Üftade

Üftade, (b. 895 AH/1490 AD or 900 AH/1495 AD, Bursa - d. 988 AH/1580 AD, Bursa) was an Ottoman Islamic scholar, sufi poet, and the shaykh of Aziz Mahmud Hüdayi.

Biography Üftâde Hazretleri was born in the Araplar neighborhood of Bursa. Although his date of birth is given as 895 (1490) in the sources, it is understood that he was born around 900 (1495) from an expression in the Vâḳıʿât of his disciple (murid), Aziz Mahmud Hüdâyî. Üftade's name is Mehmed and his nickname is Muhyiddin. He is known by the pen name "Üftâde", which he used in his poems. It is recorded that his father came from Manyas and settled in Bursa.

Üftâde started his education with the encouragement of Muk'ad Hızır Dede, one of the Bayrami sheikhs he joined at a young age. He served him for about eight years until 918 (1512), when his sheikh died. He recited the call to prayer (azan) in the Bursa Grand Mosque and the Doğan Bey Masjid with his beautiful voice. He stopped calling the azan the day after he was warned in his dream, "You have fallen (üftâde) from your rank" because he accepted a salary of a few coins. After this incident, he made a living by making sericulture, buttons and copying books. At the same time, he continued his duties as an honorary imam and muezzin. He started preaching and teaching around the age of thirty-five. The public followed his sermons in Doğan Bey Masjid, Namazgah Mosque and other mosques with great interest. He was appointed as the orator of Emir Sultan Mosque between 1529 and 1536, while he was continuing his guidance activities in the mosque and tekke he had built in the Pınarbaşı Kuzgunluk neighborhood on the skirts of Mount Uludağ. He continued this duty, which Emir Sultan said he accepted with his spiritual sign, until 12 Jumad al-Awwal 988 (25 June 1580) when he died. His most famous caliph (successor), Aziz Mahmud Hüdâyî, joined him in the last years of his life in 984 (1576). His two sons, Mehmed and Mustafa, became sheikhs in his place in his dergah. Mehmed Muizzüddin Celveti, who is thought to be one of Hüdâyî's disciples, translated some parts of the work into Turkish while the sheikh was alive.