Prof. Dr.
Hüseyin İlker Çınar

Prof. Dr. Hüseyin İlker Çınar, (1970, Yozgat, Turkey) is a German-Turkish theologian and Islamic scholar. He is a Professor of Islamic Theology and the Founding Director of the Institute for Islamic Studies and Intercultural Cooperation (IFIS&IZ) in Mannheim, Germany.

Professor Hüseyin İlker Çınar studied Islamic Theology at the Marmara University in Istanbul from 1987 to 1993. This was followed by a six-month study visit to Damascus to deepen his Arabic language skills. An 18-month intensive German course followed at the Ludwig-Maximilian-University in Munich. He then completed his Master’s degree in Oriental Studies/Islamic Studies and Educational Science at the Ruprecht-Karls-University in Heidelberg between 1996 and 2000, which he completed with a Master’s thesis titled: “On the Development of Fiqh-Science (Jurisprudence) up to the Beginning of the III. Reich”. H./IX. century”. Professor Hüseyin İlker Çınar received his doctorate from the University of Heidelberg in 2002 with his dissertation: “The Islamic Traditional Literature on the Legal Situation in Early Islam under Consideration of Ancient Arabia”. His dissertation was supervised by Prof. Dr. Dr. Raif Georges Khoury.

Several research trips to the Orient followed for further studies and research. In 2004 and 2005 Professor Hüseyin İlker Çınar took over several teaching positions at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt. In the following years he wrote numerous scientific articles and monographs. In 2010 Professor Hüseyin İlker Çınar habilitated cumulatively at the Faculty of Theology of Marmara University in Istanbul in the department for Tafsīr (Koran exegesis).

In 2011 Professor Hüseyin İlker Çınar founded the Institute of Islamic Studies and Intercultural Cooperation (IFIS&IZ), a civil research institute with a focus on Islamic theology and sciences, of which he is still the founding director. IFIS&IZ sees itself as a complementary supporting institution to the university locations. Professor Hüseyin İlker Çınar has built up the academic library on Islamic Theology with over 70,000 books in five languages (Arabic, Turkish, German, English and French). The IFIS&IZ library is considered the largest of its kind in Europe.

In 2011, Professor Hüseyin İlker Çınar was given a position as assistant professor at the University of Osnabrück and the same year he was appointed as a full professor (W3) and chair of Tafsīr (Koran exegesis) at the same university. He held this position at the university until 2017. During this time Professor Hüseyin İlker Çınar published a comprehensive book (of 601 pages) on Quranic science and exegesis, which -for the first time in the German speaking world- contains a scientific and comprehensive study of the fundamental sciences of Quranic exegesis from an academic-theological perspective.
The scientific focus is far-reaching and includes various disciplines of Islamic theology. Professor Hüseyin İlker Çınar is primarily concerned with topics such as classical and modern Quranic exegesis (tafsīr), genesis, reception and hermeneutics of the Quran, Quranic sciences (ʿulūm al-Qurʾān) and methodology of Quranic interpretation (uṣūl at-tafsīr). Further focal points of his academic work and publications are Islamic Law (fiqh) in the past and the present, its sources and methodology (uṣūl al-fiqh) as well as Islamic mysticism (taṣawwuf), ethics (aḫlāq) and Hadīṯ sciences.

In 2016 Professor Hüseyin İlker Çınar launched the al-Ghazzali Academy under the umbrella of IFIS&IZ, which offers a four-year study of the classical madrasa with an academic perspective in a European context. The curriculum of the IFIS&IZ al-Ghazzali Academy was preceded by intensive preparations with experts from German and Turkish universities. In the same year Professor Hüseyin İlker Çınar founded the Institute’s own publishing house, IFIS&IZ Publications, which publishes academic writings in the field of Islamic Theology and Islamic Studies.
At IFIS&IZ, Prof. Dr. Hüseyin İlker Çınar organizes scientific conferences and symposia on important issues in society, including

• “Spirituality in Religion and Culture” (2011)
•  “Islamic Life in Europe – Man and Architecture” (2014)
• “Salafism in Germany – Background, Effects and Prevention” (2016)
• “Religion and Finance – The role of belief systems in modern economies” (2018)

In addition to his academic qualifications, Professor Hüseyin İlker Çınar also has a traditional teaching license (iǧāza) for classical Arabic madrasa studies.

Professor Hüseyin İlker Çınar attaches particular importance to science, art, culture and music. In 2003 he initiated and founded KUDEM – Cultural House of European Muslims in Mannheim, Germany. KUDEM promotes projects and activities in the fields of science, art, culture and music. Under the guidance of Professor Hüseyin İlker Çınar, courses for calligraphy and marbling paint were opened, and a choire (classical Turkish Sufi music) was established, which have continued to exist since the foundation of KUDEM. Since 2003 Professor Hüseyin İlker Çınar has been giving lectures on mysticism and spirituality in Islam in the tradition of the Sufi Master Imām Naqšband (born 791/1389). Elementary concepts about Islamic mysticism and spirituality, such as love of God, sincerity, righteousness, fear of God, decency, servanthood, God’s unity, service to creation and social commitment are explained comprehensively. It is explained in a classical-traditional way and the inseparability of the connections between sincerity, righteousness, knowledge and wisdom, and their meanings are elaborated.

In 2019 Professor Çınar announced that KUDEM is in the process of establishing a children’s library in five languages with a target stock of over 50,000 books