History

The first workings for establishing of Dar ul-funun started in 1846 and though some attempts in 1863, 1870, 1874 this institution was established in 1900, 30th Aug with the name of “Dar ul-Funun-ı Shahanah” during the Sultanate of II. Abdulhamid. Dar ul-funun included the Theology Faculty too.  After gathering all madrasahs of Istanbul under the name of “Madrasahs of Dâr ul-hilâfat ul-aliyya” in 1914, Theology Faculty of dar ul-funun was assigned as Âlî department to the Madrasahs of Dâr ul-hilâfat ul-aliyya. After connecting the madrasahs to Ministry of Education with the law on unification of education (Tawhed-i Tadrisat) No: 430 in 1924, 3rd March, the Âlî Departments of madrasahs were assigned to The Theology Faculty in Istanbul Dar ul-Funun. In this faculty Arabic literature, philosophy, kalam, ethics, sociology, Islamic history, history of religions were being taught besides some other basic lectures like tafsir (Qur’anic Exegesis), hadith and fıqh. Furthermore Arabic, Persian, French languages were among the lectures. Dar ul-funun and the incorporated faculties were closed in 1933, 31st July. So Theology Faculty was also closed. In 1933 when it was changed to university from Dar ul-Funun, theology faculty was turned into Institute of Islamic Studies. Faculty of Theology was reestablished under the same roof of Istanbul University in 1992. Istanbul University, Faculty of Theology has been accepting students since 1996 and continuing the education and training both for undergraduate, graduate and doctorate studies. The first graduates were in 2000-2001. 

Deans:

1. Prof. Dr. Yaşar Nuri ÖZTÜRK     1993 - 2002 

2. Prof. Dr. Emrullah YÜKSEL         2002 - 2005

3. Prof. Dr. Fahri KAYADİBİ             2005 - 2009 

4. Prof. Dr. Şinasi GÜNDÜZ            2009 - 2012 

5. Prof. Dr. Mürteza BEDİR             2013-2020

6. Prof. Dr. Ramazan MUSLU          2020-...