“Islam is a medicine sent to heal the world”

President of Religious Affairs Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş attended the graduation program held in Ankara for the students who received educational support within the scope of scholarship programs of the Türkiye Diyanet Foundation (TDV).

Speaking at the Religious Scholarships Graduation Program held at the Kuzey Ankara Kongre ve Kültür Merkezi under the title “Mezuniyetten Mesuliyete” (From Graduation to Responsibility), President Erbaş remarked that the state has given the Presidency of Religious Affairs the task of enlightening the society about religion, and added that it engages in numerous activities related to this mandate.

“The Foundation of our civilization is based on science, knowledge, wisdom and insight”

President Erbaş highlighted the importance of education as a field of activity for the Presidency of Religious Affairs, stating, “Education is indispensable for us. It is the foundation of our civilization, which is based on science, knowledge, wisdom, and insight. If our societies develop well in terms of science and insight, others will follow.”Our Almighty Lord initiated the formation of our civilization by instructing us to “read.” This verse, “Read! Read in the name of your Lord, the Creator,” serves as the foundation of our civilization and will continue to guide us.”

“Islam is the greatest blessing”

President Erbaş stated that Allah sent Islam as a blessing to all humanity and said, “Islam is the name of the religion sent by Allah to all prophets from Prophet Adam to Prophet Muhammad Mustafa (saw). Allah Almighty did not send any other religion other than Islam. Islam is the greatest blessing sent by Allah Almighty for the realization of goodness on earth. Let us appreciate this blessing. If someone asks you, “What is the greatest blessing Allah has given you”, your answer will be Islam.”

President Erbaş said, “Islam is a medicine sent to heal the world. We need to implement the Islamic prescription on earth in a proper way. For this, we need correct religious knowledge and authentic religious education. As the Presidency of Religious Affairs, we have worked day and night for this.” “How can we provide our students with a religious education that is free from superstition and extremism in the faculties of theology and Imam Hatip high schools? We have been working with our professors in our Faculties of Theology to achieve this.”

“Avoid takfirsm”

President Erbaş reminded the students of the hadith “The best of deeds is the moderate one” and added:

“Avoid takfirism at all times. Avoid superstitions and any understanding of religion that is infected with superstitions. Avoid any understanding of religion that is infected with extremes and forms the basis for takfirism. The Prophet (saw) and the Companions of the Prophet always recommended such an understanding of religion to people. We will always recommend the reasonable, the moderate.”

“Our aim is to call people to goodness”

“Our objective is to encourage people to engage in positive actions.” Referencing the verse, “Let there be among you a community that calls to good, enjoins goodness and forbids evil. It is they who will attain salvation,” President Erbaş added, “Our Lord defines us. Because our mission, our objective, our goal is to encourage people to engage in positive actions, to enjoin goodness and to prevent evil. TDV also shares this objective.” For the past half a century, the organisation has been striving to achieve this goal. Let”s reach more young people and more people, let”s make more people good, let”s keep more people away from evil, let”s tell more people about the Qur”an, let”s introduce our Prophet (saw) to more people and let”s introduce the values that our Prophet (saw) brought to humanity.”

“We have promised to work until goodness prevails on earth”

Stating that TDV has been acting in line with the command of the verse “Help each other in goodness and taqwa” for 49 years, President Erbaş said:

“TDV reaches out to young people from over 100 countries around the world and from 81 provinces, 922 districts, 40 thousand villages and towns in our country, and supports their education. What a beautiful occasion this is, what a beautiful path this is. Because TDV believes that goodness will change the world, and we have promised together to work until goodness prevails on earth. May Almighty Allah grant us all to keep this promise and fight in this way until our last breath. May Almighty Allah grant us to do what we can with our best efforts and our best words for the innocents, the babies, the massacres and genocides in Gaza and Palestine. May Allah Almighty grant us to always stand by the oppressed and against the oppressors with our hearts. Our ancestors have always acted in this way for 14 centuries, may Allah grant us all to be worthy descendants of them.”

In the program, Ahmet Sefa Arslan, a student of Bursa Uludağ University Faculty of Theology, read the Holy Qur”an followed by the Turkish National Anthem. Representative speeches were also delivered by the students in the program, which included Mehter and music performances.

The program was attended by Şeref Malkoç, Chief Public Auditor of the Republic of Türkiye; Dr. Hafiz Osman Şahin, Chairman of the Board of Review and Interpretation of Mushafs of the Presidency of Religious Affairs; Dr. Fatih Mehmet Aydın, Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Board of Religious Affairs; İzani Turan, General Director of the Türkiye Diyanet Foundation; Hasan Çınar, Provincial Mufti of Ankara; and many students.