Resume and Fields of Study of Our Academic Staff
Prof. Dr. Bekir Kuzudişli
 | Marmara Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesinden mezun oldu (1998). İstanbul Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesinde araştırma görevlisi olarak göreve başladı (2002). Aynı üniversitede “Hadis Rivayetinde Aile İsnadları” adlı teziyle doktorasını tamamladı (2005). Emory Üniversitesinde misafir araştırmacı olarak bir yıl bulundu (2008-2009), “Şia’da Hadis Rivayeti ve İsnad” kitabıyla doçent oldu (2012). Profesör ünvanını aldı (2017). İstanbul Üniversitesi Temel İslam Bilimleri Bölüm Başkanlığını yürüttü (2018-2021). Hâlen İstanbul Üniversitesi İslam Tetkikleri Enstitüsü müdürü olarak görevine devam etmektedir. |
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muharrem Midilli
 | Selçuk Üniversitesinde İlahiyat öğrenimi gördü (1999-2003). MÜ Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsünde hazırladığı “Hicri V. Asır Fıkıh Usulü Eserlerinde Emrin Delaleti Tartışmaları” isimli çalışmasıyla yüksek lisansını tamamladı (2007). Sarıyer Vehbi Koç Vakfı Lisesinde öğretmen olarak çalıştı (2006-12). TÜBİTAK yurt dışı doktora araştırma bursuyla ABD Columbia Üniversitesinde 1 yıl süreyle misafir öğrenci olarak bulundu (2014-15). İÜ Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsüne sunduğu “Osmanlı Bağlamında Şeriat-Kanun İlişkisinin Hanefi Kamu Hukuk Fikri Açısından İncelenmesi: Ceza Hukuku Örneği” başlıklı teziyle doktora derecesi aldı (2017). Karadeniz Teknik/Trabzon Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesinde yardımcı doçent/doktor öğretim üyesi olarak çalıştı (2017-23). TÜBİTAK desteğiyle yürüttüğü “İslam Hukukunun Osmanlı Dönemi Gelişimi: Fetva Literatürü Çerçevesinde Bir Aile Hukuk Tarihi İncelemesi” (3501) isimli proje kapsamında Princeton Üniversitesinde incelemeler yaptı (2022). Klasik Osmanlı Ceza Hukukunda Şeriat-Kanun Ayrımı (Klasik, 2019), Müşahhas Meselelere Dair Osmanlı Aile Hukuku Fetvaları (Klasik, 2022), Şeyhülislâm Fetvalarıyla Osmanlı Aile Hukuku (İlahiyat, 2022), Aile, Hukuki Hayat ve Şeyhülislâm: Osmanlı Aile Hukuku Üzerine 1001 Fetva (Fecr, 2023) isimli kitapları ve birçok makalesi bulunmaktadır. |
Assist. Prof. Dr. Gürzat Kami
 | Gürzat Kami received a bachelor’s degree from the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Boğaziçi University (2012), and a master’s degree from the Department of History at Istanbul Şehir University (2015). His research focuses on scholarly life in the central Arab lands during the Mamluk-Ottoman transition period. He earned his PhD from the Department of History at Marmara University (2023), with his thesis entitled Damascene Scholars in the Mamluk-Ottoman Transition: History of Three Generations of the Ghazzi Family (1450-1650). His research interests include scholarly networks and mobility, the history of education and curriculum in Ottoman lands during the early modern period, and the application methods and tools of social network analysis in historical studies. |
Assist. Prof. Dr. İlknur Yaşar Bilicioğlu
 | She graduated from Marmara University, Faculty of Theology (2003). She completed her master's degree at Marmara University Social Sciences Institute, Basic Islamic Sciences, with the thesis "Goods That Cannot Be Subject to Sales Contracts Due to Their Qualities in Islamic Law" (2009). She completed her doctorate at Istanbul University Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Basic Islamic Sciences, with the thesis "Developments in Islamic Law of Obligations and the Prohibition of Riba in the Context of Ottoman Modernization" (2022). In addition to her academic studies, Yasar Bilicioglu served as a preacher within the Presidency of Religious Affairs between 2004 and 2023. She currently works as a faculty member at the Institute of Islamic Studies at Istanbul University. She examines the commercial law and banking experience of the Ottoman reform period in terms of their interaction with fiqh, and continues her studies on civil law, legislative texts regulating financial institutions and contemporary financial transactions. |
Assist. Prof. Dr. İmam Rabbani Çelik
 | Çelik graduated from Marmara University Faculty of Theology (2012). He holds a MA in Islamic Law from Marmara University (2014) and a Ph.D. with his thesis titled “The Super-commentaries on Talwīh in the XVth Century Ottoman Thought: Debates on Taklīf” from Institute of Social Sciences, Marmara University. Currently he is an Assistant Professor at Istanbul University Institute of Islamic Studies. His research focuses on the development of usul al-fiqh in the post-classical era and gloss writing in the Ottoman period. |
Assist. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Akif Kayapınar
 | Boğaziçi Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Siyaset Bilimi ve Uluslararası İlişkiler Bölümünden mezun oldu (1999). Johns Hopkins Üniversitesi School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)’te Uluslararası İlişkiler ve Uluslararası Ekonomik Teori alanlarında yüksek lisansını (2004) ve SUNY Binghamton Üniversitesi Philosophy, Interpretation, and Culture programında “The Theory of Asabiya in Comparison with the Social Contract Approach: An Interpretive Study in Comparative Political Theory” başlıklı tezi ile doktorasını tamamladı (2010). Beykent Üniversitesinde araştırma görevlisi olarak (1999-2000), İstanbul Şehir Üniversitesinin Siyaset Bilimi ve Uluslararası İlişkiler Bölümünde (2009-2020) ve İbn Haldun Üniversitesinin Siyaset Bilimi ve Uluslararası İlişkiler Bölümünde öğretim üyesi olarak çalıştı (2020-2022). Anlayış Dergisi’nde yazar ve editör olarak görev yaptı. Karşılaştırmalı siyaset teorisi alanındaki çalışmaları ulusal ve uluslararası akademik dergilerde yayınlandı. Hâlihazırda İstanbul Üniversitesi İslam Tetkikleri Enstitüsünde öğretim üyesi olarak görev yapmaktadır. |
Assist. Prof. Dr. Muhammed Fatih Çalışır
 | M. Fatih Çalışır is an expert in early modern Ottoman history and environmental history. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Fatih University in 2005, followed by a Master of Arts degree from Bilkent University in 2009, and a Ph.D. from Georgetown University in 2016. Prior to embarking on his doctoral journey, Çalışır served as an assistant specialist at the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry, where he assisted in the preservation of cultural heritage at the Topkapı Palace Manuscripts Library and the Istanbul Museum of Islamic Science and Technology History (2009–2010). During his academic career, Çalışır has held various positions. From 2017 to 2019, he was affiliated with Ibn Haldun University, and from 2019 to 2023, he served as a faculty member in the Department of History at Kırklareli University. He was a visiting researcher at the Harvard University Center for Middle Eastern Studies (Harvard-CMES), supported by the TÜBİTAK 2019 Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Abroad. He is the author of a monograph on Mehmed I and has edited several works, including volumes on the era of Suleiman the Lawgiver (with Suraiya Faroqhi and M. Şakir Yılmaz), Turkish war industry history (with A. Sefa Özkaya), and the Köprülü era in Ottoman history. Furthermore, Çalışır is renowned for his translations of academic works in environmental history, military history, and the Baburid Empire from English into Turkish. He is the founding figure behind the Bilkent History Society and the Environmental History Society of Turkey. Additionally, he spearheaded the biennial Süleymaniye International Symposium, which has fostered scholarly exchange and collaboration in his field. Since February 2023, he has been a full-time faculty member at the Institute of Islamic Studies at Istanbul University. |
Assist. Prof. Dr. Yakoob Ahmed
 | Dr. Yakoob Ahmed graduated with a Master's in the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)- University of London, in 2008. He then completed his PhD at the same school and department in late Ottoman history in 2016, emphasising the late Ottoman ulema. The title of his PhD was The Role of the Sunni Ottoman Ulema During the Constitutional Revolution of 1908-1909. Since then, Dr Ahmed has been a lecturer at Istanbul University’s Ilahiyat Department(2016-2023), where he has taught courses such as The Life of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW), Islamic History I, Islamic History II, Islamic Civilisation, Sects in Islam, The History of Palestine, Modern Islamic Thought, Islamic Studies in the West and Academic English. He has been accepted to write his first manuscript on the role of the late Ottoman ulema for Edinburgh University Press. More recently, his new research interests focus on late Ottoman influences on China, Japan, Malaysia, Afghanistan and Iran as part of a broader project on the Ottomans as part of the Asian world. He is an Assistant Professor at the Islamic Studies Institute at Istanbul University. |
Res. Assist. İbrahim Enes Başdemir
 | Graduated from Istanbul 29 Mayıs University, International Faculty of Islamic and Religious Sciences, Department of Islamic and Religious Sciences (2022). He is currently pursuing his master’s degree at Istanbul University Institute of Social Sciences Hadith Program. His academic interest focuses on the history and issues of hadith, isnad, ulema and politics, jarh wa taʿdil, Mihna, and involuntary Rihla. |