Hüseyin İlker Çınar, (1970, Yozgat, Turkey) is a theologian and Islamic scholar. He is a professor of Islamic Theology and founding director of the Institute for Islamic Studies and Intercultural Cooperation (IFIS&IZ) and the House of Culture for European Muslims (KUDEM) in Mannheim.
Professor Dr. Çınar studied Islamic Theology at the Marmara University in Istanbul (1987-1993), following an extensive study in Damascus (1993-1994) which deepened his knowledge of the Arabic language. He attended an 18-month intensive German course at the Ludwig-Maximilian-University in Munich. Following this, he successfully compiled a thesis “On the development of Fiqh-Science (Jurisprudence) up to the beginning of the III. H./IX. Century”, as part of his Master’s degree in Oriental/Islamic Studies and Educational Science at the Ruprecht-Karls-University in Heidelberg (1996-2000).
Professor Dr. Çınar was awarded a doctorate from the University of Heidelberg in 2002, with a thesis entitled: “The Islamic Traditional Literature on the Legal Situation in Early Islam under Consideration of Ancient Arabia”. During 2004 and 2005 Professor Dr. Çınar took on several teaching positions (lecturing in Islamic law and the history of Islam) at the Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe University in Frankfurt. Subsequently, he wrote numerous research articles and monographs. Throughout 2010 he cumulatively habilitated at the Faculty of Theology at the Marmara University, Istanbul, engaged in the field of Tafsīr (Qur’anic exegesis).
In 2011, Professor Dr. Çınar received a substitute professorship at the University of Osnabrück in Germany. His position was converted into a full professorship (W3) the following year, and he held the Chair for Tafsīr (Qur’anic exegesis). This work continued until 2017.
In addition to gaining academic qualifications, Professor Dr. Çınar also holds a traditional teaching license in Classical Arabic Madrasa Study (Iǧāza), which validates the mastery of 12 classical Islamic disciplines. Professor Dr. Çınar advocates teaching Classical Arabic Madrasa studies from an academic perspective in a European context. Professor Dr. Çınar supports newly founded and existing institutions in a number of ways, by strengthening institutional teaching and research, advising and designing curricula alongside promoting teaching and research methods.
In 2004, Professor Dr. Çinar initiated and founded KUDEM – the Cultural House of European Muslims in Mannheim. KUDEM promotes projects and activities in the fields of art, culture, music and science. Since its inception, KUDEM offers a range of creative courses, which include: calligraphy, marbling art and music, for example, classical Turkish Sufi choirs and concerts. Since 2003, Professor Dr. Çınar delivers lectures on mysticism and spirituality in Islam reflecting the spirit of the renowned Sufi Master, Imām Naqshiband (d. 791/1389).
Professor Dr. Çınar founded the Center for Islamic Studies and Intercultural Cooperation (IFIS&IZ) in 2011, and is the director. This is a civil research institute focusing on Islamic Theology and related sciences. Here, he established an academic library on Islamic Theology housing over 75,000 books covering five languages (Arabic, Turkish, German, English and French).
In 2016, Professor Dr. Çınar founded the Al-Ghazzali Academy under the umbrella of IFIS&IZ, which offers a four-year course of classical madrasa study from an academic perspective within a European context. In the same year, he founded the institute’s own publishing house, IFIS&IZ Publications, which produces academic texts on Islamic Theology and Islamic Studies.
Professor Dr. Çınar founded the KUDEM Children’s Library in Mannheim, which contains over 50,000 books in German, English, Turkish, Arabic and French. The library is designed to enable children from different cultures at primary and secondary school level to develop reading and language skills but also to encourage a passion for classical and modern literature at an early age.
At IFIS&IZ, Professor Dr. Çınar hosts scientific conferences and symposia on important societal concerns, which include:
Professor Dr. Çınar represents a mystical interpretation of Islam – Sufism (taṣawwuf). He views the purpose of Sufism as the individual development of a person into an exquisite character – driven by wisdom, sincerity, righteousness, and knowledge. For him, authentic Sufism is based on the primary sources of Islam, the Qur’an, and the example of the Prophet Muḥammad (blessings and peace be upon him). In addition to spiritual development, he advocates also the progress of education, scientific and artistic components, which assigns great importance to the contribution of the individual to society. Professor Dr. Çınar advocates an interpretation of the Qur’an under consideration of the Qur’anic sciences utilizing a dynamic-rational approach that accounts for contemporary contextual preconditions and requirements, such as culture, location and time.