Faculty of Islamic Studies

Hello, I am Prof. Dr. Mehmet Emin MAŞALI, the Dean of the Faculty of Islamic Sciences at Istanbul Medeniyet University. The Faculty of Islamic Sciences was established in 2019. During this time, we have completed our physical infrastructure, administrative and academic curriculum work, and infrastructure. Therefore, we are now ready to accept students. Starting from the 2023-2024 academic year, we will admit our first students. Thus, we will commence our educational activities from the following year. The Faculty of Islamic Sciences currently offers education under three main categories, or rather, our departmental structure is as follows. We have the Department of Basic Islamic Sciences, the Department of Islamic Philosophy and History of Religions, and the Department of Islamic History and Turkish Literature. Hence, we have a curriculum that primarily concerns these three departments and the sub-disciplines within them. Our curriculum consists of compulsory and elective courses. We have a rich pool of elective courses that will nourish students' interests and contribute to their development in their chosen fields. The compulsory courses in our curriculum are designed to equip young individuals who are receiving education in Islamic sciences and aspire to provide solutions to the religious and moral problems of our country and humanity. In addition to our compulsory and elective official curriculum, we also have an optional vocational training support program called MEDEP (Vocational Training Support Project). Here, students will have the opportunity to take special classes with our professors in groups based on their preferences in various areas such as Islamic sciences, basic Islamic sciences, Islamic history, and Islamic philosophy. Our aim is not only to be a faculty that solely relies on the compulsory curriculum. Furthermore, we want our students to receive additional education within the faculty. For this purpose, we have completed our work. Our curriculum, consisting of compulsory and elective courses, is extensive and robust. However, in addition to that, we have an extracurricular curriculum that allows students to receive direct one-on-one support from our professors within the faculty, particularly focusing on reading the Islamic classics as a whole. I believe this distinguishes our faculty and makes it unique. In the Faculty of Islamic Sciences, we have a laboratory. Additionally, we will have a preparatory class too. This is because the Faculty of Islamic Sciences aims to provide education centered around Islamic classics that convey Islamic traditions to us. Therefore, in order to benefit from the traditional knowledge derived from the 14 centuries of Islamic heritage, it is necessary for our students to have a good command of Arabic. For this reason, we will have a one-year Arabic preparatory class. During this period, our university provides all necessary facilities. In this infrastructure, we also have language laboratories. Preparatory class students will have the opportunity to benefit directly from these language laboratories. Additionally, we have dedicated reading rooms. We have no shortcomings in terms of providing our students with an environment where they can carry out their own studies. Furthermore, Istanbul Medeniyet University is known for housing the largest university library. Therefore, our students will have the opportunity to directly benefit from the library facilities of our university. Our graduates can work as researchers in universities. They can also take positions in the Ministry of National Education and the Presidency of Religious Affairs. These are employment opportunities available to them. Therefore, we will have teacher training and a related internship programs for students who will work in the Ministry of National Education. In addition, we provide support to students who will work in other institutions.

The Council of Higher Education(YÖK) offers Erasmus, Mevlana, and Farabi student exchange programs. Therefore, we aim for our students to benefit from these programs and so that they can gain international experience. In addition, we already have initiatives in place for our students to gain Western exposure and experience through the Erasmus program. The main employment areas for our graduates include Islamic Studies and Theology faculties at universities, and positions within the Ministry of National Education and the Presidency of Religious Affairs. Moreover, in recent years, new opportunities have emerged in the private sector for graduates of the Faculty of Islamic Studies. We are currently in a period of strengthened international relations in our country, and we witness that graduates who are proficient in foreign languages, especially Arabic, and well-trained in various fields, find employment opportunities in the private sector. In order to ensure that students do not face difficulties with the Islamic Studies curriculum, it is crucial for them to have a solid foundation in Arabic. We have worked diligently on this matter during the preparatory year. We have developed a comprehensive curriculum and established effective methods and approaches to follow and resources to utilize. We are now ready to provide a proper Arabic education. Therefore, I believe that students who have completed this foundation will not struggle with the curriculum. Nevertheless, through our MEDEP educational support programs, we will strive to ensure that our students are highly knowledgeable about the classical Islamic tradition accumulated over 14 centuries and equipped with the necessary skills and methods to address the challenges of the modern world, its religious and moral issues, and overcome them. I am confident that our MEDEP programs will significantly contribute to overcoming any difficulties students may encounter in the curriculum. Istanbul Medeniyet University's Faculty of Islamic Studies embarked on its journey with the motto "Not private, but distinctive." Therefore, if our students do not want to feel lost in such crowds and desire to receive all the additional support and educational programs directly from their professors, then the correct address is Istanbul Medeniyet University, Faculty of Islamic Sciences. Islamic Studies education cannot be conducted competently without additional support programs. We will provide these within the faculty for students who choose us. Therefore, we are very confident in this regard and believe that we have done a good job. Hence, I find it meaningful for students who have the desire, drive, and goal in this direction to choose Istanbul Medeniyet University, Faculty of Islamic Sciences. Istanbul Medeniyet University is a state university located in the center of Istanbul and has a campus. Our campus is a vibrant one, with its library, social facilities, and sports opportunities. Therefore, students who choose the Faculty of Islamic Sciences will benefit from these opportunities on our campus. They will study in a campus that houses the largest university library. Therefore, our students will directly benefit from the campus facilities and library resources. Of course, accommodation options are important for a student. Islamic Sciences students will also be able to take advantage of the high-level accommodation options provided by our university. I would like to mention a special opportunity for our Faculty of Islamic Sciences: this opportunity is for the students who will choose our faculty in the 2023-2024 academic year. We will provide a scholarship for the top five students who rank in the top thousand in the university entrance exam and choose our faculty,. We aim to attract successful students. I wish success to all students who will take the university entrance exam and I invite you all to Istanbul Medeniyet University, Faculty of Islamic Sciences.