A speech by the Dean of the University in Turkish, accompanied by a translation, regarding the services Turkey provides to Islam and Muslims.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : We are the faculty members of the College of Sharia at the University of ... We came here to visit the universities and to visit our brothers in the religion. We also visit the Muslims. We are pleased with this visit, and we thank Allah the Exalted for giving us the opportunity to meet with scholars and shaykhs whose names we used to see in books, and to meet them directly here. We praise Allah the Exalted for this grace, especially with your honorable presence. I am very grateful and very thankful.
The Shaykh : May Allah bless you.
The questioner : If you allow us to present to you some of the efforts made on our part, or some information concerning Islam and Muslims, I will present it to you.
The Shaykh : We will benefit from it, if Allah wills.
The questioner : In Turkey, we have 56 universities with 23 Colleges of Sharia, which we call Colleges of Theology. That means, out of the 56, we have 23 Colleges of Sharia. We study Islamic education, of course, from a young age, whereThe student : as soon as a student finishes primary school, he joins a Qur'an school to read and master the recitation of the Noble Qur'an. Currently, in Turkey, there are officially registered with the state three thousand Qur'an schools for reading and memorization.
The Shaykh : What Allah willed.
The questioner : Every year, five thousand students graduate from all over Turkey as complete memorizers of the Noble Qur'an.
The Shaykh : What Allah willed.
The questioner : Along with the Qur'an schools, we have four hundred and fifty secondary schools for Imams and Preachers. Those who study in the secondary schools for Imams and Preachers, which are exclusively dedicated to Islamic studies, number five hundred thousand students.
The Shaykh : What Allah willed.
The questioner : And in the College of Sharia, after these secondary schools, we teach Islamic doctrines and Islamic laws. Our college is originally four years, with an additional year. In the first year, we teachThe student : the Arabic language first.
The Shaykh : What Allah willed.
The questioner : In our college, the professors are the ones who organize the programs and curricula according to the grades, meaning the first year, second year, third year, and fourth year. The graduates of our university, directly from our college, are able to be employed as teachers in middle and high schools as religious education teachers. Also, they can be appointed in the Directorate of Religious Affairs in Turkey as a preacher, or as a mufti, or as an Imam and Khatib. These positions are open to them, andThe student : the graduate can also complete his higher studies, the master's and the doctorate. We also completed the master's and doctorate in this way until we reached the rank of professor in the same schools, in the same colleges, and now we are teaching again. We have become teachers for them. Of course, up to now, we benefit from the old books written by the Ottoman and Arab Muslims. Up to now, from these works, we benefit, and up to now, we are still thirsty for these books. That is, we benefit and apply this information in our country. And always, from time to time, book fairs are opened in Egypt, in Jordan, in Syria, in Lebanon. We participate in these fairs and take valuable books to Turkey and we benefit from them. And those who submit a doctoral dissertation now submit it in Turkish in our country. It is only restricted in Turkey, meaning the dissertations, the writings, the publications. Yes, like the other Arab countries, we have
The Shaykh : Excuse me, I did not understand.
The questioner : I mean, for example, here the students submit their doctoral dissertations, they submit their theses, they submit their studies. We also have this. They submit in Arabic, and we submit in Turkish. We have full knowledge and complete information about the efforts of our Arab brothers, about what they provide for Islam. But unfortunately, what we provide is not known here, and they do not know it up close. That is, this separation, this distance between us is the obstacle. This visit is not the last visit, because we will wait for the brothers and meet with them, exchange opinions, and interact with ideas among us, and this will also benefit us in the future. After these clarifications, we ask you for your advice to us, what you recommend to us, and if you could give us some other news of the Muslims on the Islamic and Arab scene. And we hope to benefit from your experiences. Also, we have benefited from your books; we want to benefit from you directly in some things, if Allah wills. I ask Allah for success for you in your works, and that He prolong your life for what is good for Islam and Muslims. And if you please to ask any questions, we will answer them for you, if Allah wills, and perhaps we have friends, brothers, professors.
The Shaykh : May Allah bless you.
The questioner : If you allow us to present to you some of the efforts made on our part, or some information concerning Islam and Muslims, I will present it to you.
The Shaykh : We will benefit from it, if Allah wills.
The questioner : In Turkey, we have 56 universities with 23 Colleges of Sharia, which we call Colleges of Theology. That means, out of the 56, we have 23 Colleges of Sharia. We study Islamic education, of course, from a young age, whereThe student : as soon as a student finishes primary school, he joins a Qur'an school to read and master the recitation of the Noble Qur'an. Currently, in Turkey, there are officially registered with the state three thousand Qur'an schools for reading and memorization.
The Shaykh : What Allah willed.
The questioner : Every year, five thousand students graduate from all over Turkey as complete memorizers of the Noble Qur'an.
The Shaykh : What Allah willed.
The questioner : Along with the Qur'an schools, we have four hundred and fifty secondary schools for Imams and Preachers. Those who study in the secondary schools for Imams and Preachers, which are exclusively dedicated to Islamic studies, number five hundred thousand students.
The Shaykh : What Allah willed.
The questioner : And in the College of Sharia, after these secondary schools, we teach Islamic doctrines and Islamic laws. Our college is originally four years, with an additional year. In the first year, we teachThe student : the Arabic language first.
The Shaykh : What Allah willed.
The questioner : In our college, the professors are the ones who organize the programs and curricula according to the grades, meaning the first year, second year, third year, and fourth year. The graduates of our university, directly from our college, are able to be employed as teachers in middle and high schools as religious education teachers. Also, they can be appointed in the Directorate of Religious Affairs in Turkey as a preacher, or as a mufti, or as an Imam and Khatib. These positions are open to them, andThe student : the graduate can also complete his higher studies, the master's and the doctorate. We also completed the master's and doctorate in this way until we reached the rank of professor in the same schools, in the same colleges, and now we are teaching again. We have become teachers for them. Of course, up to now, we benefit from the old books written by the Ottoman and Arab Muslims. Up to now, from these works, we benefit, and up to now, we are still thirsty for these books. That is, we benefit and apply this information in our country. And always, from time to time, book fairs are opened in Egypt, in Jordan, in Syria, in Lebanon. We participate in these fairs and take valuable books to Turkey and we benefit from them. And those who submit a doctoral dissertation now submit it in Turkish in our country. It is only restricted in Turkey, meaning the dissertations, the writings, the publications. Yes, like the other Arab countries, we have
The Shaykh : Excuse me, I did not understand.
The questioner : I mean, for example, here the students submit their doctoral dissertations, they submit their theses, they submit their studies. We also have this. They submit in Arabic, and we submit in Turkish. We have full knowledge and complete information about the efforts of our Arab brothers, about what they provide for Islam. But unfortunately, what we provide is not known here, and they do not know it up close. That is, this separation, this distance between us is the obstacle. This visit is not the last visit, because we will wait for the brothers and meet with them, exchange opinions, and interact with ideas among us, and this will also benefit us in the future. After these clarifications, we ask you for your advice to us, what you recommend to us, and if you could give us some other news of the Muslims on the Islamic and Arab scene. And we hope to benefit from your experiences. Also, we have benefited from your books; we want to benefit from you directly in some things, if Allah wills. I ask Allah for success for you in your works, and that He prolong your life for what is good for Islam and Muslims. And if you please to ask any questions, we will answer them for you, if Allah wills, and perhaps we have friends, brothers, professors.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.