All essays
When we think about al-Andalus, we often imagine magnificent mosques, elegant arches, flowing fountains, and cities illuminated by art and science. Yet al-Andalus was far more than a geographical region or a historical period. It was a civilization built upon …
Following the European siege and capture of the Holy City on July 15, 1099, the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and the rest of the "Crusader states"—the County of Edessa, the County of Tripoli, and the Principality of Antioch—were definitively established. The Lat…
Al-Andalus encompasses several significant features. However, owing to its historical background, its development as a multireligious society and its diverse cultural characteristics that fostered religious diversity, it can be considered a cornerstone for exa…
This book posits that a human being can reach the knowledge of Truth (al-Ḥaqq) without waḥy (revelation). The main aim of the author is to express that knowledge reached by reasoning, questioning, and contemplation does not contradict the divine truth revealed…
Al-Andalus was a state that had a significant impact on both Islamic and world history. It can be considered as one of the veins of Islam beating within the West. With both its strengths and weaknesses, it contributed to the development and expansion of Islami…
Abū al-Ḥakam Ibn Barrajān (d. 536/1141) is one of the most important and prolific sūfī exegetes (mufassir) of Andalusī mystical thought in the sixth/twelfth century. The author, who is referred to in the sources by the honorific title “Ghazālī of al-Andalus” (…
Some journeys are not merely about traversing physical distances. At times, they are journeys that build new bridges, revive memories buried in the long-dried pages of history, and bring to life narratives that were never personally witnessed yet faithfully tr…
When al-Andalus is mentioned, what usually comes to mind is the splendor of the Alhambra Palace, the scholarly circles of Córdoba, the philosophy of Ibn Rushd, or the mystical world of Ibn al-ʿArabī. Yet the story of a civilization is not limited to its period…
This issue of our journal is devoted to the rich intellectual, cultural, and spiritual legacy of al-Andalus. Far beyond being merely a geographical space or a historical period, al-Andalus represents a unique civilizational experience shaped by scholarship, ph…
Located in the heart of Central Asia, Bukhara represents not only a geographical center but also the spiritual and intellectual core of Islamic civilization. From its founding through the Samanid period to its recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the c…
A diary written on the thirty-sixth day in Oman — a meditation on farewells, on the strange question of where home is, on a teacher in Sohar who became one of the most beautiful parts of the writer's story, and on time as something we cannot rewind or fast-for…
A fourth-year student at the Faculty of Theology, Ankara University, writes about his Erasmus semester in Germany — from the visa process and finding accommodation, to working through coursework on methodology, Ibn Taymiyya, and Qur'anic ethics. A practical an…
Udi by Fatma Aliye (Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, 2024, 112 pp., ISBN 9786254292668) tells the story of Bedia, a young woman raised in love of music — and through her, reflects on the lives of women during the constitutional period, the importance of ed…
The Qur'an declares that the gates of heaven will open wide for people who show the will to build the common good together, and that the earth will become a fertile home for these people. A short phenomenological reading of faith — what abundance, prosperity, …
An introduction to Greek mythology — what 'myth' and 'mythology' mean, why mythology is worth studying for its presence in our everyday language and imagination, and a first telling of the creation story from Hesiod's Theogony. The first installment in what th…
Imam Bukhārī (194 H / 810 CE — 256 H / 870 CE) is one of the most eminent hadith scholars in Islamic history, the author of the Sahih al-Bukhārī. This essay follows his life from a Bukharan childhood through years of study and travel to his death near Samarkan…
An extended interview with Prof. Dr. Halis Albayrak of the Department of Tafsir at Ankara University Faculty of Divinity. The conversation ranges across the problem of meaningful engagement with the Qur'an, Kalām and Fiqh as historical-human activities, the re…
In Islamic thought, the relationship between moral responsibility, human will, and the omnipotence of Allah has been a subject of deep debate, especially concerning the concepts of 'good' and 'evil.' Three major theological schools — the Mu'tazila, Mātūridī, a…
An account of a faculty-organized Arabic-language program at Sohar University, Oman: the long flight from Trabzon to Muscat to Sohar, the teachers Mr. Hosni and Sheikha, friendships with classmates and a Ugandan student named Suleiman, and the visits to Muscat…
A letter from a teacher to her students — a reflection on how studying theology dissolved her assumed paradigm and immersed her in a vast ocean of meaning, on the discipline's ability to connect with so many other fields, and on the recognition that absolute t…
Psychological problems such as trauma, anxiety, and emotional distress can be triggered by various external factors. From the beginning of human history, people have developed coping strategies; religion, alongside personal rituals and relaxation techniques, h…
Time plays an essential role in shaping our lives and daily routines, and it can be perceived differently under various conditions and circumstances. By examining the perception of time and related philosophical views — from Plato and Kant to Bergson and the m…
It is generally believed that the Turks encountered Islam during the campaigns of the Umayyad Caliphate in Asia. However, they did not embrace Islam as their religion at that time. An accurate acquaintance with Islam happened during the Abbasid period, especia…
The origin of humanity has been thought of by scholars throughout history. The word 'origin' comes from the Latin origo, meaning 'beginning' or 'source'. We firmly believe that the source of humanity is women — our mothers, who raise and teach us and encode ou…