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We are planning to hold the fourth symposium series titled “The Criticism Culture and Morality of Tolerance in Islamic Thought” on 7-8 October 2022, the first of which was held on 26-28 April 2019, the second on 7 December 2020, and the third on 28-29 May 2021. In fact, in the first symposium, the subject was discussed in a general framework; however, within the framework of the intense interest shown in the symposium and the suggestions received from the participants, it was concluded that if the symposium was held as a series by limiting certain periods or topics, it would find much more opportunities in academic gatherings.

In the second symposium we held in line with the aforementioned conviction, we focused on the state of the critical thinking and morality of tolerance in the first five centuries, when Islamic literature had largely completed its formation. The unifying/guiding ideas (paradigms) around which Islamic sciences were concentrated, and the kind of the critical point of view on the activities in this period, when free thought was the dominant character in the search for methods, were the most important issues that attracted the attention of the presenters.

In our third symposium, we discussed the long historical period that started within the 12th century and lasted until the 19th century, when the Ottoman Empire collapsed. In the symposium, the stages of Islamic thought in the aforementioned period and the attitudes of scholars towards criticism were discussed. In addition, different people, works, schools, sects, and ideas in terms of critical thinking and tolerance in fields such as Tafsir, Hadith, Kalam, Fiqh, Sufism, Language, Logic, Philosophy, and Ethics were examined.

In the fourth and last symposium of the series, the focus of the discussions will be the reflections on the criticism culture and the morality of tolerance in the modern period. The point that the Islamic science tradition has reached in terms of criticism and tolerance, whether the scientific and intellectual accumulation inherited from previous ones have been tested by subjecting it to critical readings, the reactions of the Ulama, who are stuck between tradition and modernity, are the main topics that we want our academics to examine. Discussions on the criticism culture and the morality of tolerance in the modern era will open the door to eye-opening thoughts about the future vision of the Islamic world.

Considering the wide geography, a long historical period of Islamic civilization, and the areas of influence affecting countless human communities, it is certain that Islamic thought and Islamic sciences that branch out by taking this thought into the center have unique contributions to the world’s cultural heritage.  Efforts to discover the rich accumulation of these contributions, especially on the subject of the symposium, can offer solutions to the conflicts witnessed in the Islamic world and offer exceptional guidance to humanity on the way out of the chaotic environment it has fallen into.