Azerbaycan’da İlahiyat Eğitimi
Authors: Hasanov Behram 
Published: September 2023

This paper examines the historical change in theology education in Azerbaijan after the modernization period, especially from the 19th century to the present. In the first half of the 19th century, with Russia's occupation of the region, the changes in theology education and the factors that were effective in this change are discussed. At the same time, the situation of theological education in Azerbaijan and its results are investigated during the Soviet period, which adopted atheist ideology after the tsarist Russia. Finally, the theological education policies in Azerbaijan during the independence period and the social, political, cultural, and ideological factors that shape these policies are examined. While the various scientific centers of the Islamic world had an indisputable authority in higher religious education before the Tsar's Russia invaded the region, the number of those who turned to these science centers gradually decreased with the policies implemented after the occupation. During the Soviet period, Azerbaijan's ties with the higher religious education centers in the Islamic world were completely severed, and only a very limited number of people were able to have higher religious education at the Tashkent Islamic Institute, which was under the control of the Soviet system. Since the first years of the independence period, Azerbaijan has struggled with the problems caused by the lack of a mechanism to train theologians to meet this interest, despite the increasing interest in Islam in the society. Although the Baku Islamic Institute was established under the Caucasus Muslims Spiritual Administration in the first years of independence, the Institute could not achieve success in educational activities that meet the needs. In the first years of independence, the theology faculty, which was established under the Baku State University with the support of the Turkiye Diyanet Foundation (TDF), was not accepted as an authoritative institution in the field of higher religious education by the majority of the society for some reasons. In this period, certain education centers in the Islamic world became intensely preferred for higher religious education. However, this situation brought along political, ideological, cultural, etc., problems, and the problems and contradictions of the Islamic world were imported to Azerbaijan by theologians who graduated from there. In 2018, by the Presidential decree, the Azerbaijan Theology Institute was established to realize higher religious education and training, taking into account the religious sectarian structure of the Azerbaijani society and aiming to operate in harmony with state policies. In the same year, the education and training activities of the Faculty of Theology which were established with the support of TRF and Baku Islamic University were terminated. Azerbaijan Institute of Theology continues its activities as the only higher religious education institution in the country that prepares religious officials. As a result, we can say that in the last two centuries, there have been serious changes and even breaks in theology education in Azerbaijan, and this process is closely related to the political and ideological processes taking place in the country.