Ali Özek

Ali Özek (* 1932 in the village of Doğanlar near Fethiye ) is a Turkish Islamic theologian and university professor.

Life

In 1941 he graduated from elementary school near his home village. Then Özek went to Alanya for religious instruction at the side of Ömer Ali Hafı. A few years later he became Haafiz . He returned to Fethiye and worked for a lawyer. Further religious instruction followed in Izmir, where Özek also finished secondary school. From 1950 Özek went to Cairo, where he studied at al-Azhar, a degree that was not recognized in what was then Turkey. In 1957 Özek returned to Izmir and worked as a teacher in a Koran school. In 1960 he made up his grammar school and then did military service for two years. From 1962 he worked in Istanbul first as a teacher at an İmam Hatip school , then he taught Arabic language and culture at the İstanbul Yüksek İslam Enstitüsü . In 1966 he enrolled at Istanbul University , studied Persian and Arabic, and received his doctorate in 1973. From 1979 to 1982 Özek headed the İstanbul Yüksek İslam Enstitüsü. After a year abroad in England, he became a lecturer in 1986 and his habilitation followed in 1991. In 1998 Özek retired.

He is co-founder and since 1982 president of the İslami İlimler Araştırma Vakfı Foundation (abbr. İSAV) based in Istanbul , Turkey .

Özek was one of the 138 signatories of the open letter A Common Word between Us and You , which the personalities of Islam sent to "leaders of Christian churches everywhere" (October 13, 2007).

Web links

• aliozek.com (Homepage)

References and footnotes

1. ↑ s. isavvakfi.org: Foundation for Research in Islamic Sciences
2. ↑ acommonword.com: A common word between us and you (summarized short form) (PDF; 186 kB)