Mustafa İslâmoğlu

He was born on 28 October 1960 in Develi. He received the primary and secondary education at his birthplace. At the same period his father taught him the principles of Turkish morphology and syntax in accordance with the classical methods. He began the higher education at the Islam Higher Education Institute and continued his studies at the Shari’ah Islamiyah Faculty of the Azhar University.

 He published his literary works in such periodicals as Mavera (1980), Aylık Dergi (1982–1989) and Dergâh. His first articles appeared in Milli Gazete (1980) and Yeni Devir (1982–1983). He won the first and second prizes in the poetry competitions organised among universities.

 His first poetry book Heyelan (Landslide) came out in 1987 among the publications of the publishing house Aylık Dergi. His conversations with leaders of Islamic movements from different parts of the world were published in form of a book with the title Öncülerle Konuşmalar (the Conversations with Avant-Gardists) by the publishing house Eksen Yayınları in 1989.

 During the years of his academic residence in Cairo, on the one hand he was engaged in Islamic researches, and on the other he gave lessons. The work İmamlar ve Sultanlar (Imams and Sultans) was written at this period (1990) as the first result of his research. Again, his first essay Yürek Devleti (The Land of the Heart) was also published during this time. He made the translation of the book fî Mes’eti’s-Süfur ve’l-Hicab by Safinaz Kazım into Turkish during the same period (1990), which is called Kadının Özgürlüğü (The Freedom of Women). He published one after another the series Anadolu İslami Hareketleri (Anatolia Islamic Movements) (the present name: İslami Hareketler ve Kıyamlar Tarihi (The History of Islamic Movements and Uprisings )) (1991–1993), whose first volume he wrote in Cairo and the others on his return to Turkey. He translated the first volume of this series into Arabic in collaboration with Hasan Ali Beyyumi. This translation was published under the title Cuzuru’l-Harakati’l-Islamiyah fi Turkiya by Daru’z-Zahra (Cairo–1994).

The book Yahudileşme Temayülü (The Tendency to Becoming Jewish in Character), being a research work, was presented to the reader in 1994. The works Tavsiyeler I-II (Recommendations I-II) written on the basis of seminar notes was also made available to the public during these years (1995, 1998).

 He published his work Ya-sîn consisting of poems written on the way from Cairo to Makkah (1991). Afterwards, the book Divan came out as a complete collection of his poems (1996). The lessons of explanation of the meanings of the Noble Qur’an, which he delivered in Cairo were gathered in the work Adayış Risalesi (The Statement of Devotion) that deals with particular subjects (1992).

 Since his return from Cairo in October 1992, he has been delivering the explanatory lessons on the meanings of the Noble Qur’an (tefsir dersleri) for 15 years. The same lessons are available on-line at www.tefsirdersi.com. Further, starting from 1998 until present 170 explanatory lessons have been made available to the public in DVD, video, audio forms, as part of the project Te’vilu’l-furkan ve Tefsiru’l-Kur’an. The project includes 200 video lessons designed to cover the whole of the Noble Qur’an, and is expected to be completed in 2008.

 There has been set up another research project named Gerekçeli Meal (the Motivated Translation of the Meanings of the Noble Qur’an ), which runs simultaneously with the above-mentioned project and encompasses studying the Turkish translation of the meanings of the Noble Qur’an. The project is scheduled to reach completion together with the previously mentioned project.

 The writer continuously contributes to such newspapers as Yeni Şafak, Anadolu’da Vakit, Akit, Selam, Aylık Dergi, Ribat, Meydan. He has published some of his articles with the titles Makalat, Şafak Yazıları, Dağarcık, Yokluğunda Düşülmüş Notlar, Savaş Kesmeyen Sözler, Sözün Gücü mü, Gücün Sözü mü, Yerliler ve Yersizler, Ayetlerin Işığında in book form. The books Söyleşiler I and Bir Yaradan Kurşun Çıkarır Gibi contain the writer’s conversations with different people, which are also made available to the public.

He has translated, on the basis of the Arabic translation, the book Die Richtungen der Islamichen Koranauslegung (The Trends of Interpretation of the Noble Qur’an) by Ignaz Goldziher, an orientalist of Jewish origin, who was sent to Gölcük and Ankara prisons and endured very difficult conditions. In 1997 the writer was presented with the award Human Rights Watch Helmann-Hammet 1997.

 He issued a communique with the title Yürek Fethi (The Conquest of the Heart ) at the II. International Fetih Symposium, which was subsequently published as a book (1997). Hac Risalesi,(The Statement from Hajj) which he wrote in Makkah, was also published in 1998.

In December 2000 he published the book with the title Üç Muhammed, which caused much response in religious circles. His seminars Hayatın Yeniden İnşası İçin (2001) (For Constructing the Life Afresh)delivered in Atlanta of the United States were also published. These were followed by the work with the title Ne Yapmalı-Nasıl Yapmalı-Kiminle Yapmalı (2002)(What To Do-How To Do-With Whom To Do). Among the author’s publications appearing in 2002 is his first literary work Seyranı (Journey For Pleasure), which was written in 1983. The writer’s last publication as yet is the book with the title Allah(CC): Bilmek- Tanımak-Anlamak (Allah (SWT): To Know –To Recognize-To Understand).

     Besides, conferences, seminars, Khutbah (religious talks) and speeches held by the writer are available on video.

     Some of his books have been translated into Arabic, German, English, Kurdish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Albanian and made available to the public.

     The writer is married and has five children.