Faculty of Divinity at Ankara University was established in 1949. Since its establishment, faculty has a distinguished place in the history of Islamic and religious thought in Turkey. The intellectual sources of the Faculty are rooted in the rich legacy of classical Islamic sciences, which have been produced throughout the long-lasting and multi-cultured Islamic and Turkish history. The Faculty has played an important role in the academic teaching of Islamic and religious scholarly disciplines by integrating the traditional spirit of Islamic disciplines with contemporary improvements in religious studies. It thus has been a distinctive character of the Faculty of Divinity to accommodate traditional Islamic approaches and critical thinking in the study of religious matters.

Faculty of Divinity has three main departments, which offer specialization in different fields. The first one is Basic Islamic Studies that consists of seven sub-departments as Department of Qur’anic Exegesis, Department of Hadith, Department of Kalam, Department of Islamic Jurisprudence, Department of History of Islamic Sects, Department of Sufism and Department of Arabic Language and Rhetoric. The second one is Philosophy and Religious Studies that consists of eight sub-departments as Department of Logic, Department of History of Philosophy, Department of Philosophy of Islam, Department of Philosophy of Religion, Department of History of Religions, Department of Sociology of Religion, Department of Psychology of Religion and Department of Religious Education. The last one is Islamic History and Arts that consists of four sub-departments as Department of History of Islam, Department of History of Turkish-Islamic Arts, Department of Turkish-Islamic Literature and Department of Turkish Religious Music.

Faculty of Divinity has more than 90 qualified academician including professors, associates professors, assistant professors, lecturers who are experts in their fields, and has experience in Turkey and abroad), more than 60 research assistants, some of whom come from different faculties to Faculty of Divinity in Ankara University to benefit faculty’s rich sources and to share experiences of qualified academic staffs for a while.

Faculty of Divinity aspires to become an international institution of educational excellence which integrates traditional and modern intellectual studies on Islam thereby furnishes an education contextualizing Islamic studies within social sciences and humanities and thus blends harmoniously modern academic disciplines with traditional scholarly fields. It thus presents a unique opportunity to study Islam within a living Muslim society with scholars who are well-versed in both traditional and modern techniques of academic study. It aims at bringing together the rich intellectual resources of faculty and students at Ankara University with an international scholarly network to explore religious issues in today’s complex, globalized, and changing world.