The panel and exhibition, titled “An Ottoman Traveler in Japan on the 88th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Tokyo Camii and Külliye: Abdürreşid İbrahim Bey,” was organized by the Association for Economic and Cultural Cooperation with Japanese Businessmen (TUJİAD) under the auspices of Prof. Dr. Numan Kurtulmuş, President of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, and was hosted by our University. The event, held at the Ibn Haldun University Complex on Friday, November 21, drew a wide attendance.
In his speech at the opening of the ceremony, Prof. Dr. İrfan Gündüz, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Ibn Haldun University, remembered Abdürreşid İbrahim Efendi with gratitude and stated that Sultan Abdülhamid Han was the first to recognize the reality of the Far East, the reality of China, and the reality of Japan. Referring to a poem by our national poet Mehmed Akif, Prof. Gündüz also mentioned the relationship between Akif and Abdürreşid İbrahim Efendi. He concluded his speech by stating that Abdürreşid İbrahim Efendi had left everything behind to go to Japan and that he believed him to be a martyr.
Hulki Cevizoğlu, the AK Party Istanbul Deputy who attended the program, stated that the life of Abdürreşid İbrahim Efendi was not an ordinary biography or the struggle of a single person, but rather a nation's quest for a new horizon and the determination of a civilization to rise from its ashes. Cevizoğlu also said that Abdürreşid İbrahim Efendi, who put a civilization's seal on the place with the Tokyo Mosque, also established a bridge of brotherhood and goodwill. He concluded his speech with the words, “I commemorate Abdürreşid İbrahim Efendi, who personally lived and perpetuated his cause, with mercy and respect.”
Erdal Güven, President of the Association for Economic and Cultural Cooperation with Japanese Businessmen (TUJİAD), also spoke at the program's opening, outlining the 88-year history of the Tokyo Mosque and stating that the venue exists far beyond just a mosque, virtually living as a cultural center. Güven noted that the mosque has a very important place and function in Turkey-Japan relations, and he thanked the attendees with prayers for the soul of Abdürreşid İbrahim Efendi.
The program, titled “An Ottoman Traveler in Japan on the 88th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Tokyo Camii and Külliye: Abdürreşid İbrahim Bey,” concluded following the screening of a documentary about the life of Abdürreşid İbrahim Efendi and the panel titled "Turkey-Japan Cultural Unity in the Footsteps of Abdürreşid İbrahim."
