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The newspaper Medeniyet, which was the most important publication organ in which Muslims in the Tsardom of Bulgaria after its separation from the Ottoman Empire shared their political, literary, scientific, and intellectual issues, was published for 375 issues in different periods of not more than fifteen days between 1933 and 1944. Medeniyet, a continuation and representation of Ottoman/Turkish scientific and cultural heritage in terms of language and content, was published in Ottoman Turkish. With his literary personality, poems, cause, and struggle, Mehmed Fikri, who was also the editor-in-chief of Medeniyet for a time, was compared to our national poet, and was also known as "the Bulgarian Mehmed Akif." Mehmed Fikri's most notable publication, among his many in Medeniyet, is certainly his series of articles titled "Al-Ghazali, His Life and Philosophy," which he authored on Al-Ghazali and serialized across 25 issues. In the present article, after providing background information about Mehmed Fikri's life, personality, case, and opinions, the content of his works on Al-Ghazali is presented, followed by evaluations in the conclusion section. Mehmed Fikri used this series of articles to introduce the great thinker Al-Ghazali to Muslims of his time, particularly the society in which he lived, in order to point Muslims in the right direction in terms of faith and thought. In our opinion, uniqueness of Fikri's works on Al-Ghazali's philosophy is that they indicate how a Muslim individual with concerns and a cause may actualize Al-Ghazali in the twentieth century, rather than his scholarly contribution to studies on Al-Ghazali. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a result of the failure occurred as the Ottomans failed to defend Mecca and Madinah and had no choice other than to retreat towards Anatolia, some certain issues emerged as to the condition of these holy cities with regard to the Muslim dominion thereof and our consciousness concerning Hajj and 'Umrah today. As a matter of fact, there are certain issues not to be forgotten nowadays in order to speak necessarily of "the consciousness regarding Mecca and Medina as well as Hajj and 'Umrah". In this context, we tried to elaborate the first hajj and 'umrah as fulfilled by our Prophet (P.B.U.H.) and thus their place and meaning in Islam and in the perfection of Muslim life, the history of Mecca and Medina in general. Moreover, by taking the cooperation between Wahhabiyya and Saudi Family into consideration, we tried to evaluate the process in which Mecca and Medina were disengaged from Ottoman Empire, the establishment of Hijaz Hashemite Kingdom under the leadership of Sharif Hussein and the Saudi State under the leadership of Saudis from the theological and political viewpoint. Thus, we reassessed these issues by drawing attention to some well-known elements in order to reveal our main point here. Finally, we put forth the remarks concerning the issues on the consciousness of Hajj and 'Umrah as fulfilled today as well as on Mecca and Madinah which are under the dominion of Saudi Arabia with a Salafī-Wahhabī theological stand. In this regard, we can say that the underlying peculiarity of our article is centred on its content and the conclusion rather than the historical material it compiled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study tries to determine the place and importance of the theological treatise titled al-Qasida al-Nūniyya in the history of Islamic Theology (kalām) which was written in poetical style by Hizir Beg, a distinguished scholar accepted as one of the major figures of Ottoman scholarship tradition and the first “kadi” (Muslim judge) of Istanbul. Furthermore, the article tries to analyze the possibility of abrogation and the abrogation of previous laws (sharia) in view of prophethood in general and the prophethood of the last Prophet (P.B.U.H.) in the context the al-Qasida al-Nūniyya and its commentaries. Within this scope, the claims of Jews supposing that the abrogation would imply ignorance and strangeness concerning God were evaluated; moreover, the rational and scriptural proofs of theologians in rejecting these very claims were expressed. Finally, the importance of interpretations (sharh) and annotations (hashiya) in Ottoman Thought was elucidated basin on the issue of abrogation, and the results were evaluated in general in terms of current conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Language is a means and medium for human being for the expression of existence. If one’s belief is considered as a depiction and outcome of his/her own existence, it becomes obvious that faith and language cannot be considered as separate entities. We think that Turkish language has gained its rise on the basis of the written form, words and sound of Qur’an and of the Islamic creed. Thus, our main aim in this article is to analyse the religious and theological meaning of the change, which Turkish language has experienced within the last century, especially within the last decades, from the point of theology of Islam (Kalâm). As a result, we come to the conclusion that there is a direct connection between the change and alteration of a language, and those of the truth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the issue of human destiny and freedom from the point of view of Islamic faith. It argues that destiny and freedom do not negate but rather require each other. Humanity's freedom lies in its destiny, and thus, the denial of the latter will make the former impossible. In the article, I focus on and reinterpret the Sunni paradigm of destiny, which is claimed to represent the "straight path" between the two extreme theological positions of Jabriyya and Qadariyya, or the Fatalists and Anti-Fatalists. Muslims have put the concept of destiny in a standard frame throughout centuries. But the principles of this traditional concept have been reconsidered in modern period, even the belief in destiny itself has been a subject of criticism. In the article, I also deal with the historical and methodic dimensions of these modern discussions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]