Ali BardakoÄŸlu

Ali Bardakoglu (* 1952 Tosya in the province of Kastamonu ) is an Islamic theologian. He was on 28 May 2003 to November 2010 President of the Office for Religious Affairs ( Diyanet ) in Turkey.

Life

In 1970 he graduated from the Imam Hatip school. Four years later he finished studying at the High Islamic Institute in 1975 to study at the Faculty of Law of Istanbul's Marmara University. Later he became an assistant of Islamic law at the High Islamic Institute in Kayseri and received his doctorate in 1982 at the Ataturk University in Erzurum. After that, he was employed as an assistant professor at the Theological Faculty of Erciyes University in Kayseri and habilitated there in 1986. From 1991 to 1992 he was a visiting professor in the UK, after which he moved in 1993 to the Turkish Marmara University, where in 1994 a professor of Islamic law. In the same year he stayed in the United States.

In May 2003, he was President of the Office for Religious Affairs, the highest authority of the Islamic religion in Turkey. Bardakoglu has three children with his wife and speaks Turkish nor Arabic and English.

Positions

Bardakoglu represents a "moderate" Islam, and a corresponding interpretation of the Koran. He appointed among other things, in March 2005, two women as vice - muftis in Kayseri and Istanbul. In February 2006 he participated as guest of honor at the ceremonial opening of a Protestant church in Alanya.

Controversy surrounding Pope Quote

During the controversy surrounding the so-called Pope Quote of Regensburg in 2006 he practiced initially harsh criticisms of the Pope and called the remarks "one-sided, biased, hostile and provocative ", but admitted to have the exact wording of the speech is not known when his first reaction.

Based on the issues raised by Pope Quote of the Emperor Manuel II ( "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as this, that it has prescribed, the faith he preached, by the sword to spread " ) led Bardakoglu about Zwangsislamisierungen from: " to force someone to faith by force is unacceptable in Islam There is no teaching in Islam, violence as a legitimate means looks to convert people, nor is there in the. Islamic history one such example. " the newspaper Die Welt asked him about the verse 9:5 ( " and when the sacred months have passed, slay the pagans wherever you find them, it activates, surrounded them and lie in wait for them in every. " ) In its reply Bardakoglu stressed that one must know the historical context in order to interpret them correctly. " Sura means that Muslims against those who wanted to prevent the natural expansion of Islam and were warlike, should defend yourself just as warlike. This is self-defense. The Koran dictates that one should convince people by reason and speech. If the heathen this but want to avoid then allowed the Quran to fight against them. "

In an article for the 80th birthday of Pope Benedict XVI. he thanked for his visit to Turkey, which had made the joint responsibility of Religions for Peace and Justice clearly.

Utterances before his resignation

In November 2010, stepped Bardakoglu surprisingly resigned from his post. Observers doubt the voluntariness and suspect that he was the Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, to whom he will report directly to liberal. A few days earlier Bardakoglu had said in the liberal daily newspaper radical, whether a woman wearing a headscarf or not is not decisive for whether she was a good Muslim. Before the beginning of the Feast of Sacrifice, he had suggested that they could also donate money for the poor, rather than to slaughter. Also the role of his own authority Bardakoglu has a critical position and made ​​it clear it would be better if the Diyanet would be autonomous.