18.09.2025 00:50
A change of leadership has occurred at the Presidency of Religious Affairs. With the presidential decision published in the Official Gazette, Prof. Dr. Safi Arpaguş, the Mufti of Istanbul, has been appointed as the new President of Religious Affairs, replacing the current President, Ali Erbaş.
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A change of duty has occurred at the Presidency of Religious Affairs.
NEW APPOINTMENT TO THE PRESIDENCY OF RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS
According to the Presidential Decision published in the Official Gazette, Istanbul Provincial Mufti Prof. Dr. Safi Arpaguş has been appointed to the Presidency of Religious Affairs, replacing the current President Ali Erbaş, in accordance with Articles 2, 3, and 7 of the Presidential Decree No. 3.
WHO IS SAFİ ARPAGUŞ?
Born in 1967 in the Gümüşhacıköy district of Amasya, Arpaguş graduated from Gümüşhacıköy Imam Hatip High School in 1985 and from the Faculty of Theology at Marmara University in 1990.
Starting his academic career as a research assistant at the same faculty in 1992, Arpaguş completed his master's degree in 1994 and his doctorate in 2001. After becoming an associate professor in 2008 and a professor in 2014, he served as the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Theology at Marmara University between 2011 and 2021.
Appointed to the position of Istanbul Mufti by the Presidential Decree dated October 15, 2021, Arpaguş also served as a faculty member and head of the Department of Sufism.
Arpaguş's area of study includes the concepts and institutions of Islamic Sufism, and he has works on Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi, the Masnavi, and Mevlevi order.
Some of Arpaguş's works include: "Mevlana and Islam, Spiritual Education in Mevlevi Order, Hüseyin Azmi Dede; Treatises, Aziz Mahmud Hüdayi, Conversations; Ahmed Avni Konuk, Commentary on the Masnavi-i Sherif, -Heyet-, I-XIII; İsmail Rüsuhi Ankaravi, Minhacü'l-Fukara; Tahirü'l-Mevlevi, Sheikh Celaleddin Efendi, the Postnişin of the Yenikapı Mevlevihanesi."
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