EDEP Hosts Its First and Second International Islamic Studies

2016 • Issue 2

Those Who Approach with Virtue, Return with Grace!

Interview with EDEP Hosts its First and Heba Raouf Second International

“The philosophy of space is very Islamic Studies important to understanding all Summer School social and political relations.”

Second Annual Arabic Student Arabic Summer The Role of Fiqh in Symposium Program in Jordan Religious Life Eğitime Destek Programları Merkezi Center for Excellence in Education مركز التميّز العلمي

2016 - Issue: 2 Editor: Iffat Syed Address: Hırka-i Şerif Mah. Akseki Camii Sk. No:1 Fatih/İstanbul (the Muhafiz Konağı - next to Hırka-i Şerif Mosque) www.edepmerkezi.org • [email protected] • Phone: 0212 532 04 08 • Fax: 0212 532 04 07 Publisher: Limit Ofset: Litros Yolu 2. Matbacılar Sit. ZA13 Topkapı - Zeytinburnu / İstanbul • Tel: +90 212 567 45 35 Published annually. The authors alone are responsible for the content of their writings. From the Editor

I was introduced to EDEP on a warm summer evening in early August. I had gathered with a group of academics from around the world for the welcome dinner of EDEP’s annual International Islamic Studies Summer School. Students, scholars and guests were received with the kind of hospitality and grace that embodies Istanbul. There was a contagious excitement in the air, as is often present at the beginning of any new course, but along with this expected sentiment, there was a certain awe upon the faces of the students. It was these very sentiments that I witnessed again upon the faces of new students on the first day of classes of the Fall semester. In fact, I have witnessed these emotions again and again upon the faces of guests who visit this remarkable institution. On that day in August, in the shade of the Hırka-i Şerif Mosque and its towering greenery, EDEP’s founder and president, Recep Senturk spoke fondly of the building’s role as the mansion of the guards of the Mantle of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings upon him. He spoke too of the role the institute has played in cultivating the minds of some of Turkey’s most exceptional students. Here was an institute that fostered the education of women, grounded students in the Islamic sciences, brought together leading researchers, developed both Arabic and English language skills and was now gathering academics from around the world for a unique intensive taught in Arabic. There certainly was reason to be awe-struck. In this second English edition of the EDEP Bulliten, we bring to you the stories that have inspired our students. These are the stories that have not only developed their skills, but have strengthened their resolve for learning, motivated them towards success and cultivated in them excellence in the path of seeking knowledge. Parallel to the work of the the guards of yesteryear, it is these stories of today’s EDEP students that embody the mission of guarding the inheritance of the Prophet Muhammad, endless peace and blessings upon him. It is these stories that we have selected to share with you. We pray that they are a means of inspiration and resolve for you too.

Iffat Syed Editor and English Teacher EDEP

Why Did we Come to EDEP? / 4 Writing History at EDEP / 6 First Annual International Islamic Studies Summer School / 8 Second Annual International Islamic Studies Summer School / 12 Inteview with Dr. Heba Raouf / 16 Conference with Dr. Ayşe Esra Şahyar: The Role of Female Companions in the Transition from the Jahiliyya Period to Islam / 15 Conference with Dr. Murteza Bedir: The Role of Fiqh in Religious Life / 20 Experiences in America / 23 The Waqf Workshop / 25 Islamic Family Law Continues with “Mentor of Scholars,” Mehmet Savaş / 28 EDEP Hosts the Second Annual Arabic Student Symposium / 29 Interview with Dr. Murteza Bedir / 32 Jordan Arabic Summer Program / 41 A Rihla to Jordan / 43 Memories of Jordan / 46 A Journey of Reading & Learning in Konya / 49 Why Did We Come to EDEP Hatice Kübra Koca EDEP Student - Istanbul University Faculty of Law, Sophomore

Upon the threshold of a place one is hoping ing, writer Oğuz Atay came to my aid with to enter, it is very jarring to be confront- his words: “I was a product of something, ed with the question: “Why did you come but I hadn’t even been able to understand here?” Ordinarily, such a question would my origin properly.” And so it was! I found shake one’s confidence and discourage one myself writing that I came here to under- from moving forward, but in applying to the stand my origin. For me, it was clear that EDEP program, something quite extraordi- we have a Divine origin, but I felt as though nary happened. When faced with this very I did not have sufficient knowledge of the question on the entrance application, my One who created us. We look around, lost motivation rose to a fever pitch and I con- and confused like a child separated from his tinued writing until the paper in front of mother at the market, but we are not as per- me was completely full. When I was apply- severant as that child. Instead of crying out 4 for help when we cannot find what we are pressing question? I have found myself con- seeking, we act as if we will never find it and templating this and similar such questions simply give up. that remain a burden on me: Did you think But why should I seek to know anything that you would be responsible for your acts more than the bare minimum that I need alone? No. You might be in the right, you for myself? Before I came to EDEP, this was might be good, but you will still be asked one of the main questions on my mind. If about falsehood and evil. You had the abil- God was only going to ask me about my ity to help, so why didn’t you? Why didn’t own deeds, and if I knew and fulfilled what you become a cure for the problems plagu- was required of me in terms of religious ing others? I made you a means for others practice, that should be enough. So why to find Me, so why did you laze around? should I become a scholar, an ‘aalimah? The friend who had encouraged me to apply to I came to EDEP in order to learn how to EDEP changed my way of thinking about fulfill my duties, so that when I am asked this completely. She pointed out that I am these questions, I am not bewildered. I have responsible for more than just myself and been here for four weeks and already I have that there are burdens upon my shoulders found more than I was seeking. I never that my soul carries without even realizing expected to become so close with my new it. This reminded me of the verses by Khalil community so fast. Don’t be surprised if Jibran: “A sinner could not sin were it not you find me writing poems for my teachers for the urge to sin hidden inside everyone.” and classmates in the upcoming bulletins. Though it may be hard for your heart to bear it, I will share these verses, too: In the hereafter, when I am asked where I spent my youth, I want to be able to point “The one who is murdered is not exempted to EDEP and say: “In this place, working to from accountability because he is murdered. achieve your pleasure (rıza).” There is more The one who is robbed is not free from re- than one way to do something and of course sponsibility for being robbed. everyone has their own destiny in different The pious one is not blameless for what the places, but I for one love the portion destiny sinner does. has allotted me. As my days pass in doing The one whose hands are clean is not, in re- the things that I love, I am reminded that I ality, innocent of the actions of the oppres- am alive and that this life is not a right, but sor.” a privilege and a gift. We must deserve the life that we were granted, and work towards Da’wah (or invitation to Islam) was one of fulfilling our responsibilities with the privi- the responsibilities that I neglected while leges granted to us: I was preoccupied with myself. Yet it was certain that Allah was going to ask me if I “To do is to be - had fulfilled my duty as was required of me. not doing simply to have done. Yes, as a Muslim I studied and represented something, but how would I answer this Not to do is death.” 5 - Şeyma Nur Temel EDEP EDEP Research Fellow - Şehir University Faculty ofEDEP History, Research Fellow Master’s Student Writing at History Writing

and modern education we are also writing, or more colloquially, making history at EDEP. making history also writing, modern and are EDEP. we at education colloquially, more or scholars with of young a firm in the Is generation a grounding provide is working to EDEP EDEP’s classrooms working on my dissertation or in other words, literally writing dissertation literally my working on history classrooms in other or words, at EDEP’s somebody its goals, looking our If present it possible achieves is also at for quite EDEP EDEP. striving as an establishment think that build bridges to day to Islamic between traditional The title of this piece has a double meaning. The first, and perhaps more literal is that as a is literal first,moreThe The title andmeaning. hasdouble a perhaps piece of this indeed another or of spent of in one last the much year I have in History, student masters © Sergey Nivens - Fotolia.com 6 lamic scientific and intellectual tradition an awareness of the fact that the various as- with hopes that they can make meaningful pects of life are inter-connected and should contributions towards solving the problems be approached accordingly. These scholars of our time, from a learned, principled per- would have had, as a prerequisite, advanced spective. language skills in Arabic. From there they delved into many other fields, specialized, I am currently writing my MA thesis about and wrote many scholarly works. Unfortu- a historian from the seventeenth century, nately, both their inter-disciplinary con- Müneccimbaşı Ahmed Dede (d. 1702), and ception of the sciences and their works are his craft, focusing on his world history. He mostly neglected today. The furthest usage has quite a sizeable body of work and his- of these books today is merely interpreting tory is not his only proficiency. He was also them as the witnesses of the history. For ex- well-known for his booklets on mutalaa and ample, Fıqh books are not mentioned in law language. Moreover, he has works on eth- schools, Katip Çelebi’s (d. 1657) Cihannuma ics, music and more. Still, this productivi- is not a course book for geography students, ty does not make him a unique among the and it is possible to meet a Sociology pro- scholars of his context: at that time, being fessor who does not know who Ibn Khaldun a scholar meant being well-versed in many (d. 1406) is. Even in architecture, one of the areas. It was not a product of covetous in- fields most advanced by the Ottomans, the tellectual desires of that period, but out of use of these traditional sources is rare. As an aspiring historian dealing with the seventeenth century from the perspective of the twenty-first century, I cannot help but notice that as an institution, EDEP is committed to learning and putting to use the knowledge of our predecessors in our attempts to move forward. We are seeking to provide college students with the necessary education to introduce them to books that, otherwise, they would at best only hear their names. At EDEP we want students to not only access the gems of our intellectual heritage but synthesize that knowledge with the fields of modern inquiry. In doing this, we hope to take a step towards a coherent intellectual approach that looks forward without ignoring the past. And in this endeavor, the administrators, teachers, students and all the minds associated with this institution are indeed “writing history at EDEP.” And all success is given by Allah. 7 FIRST ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC STUDIES

Tuba Erkoç & Merve Özdemir, EDEP Research Fellow - M.U. Faculty of Theology, PhD candidate EDEP Research Fellow - S.U. Faculty of Theology, PhD candidate Coordinators of the EDEP Specialization Program

The EDEP Center Specialization program United States. Advanced level courses cov- organized its first annual intensive program ering the Islamic Sciences were offered with entitled “International Islamic Sciences Arabic as the language of instruction. The Summer School” which took place between full-time program took place at the Edep August 10th and September 11th, 2015. Center in the Hırka-ı Şerif neighborhood The program consisted of 25 participants of the Fatih district of Istanbul. Organized from different countries such as Turkey, by PhD candidate at the University of Chi- Egypt, Jordan, Germany, Canada and the cago, Mariam Sheibani, and coordinated by 8 Tuba Erkoç and Merve Özdemir on behalf of the EDEP Center Specialization program, the program hosted well-known scholars of their fields such as Amjad Rashid, Bilal Aybakan, Ahmed Snobar, Maşuk Yamaç, Mahmud al-Misri, Murteza Bedir and Recep Sentürk. Chapters from classical works such as Sharh al-Aqaid for theology, Tadrib ar-Ra- wi for usul ul-hadith, al-Lubab and al-Miftah for fiqh, Samt al-Wusul and Lubb al-Wusul for the field ofusul ul fiqh were studied. In addition, lessons on takhrij, Tasawwuf, Ghaza- li’s Ihya Ulumuddin and Ottoman political thought were given. A special hadith lesson, for which the participants received a specific ijazah, was given by Abdulhakim Enis. On the weekends, cultural trips were planned · Layan Abdulhadi, University of Jordan to enhance the participants’ familiarity · Niaz Ahmad, Bezmialem University with the Islamic civilization and culture. · Tabraze Azam, University of Leicester Along with historical sites, important schol- · Büşra Beşikçi, Istanbul University arly headquarters such as ISAM (Center for · Naeel Cajee, Harvard University Islamic Studies), Valide Atik Medresesi and · Tuba Erkoç, Marmara University Özbekler Tekkesi were visited. During the · Bassem Ghamian , McGill University closing ceremony at the end of the program, · Ibrahim Haurani, Al-Azhar University the participants were presented certificates · Imtiyaaz Isaacs, Al-Azhar University to mark their successful completion of the · Said Salih Kaymakçı, Georgetown University intensive. · Maariyah Lateef, Boston University The participants of the first summer inten- · Rosabel Martin-Ross, Georgetown University sive were as follows: · Khaled Mowad, Harvard University · Mustafa Muse, Al-Azhar University · Merve Özdemir, Sakarya University · Ebadur Rahman, Columbia University · Hatice Sak, Sabahattin Zaim University · Feryal Salem, Hartford Seminary · Noura Shamma, Teacher of Islamic Studies · Mariam Sheibani, University of Chicago · Sohaira Siddiqui, Qatar Georgetown University · Yumna Siddique, Boston University · Aaron Spevack, Colgate University · Mustafa Styer, University of Oxford · Naoki Qayyim Yamamoto, Kyoto University

9 OUR SUMMER SCHOOL

The first International Islamic Sciences Summer School took place at the EDEP campus in Fatih from August 10th to September 11th, 2015. Prom- inent scholars in the Islamic sciences from Turkey and around the Mus- lim world held classes attended by academics and students from Japan, Qatar, Egypt, Germany, Canada and the United States. Alongside EDEP’s director and Summer School teacher, Recep Şentürk and EDEP teachers, Murtaza Bedir and Ahmed Snobar, we welcomed the following visiting scholars during the summer program:

RECEP SENTÜRK

Recep Şentürk completed his undergraduate education in the Faculty of Theology at Marmara University in 1986. He then completed his postgraduate degree in Sociology in the School of Humanities at Istanbul University in 1988 and became an assistant in the same department from 1988 to 1989. He pursued his PhD in Sociology at Columbia University in New York City. Between 1998 and 2007 he was a researcher at the Center for Islamic Studies (İSAM). He has been the director of the Alliance of Civilizations Institute (ACI) since it was founded. In addition, he has been the general coordinator of the Istanbul Research and Education As- sociation (İSAR) in Istanbul for seven years (2009-2016). Currently, he is the president of Ibn Khaldun University (IHU) in Istanbul.

Murteza Bedir graduated from Marmara University’s Faculty of Theology in 1992. His master’s degree was completed at the Uni- versity of London School of African and Oriental Studies in the field of Islamic law. He continued his higher education at Man- chester University, where he wrote his doctoral dissertation, entitled “Early Development of Hanafi Usul al-Fiqh Legal Theory.” His research spans such topics as Islamic and Hanafi legal theory, comparative law, Islamic law in light of modernization, fatwa literature, and the law of awqaf. His publications several influential texts, as well as many translations, essays, and encyclopedia articles. At this time, he is the head of the Faculty of Theology at Istanbul University.

AHMAD SNOBAR Ahmad Snobar graduated from the University of Jordan in 2000. In 2004, he completed his master’s degree with a master’s thesis entitled “Manhaju Naqdi’l-Hadith ‘Inda’l-Imami’l-Bukhari min Hilal al-Tarikh al-Awsat.” Five years later, he completed his doctoral degree with a dissertation entitled “al-Ittijahatu’l-Hadsiyyah ‘inda al-Shi‘ati’l-Imamiyyeti: Dirasatun Tahliliyyatun Naqdiyyatun.” His academic work is focused on the realm of Hadith.

10 AMJAD RASHID Amjad Rashid, a specialist in Islamic Law, teaches Jurisprudence (Fiqh) according to the school of Imam Shafi. He pursued studies in the classical sciences in Damascus, Amman and Tarim where he took courses in Arabic, Islamic Law and Logic. After completing his doctoral studies at the University of Jordan, he continued to study texts with preeminent scholars such as Muhammed ibn Ali Al Khatib who is the mufti in ShafiFiqh in Hadramaut. He taught Islamic Law and Fiqh for eight years at the University of Ahkaf in Yemen where he was the head of the Faculty of Islamic Law. He is currently teaching at the Islamic Sciences University and at his own institute, Baab ul-Qurb, in Amman, Jordan.

MAŞUK YAMAÇ Maşuk Yamaç, who has authorization (ijazah) from many prominent scholars in numerous Islamic sciences, was born in Diyarbakır, Turkey in 1978. His first studies were under the direction of his father. He then continued his studies at Diyarbakır Çelebi Eser Quran Course, where he memorized the Qur’an. He started madrasah education in Konya where he studied Islamic Sciences with Muhammed Salih Ekinc. This included important texts of the rational and traditional sciences from the madrasah curriculum of Muhammed Nur Orak in Diyarbakır. He also began teaching at the madrasah in Konya under the direct supervison of his teacher. Maşuk Yamaç continued his studies at the Faculty of Shari’ah in Damascus. He benefitted a lot from Muhammed Emin Er from whom he learned texts on Qur’anic exegesis (tafsir), Jurisprudence (fiqh) and the Spiritual Sciences (tawassuf). After returning to Diyarbakır, he established his own madrasah within the body of the Association of Language, Science and Culture Studies and gave lectures there. In 2009, he settled in Istanbul and started to give lectures at ISAR and ISM, and is currently pursuing further scientific studies.

BİLAL AYBAKAN

Bilal Aybakan was born in Şanlıurfa in 1963. He graduated from Marmara University’s Faculty of Theology and first worked as a teacher in Giresun. In 1989, he was appointed to be a research assistant in the Marmara University Faculty of Theology. He completed his master’s degree with a thesis entitled “Attorney Agreement in Islamic Law” in 1990. This was follwed by his doctoral thesis entitled “Discharging Obligation in Islamic Law” in 1996. He was appointed to be an associate professor in 2002, and is currently a professor at the prestigious Marmara University Faculty of Theology.” “His research in the areas of jurisprudence and Islamic law, such as “Attorney Agreement in Islamic Law,” “Ijma’a in the Process of the Formation of Islamic Law,” and “Imam Shafi and the Sectarianization of the Idea of Fiqh” have been successfully published. Additionally, he is the writer of numerous sections in the Ministry of Religion’s Encyclopedia of Islam.

MAHMOUD MASRI

Mahmoud al-Misri was born in 1961. Throughout his study of classical Islam, he was the student of prominent scholars such as Abdur Rahman Shaghouri, Nuruddin Itr and the muhadith and mufassir, Abdullah Sirajuddin. He completed his bachelor’s degree at the Faculty of Shari’ah at the University of Damascus and he later completed his master’s degree in Hadith Sciences at the same university. He completed his doctoral studies at Aleppo University in the History of Science. During this time, he also completed his medical degree with specialization in pediatrics. He was a significant member of the Education Committee at the Faculty of Shari’ah at the University of Aleppo and was also the head of the Endowments Office. He is currently a professor at Fatih Sultan Mehmet Waqf University and a researcher at ISAM. In addition, he is a thesis supervisor at the Arabic Education and Research Centre in Cairo. He has successfully published works on the history of medicine and various Islamic sciences.

ABDULHAKIM MUHAMMED ENIS Abdulhakim Muhammad Enis has studied under prominent scholars such as Abdulkerim Debban, Muhammed Yasin el-Fadani and Abdul Hasan Al-Nadwi. He successfully completed his doctorate in Quranic Sciences and Philosophy of Interpretation of the Quran from the Faculty of Islamic Sciences at the University of Baghdad. He has lectured and presented reasearch at the University of Islam, the Faculty of Education at San’a University, the Faculty of Islamic Sciences at the University of Baghdad and the Faculty of Islamic Sciences and Arabic in Dubai. He is the head of the broadcasting council of the magazine Ahmediye. He is also a member of the board that is responsible for the planning of a unique project that aims to categorize chapters of the Qur’an based on topics. In addition, Abdulhakim Muhammad Enis has published numerous articles in the field of Islamic sciences. 11 SECOND ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC STUDIES

Tuba Erkoç EDEP Research Fellow - Medeniyet University Faculty of Theology, PhD Candidate

The EDEP Institute’s specialization team organised the “Ad- vanced Islamic Studies Summer School” for the second year between August 1st and August 26th, 2016 at the EDEP facil- ity in the Fatih district of Istanbul. The program was launched on the evening of July 31st, with a welcome dinner and a short orientation. This gave the teachers, organizers and students

12 الجزء الثاني: ٨\١٥-٨\٢٦ الجزء االول: ٨\١-٨\١٢ االسبوع الرابع االسبوع الثالث االسبوع الثاني االسبوع االول

الدرس األول الدرس األول الدرس األول فقه حنفي - د. بالل ايبكان علم الكالم 8:30-11:00 فقه شافعي - د. أمجد رشيد الشيخ صالح الغرسي an opportunity to meet and become استراحة استراحة 11:00-11:30 الدرس الثاني -familiar with the goals and expecta الدرس الثاني الدرس الثاني تاريخ الفكر الدرس الثاني أصول حنفي - د. حمزة بكري كالم و فلسفة غربية tions of the program. With partici- 11:30-1:00 االسالمي 2:30-3:30 & أصول شافعي - د. أمجد رشيد استاذ عمر قريشي د. رجب شنترك -pants from Turkey, Jordan, Germa صالة الظهر و غداء صالة الظهر و غداء ny, France, England, Japan, Canada 1:00-2:30 الدرس الثاني الدرس الثاني الدرس الثاني and the United States, this was truly 2:30-3:30 (مواصلة) (مواصلة) (مواصلة) استراحة استراحة an international affair. The program 3:30-4:00 الدرس الثالث الدرس الثالث offered advanced level seminars on

تخريج احلديث تصوف الدرس الثالث various Islamic Sciences including 4:00-5:30 د.احمد صنوبر د. محمود املصري الياقوت النفيس (معامالت) و حاشية الباجوري، من قسم االهيات الكتب -Logic (Mantik), Belief (Aqida), Juris الفقه - شافعي مقتطفات من شروح املهاج علم الكالم غاية الوصول شرح لب األصول - مقاالت مختلفة -prudence (Fiqh), Hadith and Spiritu أصول الفقه - شافعي مباحث الدالالت كالم و فلسفة غربية

الفقه - حنفي اخملتار - كتاب البيوع تاريخ الفكر االسالمي مقاالت مختلفة ality (Tasawwuf). In addition, there أصول الفقه - حنفي اصول الالمشي تصوف مقتطفات من الشعر الصوفي ,were special topic-based seminars تخريج احلديث (مراجعة مصطلح احلديث) such as ‘Ottoman Political Thought’ and ‘Issues in Contemporary Is- 1 lamic Theology’. The teachers were all specialists in their fields hailing Bakri, Salih el-Ghursi and Talha Hakan from Turkey, Jordan, Syria and the United Alp. The classes, taught in Arabic, were cen- States. They included Recep Şentürk, Bilal tered on advanced classical texts and, from Aybakan, Ahmad Snobar, Mahmud al-Mis- time to time, they were further enriched ri, Amjad Rashid, Omar Qureshi, Hamza with debates on contemporary issues. The 13 students had an intense week of classes with lectures in both the mornings and afternoons. On the weekends, cultural trips were planned to enhance the participants’ familiarity with the Islamic civilization and culture. Along with the historical sites, important scholarly headquarters such as İSAM (Center for Islamic Studies), Valide Atik Medresesi and Özbekler Tekkesi were also visited. To foster communication and • Feryal Salem, Assoc. Prof. Hartford Seminary, U.S. networking between students, • Mustafa Styer, PhD, University of Oxford, England occasional social gatherings in • Qayyim Naoki Yamamoto, PhD student,. Kyoto University, Japan Istanbul took place. Addition- • Rawda Ansari, PhD candidate, Georgetown University, U.S. ally, students got the chance • Bassem Ghamian, M.A., McGill University, Canada to listen to a lecture entitled • Mariam Sheibani, PhD candidate, University of Chicago, U.S. ‘Can you be a Principled Mus- • Naeel Cajee, M.A. and Medical student, Harvard University, U.S. • Niaz Ahmad, B.A., Concordia University, Canada lim in Liberal Academia?’ by • Sara Islam, PhD candidate, Princeton University, U.S. Jonathan Brown of the Uni- • Humayum Tokhi, B.A., University of Virgina, U.S. versity of Georgetown, and ex- • Omar Popal, Ijaza, Dar al-Qasim, Chicago, U.S. changed thoughts around the • Amir Bashir, PhD student, University of Chicago, U.S. topic. In the closing ceremony • Zeyd Khater, B.A., Columbia Collage, U.S. on August 26th, for their high • Corey Shaver, M.A., Hartford Seminary, U..S. achievement, the participants • Navid Chizari, M.A., Osnabrück, Germany were presented with certifi- • Enes Erdoğan, M.A., Osnabrück, Germany • Emine Mutlu, M.A., France cates. • Tuba Erkoç Baydar, PhD candidate, Marmara University, Turkey List of Attendees: • Tuba Korkmaz, PhD candidate, Istanbul University, Turkey • Eda Uğur, PhD candidate, Istanbul University, Turkey

14 Summer School Student Testimonials

The EDEP Summer Intensive months to accomplish what we were was definitely one of the able to accomplish in one month. most beneficial courses I Our teachers--ranging from Dr. took in the past years. Recep Senturk, to Dr. Ham- The program was very za Bakri to Shaykh Amjad well structured so that Rashid, to Dr. Ahmad Snober, there was a good variety were all deeply engaged with of several classes in differ- the students, willing to an- ent branches of the Islamic swer our questions and give us sciences. I really liked the bal- ample time outside of class. We ance between reading texts with were blessed to be in the presence of well-known scholars and discussing teachers who are not just knowledgeable, modern issues with experienced academics. There but truly in service of the din and the umma. I was a very nice harmony among the participants actually continued studying with one of the pro- and I made friends with people who have the fessors during the course of the semester after the same goals and interests as I have. program ended, and it has been one of the most useful classes I have taken in my graduate career. Enes Erdoğan, M.A., Osnabrück, Germany In the program itself, our courses included Hanafi The EDEP Summer Program was an enormously fiqh and usul, takhrij al-hadith, mantiq, kalam, enriching experience for me. As a doctoral stu- as well as special topics dealing with contempo- dent in Islamic Studies at Princeton, I am always rary issues. Some courses involved covering tradi- in the process of learning, and seek out resources tional texts, while others were application courses whereever I can find them. This often means trav- in which we applied the principles we had learned eling to various parts of the world to study with to real examples. Being with such a diverse group different teachers, or to visit libraries in order to of intelligent and dedicated students, I also made access rare books and manuscripts. What made lasting friendships that were based on our love the EDEP program so valuable was the fact that for seeking knowledge. This intensive program is we were able to study with so many highly quali- just the beginning of a life long journey seeking fied and engaging shuyukh and professors under knowledge. I look forward to remaining engaged one roof, and that we were able to cover so much with EDEP and the wonderful students and fac- advanced material in such a short period ulty that are part of this community. of time. Normally a student must Sarah Islam, Princeton University, travel to multiple destina- PhD Candidate tions and study for many

15 The Interrelationship between of Urban Studies and Islam: Interview with Heba Raouf Merve Şeker Şensoy, Marmara University Faculty of Religious Education, Master’s Student

Heba Raouf Ezzat is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at İbn Haldun University. She has been a Visiting Fellow at Oxford University, University of Westminster, University of California at Berkeley, Georgetown Uni- versity, and Oxford’s Centre for Islamic Studies. She has researched and written on topics such as global civil society and building global democracy, women and politics in Islam, faith and citizenship, and political and social movements in Islam. She is also a newspaper columnist and contributes actively to mass media and online debates.

At EDEP you teach Urban Sociology. It is re- and politics. I started by reading and then teac- ally beneficial for us to understand the noti- hing these topics. So I have been teaching urban on of the city in its complexity. I would like to sociology and urban politics for about ten years, ask you how you became interested in urban and I have also been teaching it as a unit of study studies. What was the motivation for you to in all the courses I teach. So, if I teach Islamic explore this field? movements, I teach the impact of urbanization on Islamic movements; and if I teach religion, I I am a political scientist and I was doing my PhD teach the impact of space on time and faith; and on the concept of citizenship. I realized that we if I am teaching political thought I would take the cannot talk about citizenship historically unless city as a topic in the history of political thought. we study the notion of the city and the early ma- So it became part of all other courses I teach.I am nifestations of citizenship in Greek cities, where currently teaching at the Alliance of Civilizations the notion of citizenship started historically in Institute at Ibn Haldun University, with a focus the field of political thought. I realized that there on Global Civil Society, Politics, and Ethics. I am has been a transformation in the understanding also teaching a course on the methodology of the of the concept of the city that I was studying ac- study of civilizations, and how to approach civili- ross time based on the changes in the conditions zations from the angle of the history of cities in of the city. So there is a relation between how dif- different civilizations. So it became part of my un- ferent cities have changed and how the notions derstanding of sociology and politics. of citizenship were changing. I became fascinated by the relationship between space and power, so I started reading more about how power relations What do you think about the benefits of ur- are manifested in urban planning, in designing ban studies for students of social sciences? the city, in mobility, and in how cities serve spe- It is important to take into consideration in any cific classes, as well as the circles of faith in the analysis of social sciences and social relations the city. And different topics arose on the way and I dimension of space, or as they call it in German, 16 became very much interested in urban sociology Raum or Dasein. The philosophy of space is very During the lectures we have learned about important to understanding all social and political what makes a city Islamic and also relations relations, from family relations to neighborhoods, between building, dwelling and thinking. By to the society, to political manifestations of power taking these into account, how do you eva- in cosmopolitan cities, to the space of geography luate Istanbul as a city? in sovereign nation states, to globalization. It is a city that is changing immensely. The spi- While teaching, how do you help students ritual heart of İstanbul is very Islamic but the make connection between the course rea- new areas in İstanbul are extremely cosmopoli- dings and the real world? tan - very ugly if you are talking about random I think this is the most relevant course to real buildings, and only meant for the rich if you see life because we all live in cities, yet some of the new gated communities in new areas. So, they students come from outside the city. They come are taking the example of other urban globalized from small towns, they come from villages, they cities. And this, for me, is very disturbing. Be- come from far towns located on mountains. So cause I thought that the party in power should it is easier to relate urban studies and urban so- know more about urban planning in Turkey and ciology to the life of the students than to relate be aware of how to develop the Islamic city while it to international relations, for example. All the keeing the notions of faith in mind. Unfortuna- time in the class I encourage students to reflect tely, what I see is that they are just imitating the on their own life, on their own experiences, and new suburbs of different mega-cities worldwide. to try put it in perspective according to the rea- It is not enough to have a mosque here and there dings they are discussing in the class. to make the new areas Islamic. It is looking inc- How does the city affect faith or the practice reasingly like Dubai, which is a very ugly city. A of faith? notion of Islamic city is missing and there must be a way to enable people to live a good life and You need to understand what faith does in hu- to enjoy beauty as well as become moral by living man life and compare it to what the city does in human life. So faith affects human life in terms in these new areas. I really encourage those who of values, in terms of relations, in terms of jud- are interested in this to look into what has been gements, in terms of ethics and morality and be- written about that in sociology. havior, and frame of reference in situations that you come across in day to day life. And the city What is your advice to those who want to re- offers a different paradigm, it is a different faith: search and specialize in urban studies? the faith of capitalism,modernity, and urbanism. You can read, for example, the work by Zygmunt I think they can do that from all different ba- Bauman on Liquid Modernity and the condition ckgrounds. I am a political scientist but I became of life in cities, and it will clarify how the city im- interested in space and time and the city. You can pacts people in a specific way in their behavior, do it from a psychology background focusing on which makes urban life similar in different cultu- how living in urban spaces affects our psycho- res. So if you live in Kuala Lumpur it is like living logy, our relation with our own self; or people in Cairo, it is like living in İstanbul, like living in from an Ilahiyyat background can explore how London. Of course there are differences here and there, but there are similarities as well. Faith is the city was seen and portrayed in the Quran and affected. Faith is based on modesty, on humility, in the Sunnah. People from the background of on solidarity, on sacrifice, on Îsar, on giving tho- economics can talk about the economy of the city se who need, on simplicity, on goodness. These and how it can become more egalitarian.I think are values that are not cherished nor nurtured that urban sociology can be a bridge between dif- by the consumerist, commodified life of the city. ferent disciplines. 17 Conference with Ayşe Esra Şahyar: the Role of Female Companions in the Transition from the Jahiliyyah Period to Islam

Ayşe Esra Şahyar August 5th, 2015, EDEP Conference Hall Esma Arıcıoğlu, EDEP student - 29 Mayıs University Faculty of Turkish Literature, Junior

Ayşe Esra Şahyar, born in Istanbul in that continues to manifest itself now, in the April, 1975, graduated from Marmara Uni- “modern” world that we live in. Despite this versity’s Faculty of Theology in 1996. She dominant negative perception of women, it completed her master’s degree in hadith is our duty to seek knowledge with courage at Marmara University’s Social Sciences and open minds, without any hesitation or Institute in 1998. In 2005, she received her shame, and then to apply that knowledge in PhD from the same institution with a dis- our lives just as the female companions did. sertation on weak hadith narration. Şahyar For instance, they requested that the Mes- senger of God (sas) allocate a time to teach worked as a research assistant at Marma- them their religion and answer their indi- ra University between 1997 and 2005, and vidual questions. On some occasions, their was appointed to Marmara University’s brave questions prompted the revelation Faculty of Theology in 2001 as an assistant of verses and many legal commands were professor in the field of hadith. She contin- elucidated through this. It is impossible to ues to teach there today. ignore the benefit that women brought to Islamic society: they played a huge role in In August, 2015, Ayşe Esra Şahyar hon- the transition from a lawless society to one ored EDEP with a presentation on the role in which the rule of law provided incredible of female companions in the formation of social harmony. This makes them role mod- Islamic society, which was an especially els, for they paved the way for solutions significant event in light of EDEP’s dedica- to the problems in the very center of dai- tion to the education of women. After this ly life. Rather than remaining silent, they conference, we, as EDEP’s students, were preferred to voice their concerns in order inspired to take the female companions as to understand the truth. Of particular im- our guides. portance were the clarifications on issues specific to women that emerged as a direct It is well known that the jahiliyyah society result of the female companions’ eagerness objectified women and did not consider to learn and the fact that they were not them as to be individuals. While listening ashamed to ask questions when it came to to the ustadhah explain the jahilliyah atti- their religion. tude towards women, it was impossible not to draw a parallel between that view and Ayşe Esra Şahyar spoke of the Prophet’s 18 the same limited understanding of women time as a period in which women were taking a more active role in knowledge in com- descending of a verse to right the wrong parison to other periods. When we consider of the slander directed at Aisha (ra). We the first female companion, Khadijah (ra), learned from this that people who spread we find that that female companions had such slander are punished with lashing. a role to play from the very first instance Something that made us smile was when the of the Messenger of God receiving reve- ustadhah spoke of how people were intimi- lation. Ayşe Esra Şahyar mentioned that dated by women in the time of the Proph- Sumayyah (ra) was the first female martyr et (PBUH). The companions were worried and that Ummu Hasam (ra) was martyred that a verse might descend correcting their on the way to Cyprus during the caliphate behavior through their interactions with of ‘Uthman (ra). This is a clear indicator of women and some of them even used to pre- how active women were in that period. They emptively change their actions. found solutions in very complicated situations, just as Umm Salamah (ra) did. The When we see the jahiliyyah traditions re- female companions showed that women are occur in our times, a burden falls on our capable of participating in their society and shoulders, especially since we are the in- producing solutions to the problems of the heritors of a tradition that changed a soci- time. At times, they did what Hawla (ra) did ety’s understanding of women. During the when she discussed the ambiguity of her Prophet’s time, one generation went from divorce with the Prophet (PBUH); on this seeing women as objects, to valuing them occasion, surah al-Mujadalah descended in as founding members of their community. response. Tyrannizing women on this issue Our task is obvious: take female compan- is prevented. Thus, the brave attitudes of ions such as Umm Salamah, Sumayyah, women resulted in clarifications of many Khadijah and Asma as role models, become aspects of Islamic law, just like Abu Sala- lovers of knowledge that work to find solu- ma asking the Messenger of God questions tions to problems, and act in a brave and de- about inheritance. Another example is the cisive way just like the female companions. 19 Conference with Murteza Bedir: The Role of Fiqh in Religious Life

August 19, 2015, EDEP Conference Hall

Gülbeyaz Sevgi Yaman EDEP student - Istanbul University Faculty of Theology, Freshman

Murteza Bedir graduated from the faculty of theology at Marmara University in 1992. He completed his master’s degree in law at the University of London. He wrote his Phd dissertation at the University of Manchester on “Early Development of Hanafi Usul Al-Fiqh Legal Theory.” Aside from his works on Islamic and Hanafi legal theory, comparative law, Islamic law as it relates to modernization and fatwa literature, Bedir put forth various studies related to the law of foundations (vakıf hukuku). His books include: Buhara School of Law: a Review from the Perspective of the Law of Foundations in the 10th-13th century Asia Minor; The Book of Secrifice; The Universal Message of the Prophet: Sunnah; Fiqh, Madhab and Sunnah; Authority of the Prophet in Hanafi Legal Theory. He has also published many translations, articles, and encyclopedia entries as well. Murteza Bedir is currently the head of the Faculty of Theol- ogy at Istanbul University, where he is also a lecturer. 20 For the sixth iteration of the EDEP conference series, the purpose of which is to raise “Our deeds from awareness, we hosted Murteza Bedir, the head of the faculty of theology at Istanbul birth to death, in University. He began his talk by answering the question, “what is religion?” by saying: every moment of “it is everything that the Qur’an and Sun- our lives (are) sub- nah are concerned with.” Afterwards, we discussed the content of religion: “religion ject to certain rul- is constituted by a set of conclusions which are given for a purpose.” A Hukm (conclu- ings. These rulings sion) is a religious ruling. These conclusions are called Shar’i are important pillars of İslam. They can be divided into three categories and the Hukm and are giv- Qur’an, in its essence, consists of them. en by God alone” The first of these categories is the dimension of creed. Where do we come from? How were we created? Why were we created? most humans neglect as they dwell in the What should we believe in? This dimension material world. These are aimed at putting deals with the answers to these questions man’s relations with himself and with God in and is actually the most crucial element in order. These esoteric conclusions are called shaping our worldview. Man is not left alone as “purificatory” ortasaffi in sufism. At this in this first step of understanding to make point, their main purpose is to enable man sense of himself. He who believes in a con- to reach the tahqiq level in faith and deeds cept of the afterlife shapes his life philoso- and feel this within. Purification,tasfiye phy accordingly. helps us internalize our faith and deeds. Once belief is established, to remind us After our teacher set out these three di- once again that we are here for a purpose mensions, he returned to the main topic and to guide us, we reach a field that deals of practical fıqh or practice. What is amal, with how we, on both individual and so- or action? Allah knows our inner self, the cial levels, are supposed to take action. In things that run through our minds and fact, as one believes, there is no need to say hearts are between us and Him, but when anything further after this Quranic verse internal intentions are put into action, “Did you think you were to be left in idle- they become visible to everyone and we be- ness when you had faith?” Surah Al-Anka- come responsible for them. Thus, our deeds but : Verse 2. The religious rulings that di- from birth to death, in every moment of rect how man should behave from birth to our lives, except for the involuntery ones, death, are located in the dimension of prac- become subject to certain rulings. These tice – this is Ilm al-Fiqh. rulings are called Shar’i Hukm (conclusions) and are given by God alone. As to why they The third dimension of religion deals with are given by God alone, Islamic scholars esoteric (batıni) conclusions or rulings, and answer: “Hüküm, Allah’ın hitabıdır;” God contains the important moral issues that adresses through rulings. 21 He is the reason for our being. Right at this The practical establishment of Islam on point, our teacher reminds us of something Earth occurred with the Prophet and his we often avoid thinking of; “We didn’t come Companions, whose actions were addressed to this world to make the constructions of cit- with direct revelation from God in the years ies sustainable we came here to worship Allah 610-632. The occurrences that prompted Most High.” The aim is to be servants to Him revelation are known and agreed upon by and everything other than that is nothing but the pious companions, thus they are not a tool. Therefore we, as servants of Allah, are subject to change. We cannot make up a not capable of setting out the rulings pertain- ruling about the things that the pious coming to our deeds. Practical rulings are present panions came together in consensus, ijma’, with God’s revelation and only He can establish them. upon. The rulings that are based on the Qur’an, Sunnah and Ijma’ are under God’s protection, and they have reached us with His protection. “There are also matters “We did not that are open to interpretation,” continues come to this Bedir: those that are open to interpretation despite being explicitly mentioned in world to make the Qur’an, such as the rulings regarding the construc- animal sacrifice or ablution, which lead to questions like “is sacrificing an obligatory tions of cities or a recommended act?” Or, “must ablution sustainable, we be performed in the order mentioned in the Qur’an? Or can it be done in a different came here to order?” are open to human interpretation. worship Allah There are also rulings that are not from Qur’an or Sunnah that are open to interpre- Most High.” tation, such as the righteous companions deciding whom to declare to be the leader of the Muslim community after the death The most important of the practical rulings of the Prophet peace be upon him. are those that are related to acts worship, Bedir described for us the formation of the ibadat. The reason for this is that they are four schools of juridical thought through the requisites of being a kul, a servant, and the work of the scholars, who synthesized that most of the deeds are actually acts of the consensus of the pious companions and worhip. In the dimension of fiqh dealing with social relations, topics related to mar- their differences of opinion. Our teacher riage, divorce, inheritance, and buying and conluded his talk by saying that “the ques- selling are covered. These may not seem to tion of a matter’s openness to interpre- be acts of worship, but they are indirectly tation is determined by the agreement or related, as they are governed by the limits disagreement of the pious companions re- 22 set by God, hudud-Allah. garding that matter.” Expanding our Horizons through Study Abroad September 2nd, 2015 /EDEP Conference Hall

Tuba Erkoç EDEP Specialization Program Vice Coordinator Ayşenur Kabakçı EDEP student - Istanbul University Faculty of Theology, Freshman

Towards the end of the summer education- ology and a minor in Social Sciences. She al program, we hosted Tuba Erkoç from the received her master’s degree in theology EDEP family, who is a research assistant in from Istanbul University. Her master’s Marmara University’s Faculty of Theology thesis was entitled “Ebu Ishaq Al Shirazi’s and EDEP Post-Graduate Program Vice Co- Views on Command (emr) and Prohibition ordinator. She shared with us her experi- (nehy).” Tuba has started a doctorate pro- ences in America. gram in Islamic Law at Marmara Universi- Tuba Erkoç was born in Tatvan in the prov- ty, where she currently serves as a research ince of Bitlis and graduated from Uludağ assistant as well. Tuba’s doctoral disserta- University with a bachelor’s degree in The- tion focus is on euthanasia and life-ending 23 treatments as an ethical problem from an covering all the costs, she emphasized that Islamic perspective. Her areas of inter- study abroad experiences are necessary to est include Shafiifiqh, fiqh methodology, become a successful academic. medical ethics, bioethics, euthanasia, and Tuba spoke briefly about Georgetown Uni- issues about life-ending treatment. Tuba’s versity in Washington D.C. This University early education began in the classical ma- was founded in 1789 by a priest for entire- drasah system in Bursa followed by the ISM ly religious educational purposes, making program in Istanbul. Tuba has travelled to it the oldest Catholic university. She said both Syria and Jordan to further her stud- that its education is mainly at the master’s ies. She currently holds the position of re- and doctoral level. Georgetown’s Kennedy searcher in ISAM’s AYP program. She spent Institute is the most significant center for a year in the United States bioethical research, and in- to attend various courses cludes an extensive library. at Georgetown Universi- For this reason, Tuba chose ty’s Kennedy Institute of Study this university for her re- Ethics. search. She informed us Tuba’s presentation at abroad ex- about the International In- the summer program was periences stitute of Islamic Thought entitled “Expanding our (IIIT), which has summer Horizons through Study are nec- schools in Europe, America Abroad.” She shared with essary to and Turkey with all the costs us her experiences from her covered. year abroad and discussed become a Finally, Tuba mentioned the with us the educational standards and advantages of possibilities that exist in successful the academic environment America. academic in America. The grades are She stated that one can go obtained by the assignments abroad for a master’s or students prepare and teach- doctorate program with the Ministry of Ed- ers reinforce student success by checking ucation supported by their YLYS program. for individual improvement and following This program covers all expenses through- student progress. The courses are held ei- out the education period. Moreover, with ther in small groups or conference-style and the ÖYP program, one can get a position in these classes are based on dialogues and a Turkish university and continue a mas- presentations. She added that the libraries ter’s and doctorate abroad before returning are very well designed for students and they to the university as an assisstant professor. are open for 24 hours. They are structured One can further benefit from Exchange and to provide endless sources for research and Erasmus programs, for example, and travel- possibilities of exchange with other librar- ing abroad opportunities are also provided ies in America and Europe. by TÜBİTAK’s 2214A Program. The require- On behalf of my fellow students, I thank ments of this program include passing the Tuba Erkoç for her presentation. Her valu- doctorate proficiency exam and present- able experiences opened new horizons for ing a project to conduct in the country of us. study. After informing us about TÜBİTAK’s 24 The Waqf Workshop

Birnur Bölen EDEP Research Fellow

One of the many activities of EDEP’s Spe- two main sections. The first deals with tech- cialization Program, the “Waqf Workshop,” nical issues like consultations and decisions is off to a running start in the 2015-2016 about the workshop activities for enhancing academic year. It was founded on the basis waqf studies. The second section is com- of the advice and guidance of Murteza Be- prised of conferences in which the experts dir. The workshop focuses on the Ottoman of foundation law can share their knowledge foundations (awqaf) and the waqf teach- and lead discussions on the topic. ings of the Hanafi school of legal thought. It is carried out with the participation of The first conference, held in October:“Ija - Murteza Bedir and many other worthies like ratain in the Ottoman Legal System” was Erol Ozvar, Tahsin Ozcan, Selim Argun and given by Suleyman Kaya, an academic in Suleyman Kaya. The workshop consists of the Faculty of Islamic law at Sakarya Uni- 25 foundations, the perpetuity condition, and

expenditure locations of foundations as

he analyzed the fundamental texts of the Eğitime Destek Programları Merkezi Center for Excellence in Education madhhab in the Ottoman period and the ﻣرﻛز اﻟﺗﻣﯾز اﻟﻌﻠﻣﻲ fatwas of the shaykh al-islam. VAKIF ATÖLYESİ SEMİNERLERİ-3 In December, Tijen Sabirli was invited to present her study “Study of Nurbanu Atik Tijen Sabırlı Valide Sultan Waqf.” She spoke about Ot- toman waqfs and the Nurbanu Atik Valide “Nurbanu Atik Vâlide Sultan Waqf as one of the important examples found in the Ottoman period. In Sultan Vakfı İncelemesi” her study, she investigated Nurbanu Atik

12 Aralık 2015 Saat: 11:30 Valide Sultan Waqf deeply and obtained in- EDEP Üsküdar Şubesi formation about the operation of the waqf

versity. Kaya presented his study on the waqf system with the ijaratain, which has an important place in the Ottoman waqf system. He mentioned the occurrence of ijaratain and its development through a remarkable amount of fatwas and court VAKIF ATÖLYESI records that he analyzed. He indicated SEMINERLERI - 4 that ijaratain was a concept that under- went changes and progressed over time. That is why ijaratain may have had differ- OSMANLI’DA ent meanings in documents, and why the PARA VAKIFLARI concept needs to be examined further in order to better understand and reveal its Prof. Dr. Tahsin ÖZCAN meaning. 16 Ocak 2016 Cumartesi 12:00 In November, Hamdi Cilingir gave a presentation on “The Purpose of Waqf in the Hanafi Jurisprudence,” which was also a summary of his doctoral thesis. Cilingir discussed the “purpose factor” that is laid down as a condition in forming foundations and the views on it in the Hanafi school of through an in-depth analysis of the records thought. He further explored issues like of the waqfiyya and accounting. the distinction between durri and khayri 26 In January, Tahsin Ozcan presented on “Ottoman Cash Waqfs.” He spoke about the Ottoman waqf system in general and about the emergence of cash waqfs in this system. The conference was very interactive, enthu- siastic, and engaging, with a lot of participation from the audience. Ozcan discussed issues like the emergence of cash waqfs, and their development and importance in the Ottoman economy. Additionally, he spoke about mu’amala-i sharriyyah, which was used in the cash waqfs. The topic that drew the most attention was the discussion of the Ottoman ulama on the lawfulness of the cash waqfs.

In March, Mehmet Genç, one of the experts in Turkey in the field of the economic his- in April, Selim Argun presented on the topic tory of the Ottoman Empire, gave a lecture of “Waqfs, Ulama and the Elite.” Argun stat- entitled “Classical Era Waqf Implementation ed that he became interested in this area of in the Ottoman Empire 1500-1800.” He dis- study when he read an article by Uriel Heyd. In his study, he chose not to assume that cussed the social, political and economic the ulama were the only factor that shaped aspects of waqf practices in the Ottoman Ottoman society. Rather, he defended the Empire and shared useful and concise in- thesis that an intensive tension among Ot- formation about the importance of waqfs, toman elites occurred before the Tanzimat indicating the guidelines of the system. He era, arguing that this inter-elite conflict al- summarized the Ottoman system with the tered the practices as well as the role of the concise phrase: “let people live so the state Ottoman ulama. He stated that, in contrast can live.” He stated that “Ottomans were with other Islamic states, respected ulama not opposed to wealth and they also did in the Ottoman Empire reached their posi- not like poverty. Therefore, they prevented tions and maintained them using waqfs. The excessive wealth.” In order to achieve this, conference was coloured with lively discus- the Ottoman Empire limited profit rates sions and the questions and comments of and gave enormous support to the waqfs in the audience. order to provide social equality. Genç also The presentations mentioned above were indicated that the waqf development of the the highlight of the 2015-2016 academic Ottomans opened new horizons with cash year. We owe many thanks to our invaluable waqfs and the ijaratain system. At the end professors, who participated and contrib- of the conference, participating professors uted to the workshop and presented their discussed Hanafiwaqf doctrine. projects and findings so eloquently. In the last session before the summer term, 27 Islamic Family Law Continues with “Mentor of Scholars,” Mehmet Savaş

Esra Ukallo EDEP Research Fellow

The EDEP Center’s Specialization Program started the Islamic Family Law Class with the textbook “al-Ahwal al-Skakhsiyyah fi al- Sharia al-Islamiyyah” by Muhammed Muhyiddin Abdalhamid and continues after two years with the textbook “al-Hidayah” by al-Marghinani, which has been taught by our preeminent teacher Mehmet Savaş for over 40 years. He is called “the Qari of al- Hidayah”, because al-Hidayah is not easy to read; it is the last book madrasah students read to complete their studies. Mehmet Savaş is not only reading and explaining the text, he gives his students a holistic view of fiqh which trains the student to think in very complex ways and to solve the problems of our time. We are thankful to have classes with him and we are greatly blessed to be benefitting from his knowledge and experiences. May Allah bless him with a long life.

28 EDEP Hosts the Second Annual Arabic Student Symposium

EDEP’s second annual Arabic Student Sym- )الدين ”posium entitled “Religion and Change was held on December 17th, 2016 in و التغري( Üsküdar. The presentations were given by students who completed their Arabic education and were able to participate in the Jordan Sum- mer Program. The students who participated in the symposium entitled “Religion, Culture الدين، الثقافة و املجتمع يف)”and Society in Jordan last year, also gave speeches. This added a certain richness to this year’s Arabic Student (األردن symposium and the students, researchers and academics in attendance were quite impressed. The program started with a Qur’an recitation by EDEP’s director Hüseyin Taşkın, and contin�- ued with the opening speeches from Hamza al-Bakri, lecturer of Fıqh at EDEP and instructor at 29 May University, and Şeyma Özdemir, the Jordan Summer Program Advisor. Then, Osa-� ma al-Hamwi, lecturer in Islamic Law at Istanbul University’s Department of Theology deliv- )جتديد الفقه اإلسالمي يف يومنا هذا(. ”ered a presentation entitled “Innovation of Islamic Fıqh Today Al-Hamwi emphasized the need for the renewal of fiqh with various examples from medicine and society. Following the opening speeches, the first session, “Science and Change”, was chaired by Ibrahim Tüfekçi, an Arabic instructor at Marmara University. Our students Esra Gürbüz, Süheyla Akçay, Güngör Özbirecikli and Hamide Yamaç gave speeches. Respectively, their pre-� حلول)“ sentations were entitled “Solutions Brought by Religion for the Problem of Poverty Consensus of Islamic Scholars (Ijma’) and Possibility of its Occurrence“ ,(الرشيعة ملشكلة الفقر 29 Marriage of“ ,( اإلمجاع و إمكانية إنعقاده يف العرصاحلديث)”Today علم كالم ) ”and “New Ilm al-Kalam ,(زواج املسيار) ”Misyar -The presentations were appreciated by the au .(اجلديد dience, for they were not only excellent in fluency, but well-researched and interesting. Various topics about Jordan were presented in the second session entitled “Philosophy, Language and Change”, which was moderated by Hamza al-Bakrî. The session concluded with Elif Özçelik’s presentation on اللغة الفصحى يف) ”Arabic in Persian at Jordan University“ after presentations by our students, Sevinç (اجلامعة األردنية Akay and Rukiye Alper, called “ Education of Philoso- phy in Jordan and the Effect of Modern Western Phi- تعليم الفلسفة يف) ”losophy on Contemporary Arab Thought and ,(األردن و تاثري الفلسفة الغربية احلديثة عىل األفكار العربية املعارصة الفلسفة) ”Relation of Philosophy and Religion in Jordan“ .(و عالقتها بالدين يف األردن The third session, “Social Issues and Change” was chaired by Ayşe Meylâni, an Arabic teacher at EDEP. Many students presented on topics related to social life in Jordan. Our students, Züheyra Tokaç, Esma Nur Demirtaş and Ayşenur Elif Ünal gave their presenta-� tions entitled “The Notion of ‘Family’ in Jordan and )مفهوم العائلة يف األردن و «its Relation to Advertisements )عقوبة اإلعدام يف”Death Penalty in Jordan“ ,عالقته باإلعالنات( )ظاهرة النقاب ”Phenomenon of the Veil in Jordan“ ,األردن(

30 -The session came to an end with Zeynep Şamlı’s speech “Change in Muslims’ Under يف. األردن( .)تغري مفاهيم االستهالك عند املسلمني يف العامل احلديث ( ”standings of Consumption in the Modern World The fourth session, “Education and Change”, was chaired by Zeynep Çilingir, one of the Ar- abic teachers and coordinators at EDEP. The students and subjects were as follows: Zeynep ألعاب لألطفال الذين ذكاؤهم) “ Beyza Sezen, “Games for Children with Visual and Tactile Intelligence Nimet Cebeci, “The Use ;(أدب األطفال) ”Esme Arıcıoğlu, “Children’s Literature ;(برصي و حركي of Classical Resources in Modern Educational Institutions: The Example of Imam Zarnuji” .(استخدام املصادر الكالسيكية يف األنظمة التعليمية احلديثة مثال طريق التعلم لإلمام الزرنوجي) In the fifth and final session, “History-Politics and Change”, the presentations entitled “Elec- -Is“ ,(إلنتخابات 2016 يف األردن و اإلخوان املسلمني) ”tions in Jordan in 2016 and Muslim Brotherhood and “Communism ,(السياسة اإلسالمية العثامنية_ بوسنيا) ”lamic Policy of the Ottoman Empire in Bosnia الشيوعية يف بوسنيا: من سقوط الدولة) ”in Bosnia: From the Collapse of Ottoman Empire to the Present were delivered by our students: respectively, Sümeyye Mine İltekin, Zeynep (العثامنية إىل يومنا احلارض Büşra Usman and Ayşe Betül Karaaslan. The session was moderated byHeba Raouf Ezzat of Cairo University.

Each session was enriched by moments of deep contemplation and valuable questions by our guests. At the end, certificates and gifts were presented to the student participants and moderators.

This special program was arranged by Chairman of the Executive Board of EDEP Recep Şentürk, Modern Arabic Coordinator Ahmad Snobar, Specialization Program Coordinator Merve Özdemir and Specialization Program Coordinator and Research Fellow Özlem Kahya. The master of ceremonies was the Jordan Summer Program Advisor and Researcher Fatma Ateş. To conclude the program, Hüseyin Kayapınar, lecturer in Fıqh at Haseki Training Center and EDEP, gave a speech.

31 Interview with

Binnur Bölen, EDEP Research Fellow Şeyma Nur Temel, EDEP Research Fellow Nimet Küçük, EDEP Research Fellow

How did Murteza Bedir begin his journey Hatip school. What that means is that I on the path of knowledge? Throughout the dropped out and begun memorizing the Qu- period of your high school, university, and ran. In Fatih’s Çarşamba district there was a master’s education, which sciences have newly established, one year-old institute in you studied and with which scholars? As Ismailağa. In 1980 I begun studying at the an academic who devoted his youth to this institute Ahmet Vanlıoğlu established. My path, would you tell us about these years? adventure there lasted seven years. There, I studied in a very modernized madrasa com- Years ago, when I finished elementary pared to that times’ standards. We saw a lot school, I enrolled in Imam Hatip school. The of scholars, hocas, met many renowned peo- Bakırköy Imam Hatip Highschool was then ple and had the chance to learn lessons from located in Bağcılar. I studied there for two them. With the democratization that came years. Then, I had a cousin, the son of my un- about with the coup of 1980, Istanbul was cle, who was memorizing the Quran and had receiving vast amount of immigrants from finished it. He came to me one day and told the southeast and east. Meanwhile, many me that there was an institute newly emerg- scholars from the southeast were coming to ing if I was interested in becoming a true İstanbul and most would visit the madrasa. scholar, an alim, and he told me about Ahmet We had teachers from distant places, they Vanlıoğlu. I was a child of twelve or thirteen, were mostly scholars from the Black Sea but this made me very excited. I remember region but there were some from the south- very well that when I told my father about eastern part of Turkey as well. When I look my wish to go there, he told me “go wher- back, an important teacher was Nurettin ever you want, I am not meddling in such Can, may God have mercy on him, who came business”--to the degree that he didn’t even from a madrasa in Tillo. There were many take the document showing approval (of my teachers who later came through him. And withdrawal from school). Somehow, I my- there was Ahmet Vanlıoğlu himself, and 32 self managed to obtain it and left the Imam Hasbi Hoca, may God have mercy on him, who was a very student-friendly scholar. I remember studying Hadith and usul al-Had- Surprisingly, this ith with him. We read Tac, Davud-I Karsi. We was a modern ma- read commentaries on Birgivi. Surprising- drasa...there were ly, this was a modern madrasa. There were Imam hatip teachers who quit their jobs at even courses on the Imam Hatip schools and began teaching literature and En- there. They were mostly in the administration. Thus there was a more formal struc- glish language... ture. I mean, think about it, there were even It was a madrasa courses on literature and English language thanks to the presence of teachers such as not very much in Ahmet Özer and Ahmet Fevzi Koç. With the conformity with the vision of Ahmet Vanlıoğlu, it was a madrasa not very much in conformity with the tradi- traditional pattern tional pattern of Çarşamba. For that reason, they didn’t look favorably on us but rather tion and three years of specialization but I saw us as being corrupted. skipped one year of the basic education, so in total when I completed three years of basic and two years of specialized education, Are any of your classmates in academia I then received two (more) years of special- now? ized education. There are ones like me and there are ones Then I was accepted into Bosphorus Uni- in other positions. I mean there are those versity and went there. After studying a who continued within the traditional struc- preparatory year, I decided to go back to ture of Çarşamba and there are others who the Faculty of Theology. To be more specific, switched to formal education and stayed there was a rush to Al-Azhar in those days. there. Bayram Ali Karamustafaoğlu and Yavuz Kamadan hoca once told us about his Bayram Ali Öztürk, who was şehid, killed in experiences there and I put it in my mind a mosque, for instance - he was Mahmud to study al-Shariat al-Qanun at Al-Azhar. Efendi’s son-in-law and he was our Farsi But then my father buckled down and said teacher. We took lessons from very differ- no, I couldn’t go. So I shifted gears towards ent instructors. There were Imam Hatip Theology. In this way I came to Marmara teachers. I remember we had an English Theology. And because I studied English teacher who came from Europe. And a mod- preparation at Bosphorus University and ern Arabic teacher who studied in Mecca and knew Arabic, I didn’t have to do the stan- then came here. He used to have us memo- dard preparatory year. And as I was exempt rise nasheeds. Resul Tosun taught us when from the English courses as well, I finished he first came. He later became a deputy and Marmara Theology in three and a half years at some point published a journal called in 1991. I had in mind that I would study Yörünge. I remained there for seven years in jurisprudence both for my specialization total. There were four years of basic educa- 33 read Sharh al-Aqaid, Telhis, Molla Cami, Kafi- ye before I came to the faculty of theology. When I finished We even finishedHidaya and Usul of Serah- school, I travelled si. We had a diverse scope of readings from to England and Ahkamu’l Kuran of Cessas to Sabuni. That is why, when I entered the faculty of theology, stayed there for six I found the courses there to be rather sim- months. I gathered ple, though there were classes that I greatly benefitted from, for instance, I learned a lot information about from Necip Taylan in philosophy. Ibrahim master’s and PhD Kafi Dönmez was also amongst them. We programs. had very fruitful courses with these professors, but as I said, I wasn’t interested in some of the other classes. Because of the in the future and also there, in the theolo- mandatory attendance I would often sit in gy department. But I also became interest- the back of the room and read books. Then, ed in philosophy. There was this legendary at the University of London School of Af- professor, Necip Taylan - when I was taking rican and Oriental Studies that was estab- a course of his he asked me to become his lished after the Second World War, I did my assistant, since he had liked my midterm master’s on Islamic law, at the School of paper. When I told him that I was going to Law. Because it was a law school, it was too study jurisprudence, he said “what will you abstract and weak in thought, so I decided do with daraba zaydun amran, let go of these not to continue there for my PhD. There matters already.” What I mean is, from the was a professor in Manchester with whom very beginning I had in mind to specialize I could dive into deeper theoretical matters, in jusrisprudence. That is why I wanted to so I came to him for PhD. In total, my MA master the languages. and PhD took six years. Master’s degrees When I finished school, I travelled to En- in England are for a year and a half. There gland and stayed there for six months. I gath- are no course terms for the PhD programs, ered information about master’s and PhD they are directly professor oriented. If you programs. Just as I was thinking it would be look for a professor, you find a professor a good idea to come here, God willed that it and you go to a professor. And I was lucky would be: Özal started up a project support- in that sense: I came across a good profes- ed by the World Bank in Çiller’s time. They sor, I chose him and went to him. Norman sent 1500 students abroad for education, Colder didn’t have a good reputation but and there was a quota of eighteen among was very helpful to students. The reason for them for theology students. I took the tests his not-so-good reputation was his writings and was able to have an adventure abroad about Islam. In Europe, there is a method of this way. When I was a student of theology approach called skepticism. This approach at university I would just pass the courses is called the Goldziher-Schact tradition. My without really studying, because I had stud- professor was of that tradition as well, so ied the material before. For example, I had he always had this skeptical attitude, but he was good in dealing with the students and 34 was an informative man. He made a great you receive your education there but then contribution in broadening my thesis by continue your education in theology, you contributing to its academic orientation. get attracted by new religious approaches, Before I completed my PhD, he passed away since theology offers you something differ- from cancer at a young age. He was proba- ent. Why? Because in faculties of theology, bly a few years older than I am now. I hadn’t there is an educational system that criticizes finished the PhD, I still had a year and a half the traditional madrasa and that innovates to go. I completed it with another professor some new concepts relating to it. The most afterwards. concrete way of explaining it is that theology has a structure that is based on criticizing traditions and on criticism with an essen- Do you mean that he was able to help you tialist approach that is beyond the settings even though he was ill? of the madhhabs and the established schools Of course! We had our last meeting about of thought. If you consider the traditional one month before his death. He died after he as having a dead-end nature, this may seem arranged which consultant I would be work- very attractive to you. You suddenly feel ing with. I attended his funeral, it was held as if it is really interesting, you get carried in a Catholic church. May he rest in peace, away by it. I was carried away by it myself, he had lots of Muslim students too. He had once. But I noticed some matters after going about fifteen Muslim PhD students. I guess to Europe and staying in England for seven he had a lot of PhD students in Turkey. years and in America for one year. The most important one of them was that you realize that modern theology or higher religious ed- Hocam, I’m curious about something. In ucation, madrasa education, and European your work with places like ISM, were you religious education are actually very differ- inspired by the madrasa you were once en- ent from each other. Interestingly, I realized rolled in? that the European academic and scientific approach is closer to the scientific approach Every student that has been educated in of the madrasas. As a result, I realized that madrasa tradition has a dream of building a higher religious education institutions, madrasa like it. which had emerged in Turkey in the last century or the last fifty years, were never able Hocam, you did research for many years in to reach the quality, the profundity and the England, too. What were the problems you consistency of either one of them. It was a faced when you had to reconcile western big shock for me of course. In terms of sci- academia and their paradigm with our own entific approach, modern theology, by which learning tradition? What did you do to over- I mean higher religious education, seemed come these problems? really weak when compared to the madrasa education. That was one of the most import- Let me answer this question with a broad ant things I realized. It also enlightened me statement, not to make any trouble, but to about the fact that even though the theology make a comparison. The classicalmadra - faculties educated us to criticize traditional sa has its own realm of perception, when paths such as the madrasa, the latter ap- 35 Hocam, you received madrasa education at a young age. Why are your current projects Through Western focused on university students? Couldn’t education, I you open up a madrasah for high school discovered how students? Why the projects targeting university students, whether ISM or ISAR? important the We are university teachers, where else are tradition was we supposed to teach?

proach’s consistency is stronger. It changed Wouldn’t this be coming in at a late stage the way I see the tradition. Through Western Hocam? You became Murteza Bedir be- education, I discovered how important the cause you received this education at a tradition was. That’s really interesting. After young age. realizing it, I must say that issues of academic consistency and academic profundity are No, no. Of course this education can start at the distinguishing factors. earlier ages but you can start it at university too, I mean there’s no reason it can’t be done. I believe we proved that it can be. I Are they similar in terms of their approach- think, when we look at the end results that es to the sources? we see at many programs and the people who finish this education, it is achievable. The difference is in terms of approaching the sources and approaching them in a consistent way, analyzing them effectively. Take Shouldn’t we avoid the contradictory stud- the text of one of the graduates of higher ies you have mentioned, as we see our- religious education for instance: you will be selves stuck in the modern educational sure to catch several contradictions on each system of a university? page, which means that it has a problem No, the academic quality of higher education with scientific consistency. Of course every- in recent years is not as it was in our days. It one can make mistakes of contradiction, but has improved and changed. It’s getting bet- you can’t find as much contradiction in the ter, I accept that, but it will get even better productions of traditional scientific educa- as theoretical profundity and methodical tion or Western academic approaches. They awareness spreads. But it’s not something have an awareness of scientific consistency. that is established easily, because we are a That’s what I mean. For instance, such a stu- people who lost philosophical perspective dent also won’t dwell much on where their and our own traditional scientific method I words lead. And maybe the biggest deficien- mentioned, yet could not completely adopt cy of the discourse of religion in Universities the modern one. We still couldn’t establish is that it lacks philosophical, theoretical and it, and what we established hasn’t been giv- methodological depth. That’s the problem en a lot of thought or taken account of. So actually. we need to shore them up first. We need to keep and give an account of the scientific 36 studies we made in universities in the last 150 years. Were they consistent? Were they lacking in any way? Were the questions ap- Tekkes were propriate? There are problems in the ques- closed when the tions themselves actually. The reason for madrasas were that is that the tradition, which has lost its own intellectual consciousness and method- closed in 1924 and ical depth, did not get the opportunity to the only institutions look into other civilizations with self-confidence. So it has no opportunity to rely on its left were the products. As we make amends for it, there theology faculty will be a positive improvement in that direction. I have hopes for it. We’re getting better insha-Allah. as you know. Nine years between 1924- 1933, without students in some of those years because of the conditions of the time. Continue with the faculty of theology. Istan- By the way, I’m sure there were good teach- bul University’s faculty of Theology is very ers, intelligent minds, especially those who old. It has a deep-rooted history. Do you were educated in the Ottoman madrasa have projects that connect with the Istanbul tradition and Dar ul-funun tradition. There University faculty of Theology’s history that were lots of important names from Seyy- aims to revive it? id Bey to Elmali, Izmirli Ismail Hakki to Yes, Istanbul University’s faculty of Theol- Serafettin Yaltkaya. There were important ogy is the pilot for the Modern Theology people like Fuad Köprülü, who wrote and programs found in universities in Turkey extrapolated on well-known fields. This today, as I mentioned before. It began un- first experiment could have been very dif- der probation between 1900 and 1914, ferent if it continued, and theology would then I guess there was an interruption be- possess a greater depth in Turkey. The prob- tween 1914 and 1924. There were too many lems we are becoming aware of now could strong voices in the Dar ul-funun, including have been noticed earlier. Because I know the Sheikh ul-Islam, questioning the use of that if these people had had academic free- Istanbul Theology, which was named the dom and stability, the percentage of people Ulum-I Diniyye section, because there were would increase in a positive direction, but some arguments like “we already have high- of course this was not the way it happened. er education actually, if we revive the ma- The Istanbul University Faculty of Theology drasa, we would be able to handle it.” So was rebuilt in 1992. Meanwhile, there was they tried to revive or modernize or reform no instruction of higher religious education the madrasa. But tekkes were closed, too, and research, but there was a scientific com- when the madrasas were closed in 1924, mittee that ran research from the Faculty and the only institutions left were the The- of Literature with the name of the Islamic ology faculties, so it is in some ways the Research Center or Islamic Studies Institu- product of modern higher education. But tion. It even has an academic journal. It became a platform in which Zeki Velidi Togan its experiences are very limited in Turkey, 37 faculties of theology and the instructors In fact, the there became faculty members. That’s the beginning of the Faculty of Theology. Now, beginning of in 2015 how old of a history do we have? theology faculties in Around thirty-three years of history for the faculty of theology. Of course, in this case, Turkey is dated 1982 Istanbul Theology is newer when compared rather than 1924. to some of the important faculties such as Marmara, Konya, Erzurum, Kayseri, Bursa, With a decision Uludag and Izmir. It was built in 1992 and given in 1982 after not in 1982, but Istanbul University resist- ed establishing a theology faculty even af- the 1980 revolution, ter 1992. The administration of that time all High Islamic didn’t accept any students until 1996. And after accepting those students after 1996, Institutions became there were always some obstacles to its im- faculties of theology provement. The February 28 process got in and the instructors the way too. Istanbul Theology didn’t show any improvement until 2005-2006 or even there became 2007, they’ve put a very little effort into faculty members their progress. Istanbul Theology has been trying to create a better platform, up to the standards of Istanbul University since and Muhammad Hamidullah gave lessons 2006-2007 and since then it has grown in and some Orientalists did research. Actual- terms of the amount of faculty members ly, Istanbul University did support the fac- and students. So it’s been seven years, eight ulty, but at some points there was no formal years. In these last eight years it’s been faculty at Istanbul University. Maybe there growing too fast, which has brought a lot were some instructors and courses, that’s of problems with it. On the other hand, we all. No formal theology course or education. are not separated from the things they do The formal theology track was set up in An- in other theology institutions. The prob- kara as you know, and then Higher Islamic lems they face affect us too, in some ways, Institutions under the Ministry of Educa- but the Istanbul University faculty of Theol- tion were built, but they were not exactly ogy is the second or third biggest faculty of universities. Not until 1982 did they obtain theology in Turkey. I don’t know the exact the title of faculty after they got inside the order, but I guess Marmara is the first and university in 1982. In 1971 or 1972 in An- we are either the second or the third. We are kara, there were attempts of (establishing) amongst the first five faculties in Turkey in Erzurum’s faculty of Islamic Science. But, in the end, in terms of the number of instruc- fact, the beginning of theology faculties in tors and students. We have some problems Turkey is dated 1982 rather than 1924. With about our place, caused by our being new. a decision given in 1982 after the 1980 rev- We have some projects to enlarge the cam- olution all High Islamic Institutions became pus space. But beside that, we have lots of 38 projects to bring depth to the academic staff which focuses on finding more radical and and to diversify the curriculum. We have important solutions for society’s problems revived some projects now. We have pro- while considering the society’s expectations. grams that we opened up in collaboration One of the things that we mentioned that with the English and Arabic post-graduate was put into action is our Islamic Econo- programs, Islamic Economy and finance my and Finance program. We are trying to post graduate programs, and with the facul- create a program to teach students about ty of economics. Now we are thinking about Islamic economy, which includes learning some projects related to educational prob- Islamic law, Islam’s basics and Islamic fields lems regarding bioethics and Islam together for the student from the faculty of economy with the faculty of medicine. We have the or other faculties. Of course, this happened intention of working in collaboration on to be one of the concrete inter-disciplinary bioethics and Halal food with the related steps, but the bioethics or halal food pro- departments of the University. There have grams we planned need to run with the col- been some developments in this project. We laboration of other branches of the Univer- have some studies to make the basis for the- sity. The faculties of theology have an issue: ology to take care of social problems in Tur- even though the Faculty of Theology carries key by diversifying the theology curriculum the name of the university, it has been ex- with varied disciplines and by enriching the cluded for many years. But now, we see that instructor Staff and increasing the quality theology develops in a university much like of students. Inshallah we will be successful. the fields of liberal arts or humanities. You can study pretty much anything in theology from the different branches of liberal arts, My next question was this actually, but We such as philosophy or education. This is real- have kind of answered it. There is a tenden- ly interesting, it may seem like an advantage cy for inter-disciplinary academic studies in some respects but it’s also a disadvan- lately. Which disciplines would fall into the tage. It may be important to teach a related areas of interest for Islamic law and what branch from a different faculty in the faculty would be Edep’s role at this point? of theology, it may seem very beneficial, as it Yes. We have talked of economics and med- adds to student’s knowledge, but on the oth- icine. er hand, this may cause a barrier for these courses to be competitive in quality and ef- Until now the Faculty of Theology has been ficiency. There is this risk and it’s one of the focusing mostly on educating the students of problems I face now. In branches like psy- Islam. I mean the general education; general chology of religion, sociology of religion, re- formation was based on that. They focused ligious education, and philosophy of religion on the recovery of the things they lost. For it should be in collaboration with the first that reason, they didn’t focus on the up-to- parts of these branches like psychology, so- date issues and problems. But now, theolo- ciology and philosophy. We have a handicap gy education in Turkey has reached a certain here and that’s what we need to overcome. level. It has shown maturity, if not progress. Inter-disciplinary education is very import- I think the time has come for certain things. ant in that matter. Our theology education I think this progress has reached a level, is already inter-disciplinary, there’s no doubt 39 That’s why getting some sources and funds There are already from outside and opening new branches can make the improvement of new projects and things that haven’t creating inter-disciplinary studies possible. I been done in the- suggest that we focus on them. ology education (in Efendim, could we have your remarks on Universities) being the issue of being a female academic? done in institutions Why should I say something? You tell me. Female academics… We are talking about like EDEP. What something that hasn’t been tried yet. Fe- are they? What the male academics were very few in number in theology in the Islamic world. It increased universities actually in the recent years with the consequenc- es of the 28 February issue. We had lots of need to be doing: successful female students in the faculties of research, projects, theology. With the change in Turkey, our female students decided not to return to their workshop studies, homes after they studied. One other result and new research of the change in Turkey is that parents also had these expectations. Parents used to say branches “go study, but come after you graduate and than get married, and do this and do that” or “come do something at home or in some about it. I mean if you look at all the forms of other area”, but now they have different education and faculties in Turkey, the most expectations, they expect more from their inter-disciplinary curriculum is the theology daughters as well. So in our society as well, curriculum. But if inter-disciplinary means we see so many women, especially hijabi to make the best of each of these disciplines women interested in being academics. They then it is very important. So how does EDEP have increased in number in faculties of the- relate to this? There are already things that ology as well, so we’ll see many academics as haven’t been done in theology education be- assistant professors or professors in the next ing done in institutions like EDEP. What are five to ten years, but it will be a first; I mean they? What universities actually need to be the first time we shall come across this prev- doing: research, projects, workshop studies alence. So I don’t know how it would be to be and new research branches. We can’t do it a female academic in this community, we’ll in universities, in faculties of theology. The wait and see it for ourselves. But I think it main reasons for that are the increase in the will have positive contributions. I think that number of the students, which is a serious it will give a different color to our faculties. problem, and the increase of the difficulty of the lessons. These affect teachers as well. Thank you very much Hocam. 40 Jordan Arabic Summer Program

Fatma Ateş EDEP Research Fellow

When studying a foreign language it may • el-Fikru’t-Turâsî (Amjad Rashid) not be necessary to visit the country where • el-Harakâtu’l-İslâmiyye (Musa Amir) that language is spoken. It is, however, es- • el-Emali (Muhammed Nuveyhî) sential to live and feel that language. This is • Tezevvuku’l-Kuran (Ali Zeyno) exactly why students of EDEP who complete their first two years of Arabic education suc- • el-Muctemau’l-Ürdünî (Yusuf Rababia) cessfully have the opportunity to travel to Furthermore, EDEP students did research Jordan and to further engage with the Ar- in a variety of subjects such as politics, abic language. Our students improved their psychology, education and law to make language skills through four hours of daily presentations at the annual Arabic Student Arabic instruction at the Qasid Institute, Symposium. Everyone benefited from both one of the best Arabic education centers in written and oral language practice as they Amman. Their courses included the study conducted surveys and interviews with ex- of newspapers and Arabic literature. They pert researchers. The results of this research also participated in scholarly lectures giv- were presented by Ahmed Snobar and Kha- en by well-known experts in their fields at lid Abu Amsha, both academic coordinators Madarik, another education center in Am- at Qasid, to a committee of other Arabic man. These lectures, of which at least two lecturers of the institution. are required, included the following: 41 Since our travel to Jordan correspond- fellow travelers. This is why travelling is such ed with the month of Ramadan, we were an important life experience. With this in fortunate to spend last two weeks of the mind, we visited the popular tourist sites of holy month in Amman. We performed the Jordan, such as Petra, Aqaba, Jerash, Mad- tarawih prayers in different mosques. We aba and Wadi Rum. Likewise, we visited the were able to listen to the voice of different tombs of the Prophet Muhammad’s Com- imams and the students had a chance to panions, Sayyidina Zaid bin Haritha, Sayyid- socialize with the people of Amman. Every ina Jafer bin Abu Talib, Sayyidina Abdullah country is filled with its own rich traditions, bin Rawaha, may God be pleased with them and in Jordan this is certainly the case. We all. We also were blessed to visit the tomb of had a chance to observe Arab generosity Sayyidina Shuaib, peace and blessings upon and delight in the many foods common to him, in the Valley of Madyan. During our Amman. We were also blessed to listen to stay in Jordan, our visit to Salt Turkish Mar- the reading of Qasida Burda taking place in trydom became more meaningful as a result some mosques on Thursday evenings. On of the 15 July coup attempt in Turkey. How- the 29th of Ramadan, we expected to cel- ever, our visit to Jerusalem was the high- ebrate Eid-al-Fitr the next day. Instead, we light of everyone’s trip. It provided endless fasted one more day, because the new moon energy to our souls despite our tired bodies! wasn’t seen in Jordan. Surely we will always remember the taqbirs of Eid day that we By our journey’s end, it was hard to believe heard from everywhere! how two months filled with learning to- We also had daily trips despite our intense gether, sisterhood, solidarity, patience, and course schedule, so that we could benefit ups and downs, were coming to an end. De- from the privilege of living in Jordan. The spite these words, it remains difficult to -de history of the places we visited and their scribe our true experiences and sentiments cultural and moral meanings were very in Jordan. May Allah accept and preserve important for our personal and scholary the works of all those who facilitated our development. Certainly, a journey enables journey and we say, “alhamdulillah” to God 42 one to learn about oneself as well as one’s for enabling us to live this experience. A Rihla to Jordan

Büşra Ünlü Yaman EDEP Student - Boğaziçi University, Senior

Living in an Arab country has been my dream since I was a child, and this is just the opportunity that I was granted after graduating from Boğaziçi University. This had been such an important goal, that even after years of waiting to get married, I postponed my wedding and went to Jordan to strengthen my knowledge of Arabic last summer. This experience was quite valuable not only in terms of improving my Arabic language skills, but also in allowing me to learn about a new way of life and culture. This was especially significant because I believe that language learners should experience language in its native environment. So, with this intention, I, along with my fellow classmates set off for the adventure of a lifetime in Jordan. Each of us experienced Jordan in unique, but equally memorable ways. We began our two- month intensive Arabic course at the internationally-renowed Qasid Institute in Amman. The 43 program allowed us to expresses ourselves freely and improve our Arabic skills in small class- room environments. We were expected to produce ideas around specific topics and express them in a reasonable manner. This discussion-based strategy played a vital role in improving our Arabic listening and speaking skills. To further strengthen our speaking skills, we prepared many presentations, completed project-based assignments and took Islamic courses taught in Arabic. Simultaneously, we took many courses of Islamic studies like Islamic Move- ments, Jordanian Society, and Film Production at Madarik, which is an Arabic and Islamic studies institute founded by Amjad Rashid. A key to our success was the sincerity of our Arabic teachers, the helpfulness of the coordinators and the immensely rich excursions that helped us discover the culture of our host country. The teachers played an integral part in our growth. Their role extended beyond the class- room, and they supported us throughout our stay in Jordan. Another added benefit of being in an Ara- bic-speaking nation was that we were able to speak with our neighbors and form strong relationships with them. In this way, Jordan had quite an impact on me. We were given a chance to get to know Jordanians and they welcomed us warmly, making us feel at home. The friendships that we formed during these everyday conversations still hold immense value for us. Due to the similarities between our two cul- tures and sharing the same religion, we often forgot that we were away from home. For example, experiencing Ramadan in Jordan was a unique experience for all of us: We prayed taraweeh (or the night-time prayers of Ra- madan) prayers in different mosques behind imams who recited the Qur’an with various different recitations. And even during these night prayers, we were blessed with invitai- tons from local Jordanians and Palestinians. The most impressive thing for me was the attitude of people. It was as though they had known us for decades. In addition, the special events where people of different nationalities such as Americans, Somalians, Turks and Alba- nians gathered were such a blessed opportunity to form bonds of sisterhood. Beyond the formal course portion of the Arabic intensive, we had weekend trips that proved invaluable to understanding the history, the society, the heritage, and the culture of Jordan. 44 This was something that we could not gain from reading books! These excursions were not just activities for entertainment, but also spiritual journeys. We visited numerous mauso- leums of scholars, cemeteries of the prophets and the sahabah, or the Companions of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings upon him. The most important of these journeys was the one to Masjid Al Aqsa, or The Furthest Mosque, in Jerusalem. This mosque holds central importance in Islam, and one that has been mentioned by the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings upon him: “You should not undertake a special journey to visit any place other than the following three mosques with the expectations of getting greater reward: the Sacred Mosque of Makkah (Ka’bah), this Mosque of mine (the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina), and Mosque Al-Aqsa (of Jerusalem)” (Muslim, Bukhari, Abu Dawud). Alhamdulillah, we had the honour of visiting Jerusalem, and especially Masjid Al Aqsa whose surroundings God has blessed. Our travels in Jeruselam and in Jordan gave us a deep understanding of Islamic history and civilization. We may never live in the desert, nor eat desert foods, nor walk in the streets of Jordan again, but we will never forget the precious days in Jordan and Palestine. Indeed, these were days of reflection far away from our stressful student lives in Istanbul, and they are forever-engraved in our memories. Although at times, our days in Jordan seem like a distant memory, we know we gained many marvellous opportunities in language and culture and long-standing friendships. This unique summer education program equipped us with an understanding of another culture, helped us to form multiple perspectives, to learn to live with people of various nationalities and develop skills in living abroad. Certainly, many of us will go our own ways, but this program has made us stronger, more confident, and more experienced.

45 Ozlem Kahya Jordan Summer Program Advisor - Marmara University Faculty of Theology, PhD Candidate

These are memories of our days spent in a distant land, a land in which we saw sadness turn into happiness, anxiety turn into tranquility and friendship turn into sisterhood. This was Jordan.

Our trip began during the days of Ramadan. It was then that we met all the students for the first time. Little did we know that our anxieties and concern would be transformed through beautiful friendships. We would gain new friends, and shed teardrops at our separation. Looking back, it feels just like yesterday that we lifted up our paper bag peace candles with the hope of getting into Guinness Book of Records at the Iftar for Peace. We were joined by hundreds of other students in the garden of the university. This was the first of our many memories of Jordan.

Our time was immensely blessed by the mercy of Ramadan. We shared in beautiful iftar meals at sunset, evening tarawih prayers, itikaf or retreat programs and visits to the tombs 46 of the companions of Prophet Mohammad, peace and blessings upon him. We were so busy forming new memories, that we hardly noticed how quickly our days were passing.

The flavors of the iftar that we had next to the Tomb of Prophet Yusha, peace be upon him, and the very scent of the tranquility we felt upon that place, we will carry with us always. It is like that familiar scent of the earth after the rain. I can vividly remember the healing silence at the tombs of the awliya (Friends of God). Lately, it has been on on my mind with all its freshness. Certainly, it was a cure for the soul!

This memoir wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the sweet warmth of the confectioner Najma who blessed our Ramadan nights with gentle words and delicious desserts. We got a chance to get to know each other, delight in ice cream pleasure and sample her delicious yunani or as it is known here in Turkey, kumbule.

Experiencing the Eid festival (Bayram) in Jordan, too, was a memorable experience. Of course, the night of Eid came with a visit to the local bazaar. Shopping had already started in the city centre (Wasatu’l-balad) where there were gift shops one after the other with beautiful traditional clothes, colorful shawls and stylish jewelry. On the morning of Eid, we had breakfast together in the mosque with that bittersweet joy that is often present at the end of Ramadan. Our eyes were overwhelmed with tears after the prayers at Masjid al Faruq.

Next, we began to look forward to the few days of travel and adventure that lay ahead. Our first destination was the wonderful natural wonder of Wadi Mujib in which flowed a stunning waterfall and river. What a magnificient opportunity to contemplate the power of the Cre- ator, for trekking through this valley required great effort. There were many lessons from this trip. We learned how quickly exhaustion can be forgotten by the mere resolution, determina- tion, persistence, courage and patience required of us. During the hike, I recalled the waiver we signed before our travels: “If anything happens to you, all the responsibility is yours.”

Our second destination was the Dead Sea (Bahru’l-Meyyit) or as it is otherwise known, Lake Lut, which is located directly across from Wadi Mujib. We discussed the destruction of the People of Lut and came to know that there is no living creature in the Dead Sea. We even at- tempted to measure the level of salinity of the water to try to understand this reality. We also went camel riding and tried to experience riding a camel in accordance with its temperament.

The days were packed with adventure and learning, and by the time the middle of July rolled along, we were grateful to be adding new memories to our Jordanian experience. It was then that we visited the antique city of Petra. Dating back to 400 B.C and a capital city of the Ne- bati people, Petra consists of structures such as theatres, temples, graves and houses and one of seven wonders of the world. From there, we traveled to the Valley of Jordan (Wadi Rum) leaving behind city life, and moving into a desert tent. Here, we watched the moon set behind desert rocks. Here, we savored in desert meals prepared in special ovens buried under the sand. Here, we listened to the sweet sound of the oud and tambourine which made our night cheerful. In our excitement, we quickly wrote down the song lyrics on napkins. Here we cast 47 our eyes upon the desert sky by night. We watched the divine lights above us, astonished at what we were witnessing. Here, we watched the sunrise after our morning prayers. All these images have been imprinted upon our hearts. Our desert trip, we concluded, was a reflection of the perfection of the Creator. Then, we set off to Aqaba, which is a coastal town in the south of Jordan. After spending some time on the coast, we delighted in a private boat trip on the sea. What an opening to the colorful dream-like underwater world!

On the last day of July, with a full moon in the sky and mixed emotions in our hearts, we set off to the Holy Land. There was an undefinable excitement in the air intertwined with -sad ness and happiness. Our days in Jerusalem (Al Quds) were blessed with the smell of Paradise. Masjid al Aqsa greeted us from Mount of Olives and Temple of the Rock Mosque (Kubbatul Sahra) appeared as though shining like a full moon in our hands. We raised our hands in prayer in this sacred land, knowing that every part of it is blessed. With visits to many Proph- ets and Companions of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessing upon them all, we now understood why Jerusalem is indispensable. And with a certain sadness, we returned to the lands of Jordan, leaving our needy brothers and sisters of Jerusalem behind us.

Back in Jordan, knowing that our travels would soon come to an end, we delighted in the tastes of falafel and yunani one more time. We gathered our memories in our saddlebags and said our farewell to Jordan. As we packed onto our minibuses, we even laughed at the last scolding from our drivers. We sent prayers to the past and wished to live each moment all over again. We promised not to forget our time in Jordan for indeed they were blessed days.

48 A Journey of Reading & Learning in Konya

After an intense term of study at our universities and the EDEP Institute, we headed to Konya for a multi-dimensional educational experience. We would spend the next week reading, debating, and analyzing, as well as sightseeing, and exploring. On the 25th of January we, along with the researchers and teachers of the EDEP Institute left Istanbul by bus. The journey took almost half a day, but our time was filled with opportunties for observation and reflection. When we arrived in Konya, it was extremely cold, but the Türgev Mümine Hatun Dormitory gave us a warm and gracious welcome. In addition, receiving our books allowed us to immediately get accustomed to retreat life. We stayed in Konya five days and during this time, we read several books, made critiques alongside researchers, attended conferences, travelled around the city and tasted local food. The first text we studied was the Mathnavi, the famous six-volume Persian poem written by Mevlana Jelaleddin Rumi. Our focus was on its first eighteen verses. Mevlana Rumi, a 13th century scholar, is considered one of the most important figures in Konya. Although original- ly of Afghani descent, he remained in Konya for most his life, passed away and was buried in this city. His tomb accepts visitors from all around the world each year, and the municipality of Konya celebrates his birth and death with world-renowed ceremonies. Secondly, we read some excerpts on the morals of education, and the secrets of fasting, praying, giving charity and pilgrimage from the Ihya ‘Ulum al-Din, which is a forty chapter 49 text written by Imam Abu Ḥamid Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Ghazali. He was a great scholar, philosopher and reviver of faith or mujaddid in the 11th century. He wrote more than seventy books on a range of different topics including theology, philosophy, Su- fism, and jurisprudence. The third book we read was a bi- ography on life of Shaykh Mu- hammed Emin Er who passed away three years ago at the age of 105, and is buried in Gaziantep. He was one of the last Ot- toman scholars raised and trained in the traditional madrasas of the eastern Turkey. He began his studies of the sacred sciences at 25, and served in the path of Islam throughout his life. Here, in the life of Shaykh Muhammad Emin Er, was a very important lesson for us — there is no place for de- spair in our learning even if we began our studies late. At the EDEP Institute in Fatih, we have a library named after Shaykh Muhammad Emin Er. This serves as a beautiful re- minder for us to express grat- itude for the works and efforts of this great teacher. The last book we read and analyzed was an autobiography of Ahmet Muhtar Büyükçınar, another scholar who endured many hardships for the sake of sacred knowledge. Ahmet Büyükçınar hailed from Gaziantep, and passed away in the same year as Muhammed Emin Er. He completed his higher education at the prestigious Azhar University in Cairo. He offered classes without any compensation for many years. This too was an important lesson for us — learning and teaching are great acts of service. 50 Aside from reading and analyzing texts in our dormitory, we attended to two conferences in Konya during the evenings. In one of the conferences, Fikret Karapınar, who is a professor of Hadith in Necmettin Erbakan University’s Faculty of Theology, presented research on the popular arguments about hadith, and its role in the protection of the Qur’an. He also reminded us of our responsibilities by citing examples from the life of Prophet Ibrahim. He concluded his speech by imploring us to learn critical thinking skills for ourselves. This was followed by Mehmet Harmancı, professor in the faculty of philosophy in Necmettin Erbakan Universi- ty’s Faculty of Theology. He focused on two main things in his speech. The first was the relationship between beauty and reward, and the second was the relationship between goodness and tasks. Harmancı said that the best form of beauty is the Prophet Muhammad and if we stick to this beauty, our reward will be better than we can imagine. He also mentioned that goodness is the responsibility of the Muslim. He concluded his speech with advice on how to balance our body and soul by holding onto our daily prayers. The EDEP Institute made sure to not only nurture our souls, but our bodies as well. We ate local specialities such as Etli- ekmek, düğün pilavı and tandır in the local restaurants. We visited historical and religious sites such as İnce Minare Muse- um, Karatay Museum, Mevlana Museum as well as well-known mosques such as Alaaddin Camii, Şerafettin Camii, Selim- iye Camii, Aziziye Camii and Shems-i Tebrizi. We also visited Akyokuş which has a wonderful view of the city from a hilltop, as well as Meram Bağları and Sille which are two very historical neighborhoods dating back to An- cient Roman times. On our last night, we attended a Sema Ceremony, a mystic ceremony of the remembrance of God, attributed to Mevlana Rumi. The ceremony consists of four main parts. Each part symbolizes a different level of journey toward God. Shortly thereafter, we said farewell to Konya and prepared for our return to Istanbul.

51 Center for Excellence in Education

Fatih Branch: Hırka-i Şerif Mah. Akseki Camii Sk. No:1 Fatih/İstanbul (The Muhafız Konağı next to the Hırka-i Şerif Mosque) Phone: 0212 532 04 08 Fax: 0212 532 04 07 Üsküdar Branch: Aziz Mahmud Hüdayi Mah. Uncular Cad. Ahmet Çelebi Çıkmazı No:1/3 Üsküdar/İstanbul Phone: 0216 532 91 11 edepmerkezi.org /EdepMerkezi /EdepMerkezi EDEP Türgev bünyesinde hizmet veren bir kuruluştur