Yaşar Nuri Öztürk

Theologist, jurist and writer (b. 12 February 1951, Bayburt - D. 22 June 2016, İstanbul)). He was brought up in the Black Sea region of Turkey. He graduated from Marmara University, Faculty of Theology (1972) and Istanbul University, Faculty of Law (1974). In 1976, he entered İstanbul University, Institute of Islam as an assistant and completed his doctorate studies there in 1979. In 1982, he became an associate professor. Between 1986-87, he worked as a professor of Islamic Thought at the Theological Seminary of Borrytown in New York, while he participated in the preparation of the Islamic Department of the World Scripture. He worked as a lecturer and Head of the Department of Theosophical Science at Marmara University and as the dean of the Faculty of Theology at İstanbul University. In the elections on 3 November 2002, he was elected a Republican People’s Party parliamentary deputy of İstanbul and entered parliament; however he resigned from the party in 2004 and established a new political party under the name the of the People’s Advancement Movement in 2005.

His articles on philosophical and theological matters were published in the review Hareket (1971-77) and the newspapers Son Havadis (1977), Yeni Devir (1978), Tercüman (1979-83) and in Hürriyet and Gazete after 1983 he participated in and presented communiqués at several congresses and conferences, that were held in about fifteen countries, including Japan, Germany, Egypt and some countries in Africa and the Middle East. He collected the awards of the Turkish Foundation for National Culture in 1978 and 1982, with his books Varlık ve İnsan (Existence and Man, 1978) and Kuşadalı İbrahim (Kuşadalı İbrahim, 1982). He gained fame with his book Kur'an'da İslâm (Islam in the Koran) and programs on television channels. He was in the top-ten names on the list of “The Most Important Scientists and Healers” in the questionnaire “The Most Important People of the 20th Century” carried out by Time review in 2001. 

He wrote a number of books, well above forty, which were published in Turkish, German, English and Persian. His book Kur’an’daki İslâm (Islam in the Koran), which had forty editions up to 2005, was considered as the pioneering book of the movement “Return to the Koran in Islam”. Öztürk’s role in this movement and his world of thought and activities were analyzed in theses in Turkish, German, English and Persian at various universities. Besides this, his books, his longer articles, such as İslâm ve Avrupa (Islam and Europe, Die Zeit, 20.2.2003), İslâm ve Demokrasi (Islam and Democracy, 2003), Europa Leidenschaftlich Gesucht (Desperately Seeking Europe, 2003) and his interviews on Islam-West-Secularism attracted great attention.

WORKS:

Tasavvufî Düşünce (Theosophical Thought, 1974), Hallac-ı Mansur ve Eseri (Hallac-ı Mansur and His Work, 1976; translated into Persian under the title İntişar-i Rôzene, 2003), Varlık ve İnsan (Existence and Man, 1978), Kur'an ve Sünnete Göre Tasavvuf (The Koran and Sunnah (not written in the Koran but from the prophet’s habits and words) According to Sufism, 1979), Bosnevî Muhammed (Muhammed from Bosnia, 1981), Kuşadalı İbrahim (Kuşadalı İbrahim, 1982), Hz. Fatma (The Esteemed Fatma, 1983), Son Peygamber (The Last Prophet, 1986), Tasavvufun Ruhu ve Tarikatlar (The Spirit of Theosophy and Religious Orders, 1988), The Eye of the Heart (1988), Kur'an'ı Anlamaya Doğru (Towards an Understanding of the Koran, 1990), Tarih Boyunca Bektaşilik (The Bektashi Order During History, 1990), Din ve Fıtrat (Religion and Creation, 1990), Son Devir Türk Tasavvufu ve Bosnalı Muhammed (Turkish Theosophy in the Last Period and Bosnian Muhammed, 1991), Kur'an'ın Temel Kavramları (Basic Concepts of the Koran, 1993), 500 Soruda İslâm (Islam in 500 Questions), Kur'an-ı Kerim Meali (Interpretation of the Koran, 1994), Kur'an'daki İslâm (Islam in the Koran, 1992), İslâm Gerçeği (Reality of Islam, in collaboration with Hüseyin Atay, Beyza Bilgin, Rahmi Ayas, Arif Güneş and Hasan Elik, 1995), Reconstruction of Religious Life in Islam (1996), Kur’an’ın Temel Buyrukları (Basic Commands in the Koran, 1997), İslâm Nasıl Yozlaştırıldı? (How was Islam Corrupted? 2000), Ana Dilde İbadet (Worshipping in the Mother Tongue, 2002), Kur'an Açısından Şeytancılık (Satanism from the Aspect of the Koran, 2002), Cevap Veriyorum 1-2 (I Reply 1-2, 2002), Kur’an Verileri Açısından Laiklik (Secularism According to the Data in the Koran, 2003), Batı Sömürgeciliği ve İslâm Dünyası (Western Colonialism and the Islamic World, 2003). 

REFERENCE: Arzu Caferzade / Halkın Diliyle Yaşar Nuri Öztürk (1997), Arzu Caferzade / Halkın Diliyle Yaşar Nuri Öztürk (1997), Alexandra Kemmerer / Yaşar Nuri Öztürk (Franfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 23.6. 2000), İbrahim Ethem Aydın / Modernleşme Sürecinde İslâm Düşüncesi ve Yaşar Nuri Öztürk (tez, Celal Bayar Üniversitesi 2002), Rainer Hermann / Yaşar Nuri Öztürk (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 21.10.2002), İhsan Işık / Türkiye Edebiyatçılar ve Kültür Adamları Ansiklopedisi (2006), Yaşar Nuri Öztürk'ten üzücü haber... (hurriyet.com.tr, 22.6.2016).