An Institution at British Administration in Cyprus that Raise Religious Official: Islamic Theological School

This study aims to examine the Islamic Theological School opened in Nicosia in 1932 to meet the religious official of Cypriot Muslims. The Islamic Theological School, which replaced the Great Madrasah building next to the Selimiye (Hagia Sophia) Mosque in Nicosia, has been the subject of discussion between the two groups known as Evkafçılar and Halkçılar. In the school opened on the discussions on the legitimacy of the school, 11 people were educated according to the documents could accessed in the 18 years it served. The Islamic Theological School, which provided education for 3 years, was closed in 1950 because adequate economical support could not provide for its graduates and was not organized as well. Most of the information about the Islamic Theological School which has not been subject to a separate study until now, has been reached as a result of our researches in TRNC archives. In this study, within the framework of the documents which are open to the research and which we could reach, it was addressed that how school was perceived between the groupings of the period and physical structure, staff, students, curriculum and closure of the school.