The articles published in Ilahiyat Faculty Journal between 1925 and 1933 have been classified according to subject headings and analysed accordingly. The aim of this study is to identify intellectual orientations in the field of theology during the early Republican period and to reveal the distribution of these orientations within the journal’s content. Based on document analysis, one of the qualitative research methods, the study uses 131 articles published across 25 issues of the journal as its data source. The articles were categorised under eight main headings according to their content and evaluated through a descriptive analysis model. The findings indicate a particular emphasis on the fields of Kalam (Islamic Theology), Islamic Philosophy, and the History of Islamic Sects, whereas core Islamic sciences such as Tafsir (Qur’anic Exegesis), Hadith, and Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence) received comparatively less attention. The inclusion of both original and translated works reflects an intellectual engagement with the Western thought of the period. Additionally, interdisciplinary diversity is evident in the presence of articles related to Biography, Art, History of Religions, and Sociology. Considering these findings, it can be concluded that the Ilahiyat Faculty Journal served as a pioneering publication reflecting the religious thought structure of its time from a multifaceted perspective.
1925-1933 yılları arasında yayımlanan İlâhiyat Fakültesi Mecmuası’ndaki makaleler konu başlıklarına göre sınıflandırılarak incelenmiştir. Çalışmanın amacı, erken Cumhuriyet döneminde ilahiyat alanındaki düşünsel yönelimleri tespit etmek ve bu yönelimlerin dergideki konu dağılımını ortaya koymaktadır. Nitel araştırma yöntemlerinden doküman analizine dayalı olarak yürütülen incelemede, mecmuanın yayımlanan 25 sayısında yer alan toplam 131 makale veri kaynağını oluşturmuştur. İçeriklerine göre sekiz ana başlık altında sınıflandırılan makaleler, betimsel analiz modeliyle değerlendirilmiştir. Elde edilen sonuçlara göre mecmuada özellikle Kelâm, İslâm Felsefesi ve Mezhepler Tarihi alanlarına yoğunluk verildiği; buna karşın Tefsir, Hadis ve Fıkıh gibi Temel İslâm ilimlerine daha az yer ayrıldığı görülmüştür. Telif ve çeviri metinlerin birlikte yayımlanması, dönemin Batı düşüncesiyle entelektüel temas kurma çabasını ortaya koymaktadır. Ayrıca Biyografi, Sanat, Dinler Tarihi ve Sosyoloji gibi alanlarda disiplinler arası bir çeşitlilik dikkat çekmektedir. Elde edilen bulgular ışığında, İlâhiyat Fakültesi Mecmuası’nın döneminin dinî düşünce yapısını çok yönlü bir bakış açısıyla yansıtan öncü bir yayın organı olduğu sonucuna ulaşılmıştır.
The early years of the Turkish Republic marked a significant period of transformation in education, intellectual life, and religious thought. Educational institutions were restructured, scholarly activities adopted new orientations, and the Islamic sciences underwent a process of modernisation. This transformation was not limited to institutional frameworks; it extended to the language of scholarship, methodological approaches, and academic priorities, all reshaped by the evolving sociopolitical context. Understanding how Islamic thought adapted to these changes requires a close examination of the era’s academic publications, foremost among them, the Journal of the Faculty of Theology.
Established in 1924 following the closure of the Dârü’l-Hilâfeti’l-‘Aliyye Madrasah under the Law on the Unification of Education (Tevhid-i Tedrisat), the Darulfunun Faculty of Theology launched the Journal of the Faculty of Theology in 1925 to reflect its academic activities. The journal, published until February 1933, became one of the most influential platforms in the field of theology during the early Republican period. Although initially intended to publish four issues annually, deviations occurred starting in the fifth year. The first 10 issues appeared in Arabic script, while subsequent ones were printed in Latin script. Over 25 issues, the journal produced 3129 pages. While the overall format remained stable, symbolic design changes were introduced with the shift to the Latin letter.
The journal maintained a balanced and objective stance, deliberately distancing itself from the political debates of its time. Religious, historical, philosophical, and social issues were discussed with scholarly rigour and in an indirect tone. Its contributors included prominent figures such as Mehmed Ali Aynî, Izmirli Ismail Hakkı, Mehmed Şerefeddin Yaltkaya, Yusuf Ziya Yörükân, Mehmed Emin Erişirgil, and Mehmed Şemseddin Günaltay, some of whom would later serve at the Faculty of Theology in Ankara, continuing the academic legacy initiated in Istanbul.
The journal’s content focused predominantly on Islamic Philosophy, History of Islamic Sects, Kalam (Islamic Theology), Islamic History, History of Religions, and Art History. In contrast, classical Shar’î s sciences such as Tafsir, Hadith, and Fiqh received comparatively less attention. Notably, only one article was dedicated to Hadith. Among its most remarkable contributions is Izmirli Ismail Hakkı’s fourteen-part series “Philosophical Currents in Islam”, which systematically explores the development of Islamic philosophy from Salafism to Bâtinîsm.
Articles by Mehmed Şerefeddin Yaltkaya on Bâtinî thought and Islamic sects significantly contributed to both Kalam and sectarian studies, while Yusuf Ziya Yörükân’s ethnographic work on Anatolian Alevis and Tahtacı communities offered early examples of socio-anthropological analysis. The inclusion of translated texts from Western thinkers such as Durkheim, Dumézil, Frazer, and Lévy-Bruhl further highlighted the journal’s engagement with global intellectual currents and distinguished it from other faculty journals of the Darulfunun.
Articles in philosophy emphasised the relationship between Islamic and Greek thought, while also addressing the sciences-religion dialogue. Translations under “Ancient Philosophy” and “Anthropology-Ethnography” echoed the early anthropological approaches of Lévy-Bruhl, aiming to understand the so-called primitive mentalities. The sociology section, drawing on thinkers like Durkheim and Dumézil, contributed to discussions on secular education, morality, and the societal role of religion.
Writings on the History of Islamic Sects explored both the transmission of doctrinal knowledge and the reinterpretation of sectarian boundaries. Yaltkaya’s consistent emphasis in this area hints at an ideological positioning in the journal’s editorial stance. The History of Religions section moved beyond Islam-centred narratives to offer comparative insights, tracing universal religious patterns through themes like sacrifice, the flood myth, and Shamanism.
Essays on Turkish-Islamic art challenged Western assumptions of Islamic art’s dependency on external influences, instead advocating for an indigenous and original aesthetic. Ismayıl Hakkı Baltacıoğlu’s contributions stood out for their sociological as well as aesthetic depth. In the biography section, the writings of Izmirli, Ismail Hakkı, and Yaltkaya combined intellectual historiography with detailed personal accounts, serving as tools for tracing continuity in thought.
Studies under the headings of Bibliography and Miscellaneous Topics enriched the scholarly landscape with bibliographic references and thematic overviews, and by introducing classical texts, contributed to the preservation and transmission of intellectual heritage.
With the 1933 University Reform and the closure of Istanbul Darulfunun, the Faculty of Theology was excluded from the newly established Istanbul University, leading to the discontinuation of the journal. This was perceived as a significant academic loss. Nevertheless, the Journal of the Faculty of Theology remains a foundational publication that laid the groundwork for modern theological discourse in Turkey.
This study classifies and analyses 131 articles published between 1925 and 1933 under eight thematic categories. Employing qualitative methods, particularly document and content analysis, it considers article titles, author profiles, key concepts, and subject matter. A descriptive analysis model was used to identify key intellectual trends, reference patterns, and the structure of the discussion. The distinction between the original and translated texts further reveals the intellectual orientations of the period.
Ultimately, the findings demonstrate that the Journal of the Faculty of Theology was more than an academic platform; it represented a dynamic school of thought that engaged with the ideological and intellectual climate of its time through an interdisciplinary lens. It also provides valuable insight into early Republican academic publishing. Future studies could explore how the author’s intellectual and political stances influenced their writings, conduct comparative analyses with other faculty journals, and examine the journal’s impact on the public readership. Archive-based sociological research could deepen our understanding of its role in shaping Turkey’s modern theological and academic legacy.
In this respect, the Journal of the Faculty of Theology not only reflects the scholarly inclinations of a particular era but also offers a rare window into the intellectual strategies employed to reconcile religious heritage with modern academic paradigms. Its content reveals a deliberate effort to construct a rational and historically grounded discourse on religion that would be compatible with the cultural and ideological shifts of the early Republican context. Thus, the journal served as a mediator between traditional Islamic sciences and the newly emerging disciplines within the modern university structure.
The study also underscores the importance of re-evaluating early Republican theological scholarship through a multi-layered analytical framework. Further interdisciplinary research could incorporate approaches from intellectual history, political theology, and media studies to better understand the journal’s role in shaping both elite and popular perceptions of religion. Moreover, exploring the biographies and academic trajectories of the journal’s contributors in connection with institutional changes and state policies could illuminate the evolving nature of theological authority in modern Turkey. As such, the Journal of the Faculty of Theology remains an indispensable source for those seeking to trace the genealogies of religious thought and academic publishing in the foundational decades of the Republic.