Ahmet Agirakca Biography

Prof. Dr. Ahmet Ağırakça is a contemporary Turkish historian and theologian specializing in medieval Islamic history and the history of Islamic civilization. Born in Mardin, Turkey, in 1369 AH / 1950 CE, he completed his early religious education at the Mardin Imam-Hatip school before earning degrees from the Istanbul Higher Islamic Institute (today Marmara University Faculty of Theology, 1973) and the Department of History at Istanbul University Faculty of Letters (1975).

He completed his doctorate in 1983 at Istanbul University with a critical edition and translation of Müneccimbaşı Ahmed ibn Lutfullah's Jami' al-Duwal, and went on to serve as professor of Medieval History and History of Islamic Civilization at Istanbul University. He has held senior academic positions including Dean of the Faculty of Theology at the Islamic University of Rotterdam and Founding Rector of Mardin Artuklu University in Turkey. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Union of Muslim Scholars.

Ağırakça's scholarship combines rigorous source criticism in the Ottoman and Arabic historical traditions with a focus on Islamic medical and scientific history, classical biographical literature, and the institutional history of Islamic education. His translations and editions have made several key Ottoman and classical Arabic historical works available to modern Turkish readers.