Doctoral thesis defense
On Friday April 11, 2025, Shohimardan Orunbekov, a research assistant at the Faculty of Theology of Kyrgyzstan-Turkish Manas University, successfully defended his doctoral thesis titled “Man in Maturidi’s Tawil-Qur’an”, whose advisor was Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nail Karagoz. Tawil-Qur’an, one of the most important works of Abu Mansur al-Maturidi, holds an exceptional place not only in classical exegesis literature but also in terms of Turkish-Islamic thought. While this work of Maturidi draws attention with its rational and profound interpretations of Quranic verses, it has become one of the fundamental sources in the shaping of the theological dimension of Islam, especially in the Central Asian geography. Maturidi’s approach to systematically constructing religious thought in the Turkic world is of particular importance, both in establishing the balance between reason and revelation and in his interpretations that pave the way for minimizing sectarian conflicts. In this respect, Tawi'l-Qur’an continues to be a fundamental source for understanding the common intellectual heritage of the Turkish-Islamic world, not only in the past but also today. In his thesis, Orunbekov examined Imam Maturidi’s understanding of man in Tawi’l-Qur’an, from the perspective of theology, philosophy and exegesis, and his interpretations on fundamental issues such as the ontological position of man, the relationship between reason and revelation, and free will. In his study, Orunbekov evaluated the theoretical framework developed by Maturidi regarding man both within a periodic context. The work of our faculty will continue to shape the religious understanding of Kyrgyzstan in a healthy direction by producing new graduates. We congratulate our colleague and those who contributed.
