Süleyman Gümrükçüoğlu, Titis Thoriquttyas
Higher religious education in Türkiye has developed along a complex historical path, beginning with the Suffa and madrasas and later becoming institutionalized within Faculties of Theology. Across these stages, the mission has remained the preservation of Islamic knowledge, moral guidance, and cultural continuity. Despite repeated reforms, many structural and curricular problems identified in earlier eras persist. This study seeks to examine the historical evolution of higher religious education and identify its persistent structural deficiencies on Turkiye’s transformation. The study uses comparative historical document analysis to examine key reform texts, including reports by Ali Fuat Başgil and Hamidullah (1969) alongside later works edited by Akyürek (2015) and Şeyma Altın (2021). AI-supported tools assisted in organizing and coding themes, while interpretation and validation remained the responsibility of the authors. The findings show persistent debates on curriculum design, academic formation, and theology’s social function, demonstrating continuity over time. Nevertheless, recent discussions place stronger emphasis on digitalization, interdisciplinarity, and expanding professional roles. The study concludes that change in Turkiye’s higher religious education largely occurs through reinterpretation of inherited frameworks rather than fundamental institutional breaks, contributing to international debates on continuity and transformation in specialized higher education . © 2026, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University. All rights reserved.
Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey; State University of Malang, Malang, Indonesia
