziz Mahmud Hudayi passed away in 1628.
A Withered Flower
One day, Sheikh Uftada went on a trip to Uludağ with his disciples. Disciples presented to their Sheikh bunches of colorful flowers. However, Aziz Mahmud brought to him only a withered flower the stalk of which was broken. Sheikh Uftada said:
– O my son, all of your friends brought bunches of colorful flowers. Do you deem that I am worth of only this flower?
Aziz Mahmud said:
– Nothing is enough to present to my Sheikh. However, whenever I attempted to pick a flower, I heard that it was praising Allah and I could not pick it. However, when I saw this flower, which cannot praise Allah because it was broken, I took it and brought it to you. (Prof. Dr. Ethem CEBECİOĞLU, Sahabeden Günümüze Allah Dostları, Commission, vol. 8, p. 216)
May Allah let the sultans walk next to your mount
One day, when Sultan Ahmed I was going to Üsküdar, he came across with Aziz Mahmud Hudayi. He immediately got off his mount and asked the Sheikh to get on it. And the sultan started to walk next to the sheikh on foot. However, the Sheikh was not happy about riding the horse while the sultan was walking next to him. After a while, he said “I accepted to get on the horse just to make my Sheikh’s prayer about me to come true and to fulfill the command of my Sultan!” and then he got down from the mount. By this way, Sheikh Uftada’s prayer reading as “O my son! May Allah let the sultans walk next to your mount” came true. (Osman Nuri TOPBAŞ, Tarihten Günümüze İbret Işıkları, p. 282-283).
Karamah (A Saintly Miracle)
Sultan Ahmed would show Hudayi utmost respect and treat him in the best manner. One day he was having a conversation with Aziz Mahmud Hudayi in the palace. For a moment, Aziz Mahmud Hudayi wanted to perform ablution and thus a pitcher and a basin were brought to him. The sultan took the pitcher and the basin out of his respect to Sheikh and started to pour water while the Sheikh was performing ablution. Meanwhile, Sultan Ahmed Han’s mother prepared a towel for the sheikh and thought in her heart for a moment “I wish I could witness a miracle (karamah) of Sheikh Aziz Mahmud Hudayi!” Then, Aziz Mahmud Hudayi felt her wish by the grace of Allah and said:
– Unbelievable! Some people want us to manifest keramat! Can there be a greater miracle than having the caliph of the earth (Sultan) serve us, and having his respectable mother prepare a towel for us? (Osman Nuri TOPBAŞ, Asr-ı Saadetten Günümüze Faziletler Medeniyeti – 1, p. 321-322)
The Gate of Servitude
One day, Sultan Murad IV with his tutor (lala) went to the lodge to visit the Sheikh Hudayi. When they arrived the gate of the lodge and were asked as “Who is this?” by a disciple, and the sultan’s tutor answered promptly as follows:
“The Sultan of the seven lands, the sultan who is the son of the Sultan, Sultan Murad Han IV honored this place! Let the Sheikh be informed immediately!”
The disciple didn’t open the gate by saying “This is not the gate for the sultanate!” Sultan Murad Han IV smiled at the state of his tutor and said;
– O Tutor! This gate is the gate of servitude and heart. And then, he knocked the door again and answered the same question with a great politeness as follows:
– Please tell the Sheikh that the servant Murad is here!
After this response, the gate was opened and they could enter the lodge. (Osman Nuri Topbaş, Abide Şahsiyetleri ve Müesseseleriyle Osmanlı, p. 276-277)
Source: Harun Kırkıl, Read About and Travel Around ISTANBUL, Erkam Publications