About
The main goal of the Faculty of Theology at Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University is to educate the next generation of Muslim intellectuals by preparing professionals in the areas of Islamic theology, history, law, language, and Islamic economics.
The Faculty offers educational programs based on government educational standards for graduate and undergraduate programs, as well as carrying out research in areas related to Islamic theology and providing professional programs. The faculty has a license to conduct educational activities, issued by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic
Currently, over 250 students from Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, China, and other countries are enrolled at the Faculty of Theology. Our Faculty is a methodical and methodological center for higher and vocational Islamic education in Kyrgyzstan.
Graduates from our Faculty can work as imams in mosques in Kyrgyzstan and Turkey, can teach religion classes in schools and vocational schools, can work in religious affairs, in government agencies, or in scientific organizations.
About the Discipline
The discipline of theology (Islamic studies) includes the basic divisions of theology, the sources of theological thought, the bases of disciplines and religious rites, historical forms and practical activities of religious organizations, religious services, and religious and cultural heritage in a variety of contexts. Theological study is aimed at the identification, analysis, and interpretation of the significant aspects of religious life and correlation with the the norms of religious traditions. One of the most important areas of the disciplines is the study of the history and modern relationships between religious organizations with other religious institutions, as well as with governments and societies.
Students of theology study a wide variety of religious disciplines, including the history of religion, religious pedagogy, religious philosophy, and religious sociology.
History of the Faculty
Since independence, Kyrgyzstan has gone through significant changes in the political, economic, social and religious life of the country. These changes have had and continue to have a large influence on the present and future of the country. Kyrgyzstan is still located in a transition period, and as such religious and ethnic affairs have fallen from view. Thus, establishing religious education as a way to remedy gaps in people's religious knowledge has become necessary. Seeing as KTMU is one of the most important universities in Kyrgyzstan, the Faculty of Theology and its two departments, Theology and Religious Studies, were opened in 2011.
Academic Programs
Currently, there are two departments: the Department of Theology and the Department of Religious Studies.
The Bachelor's degree requires four years of studies, plus one year of preparatory language courses. Students study Kyrgyz and Turkish, the languages used for education. Arabic is taught as a foreign language throughout a student's studies.
