Prof. Dr. Ahmet Akgunduz: Islamconsiders humanity as one family. Our commonalities are the belief in One God and that we are the children of Adam.

Prof. Dr. Mehmet Gormez: “This University has a  mission to accomplish in the Dutch society: a constructive contribution.”

Prof. Dr. Jan Peters:  One hundred years ago the foundation of a Catholic University was also a big event in this country”

Prof. Dr. Rasit  Kucuk: “We are grateful to the authorities of this country who have made it possible that this University can be established within the rules of the law”

The Islamic University of Rotterdam has finally received its accreditation by the  Nederlandse Vlaamse Accreditatie Organisatie (NVAO). This decision fell on the 20th of May 2010 and with this decision the IUR has taken its place within the Dutch Higher Education system. The Master Programme for Moral Guide was accredited. This was a moment for celebration. The Islamic University of Rotterdam organized a reception with this purpose and 8 June 2010 this reception took place. There were many representatives of embassies and ngo’s who attended the reception for accreditation of the IUR. Among them, the vice-president of the Turkish Presidency for Religious Affairs Mr. Prof. dr. Mehmet Gormez,  the Turkish Assistant Consul, Mrs. Gunay Babadogan, the President of the Islamic Foundation in the Netherlands, Mr. Prof. Dr. Bulent Senay, the attache for religious affairs, Mr. Dr. Fevzi Hamurcu, the ambassador of Yemen, the ambassador of Irak, the ambassador of Iran. The reception was also visited by many representatives of the ngo’s like Mrs.Dr. Welmoet  Boender from the Knowledge Centre for Religon and Development, the  President of the Union of Turkish European Democrats, Mr. Dr. Veyis Gungor. Representatives of the local and national parties were also present at the reception, Mr. Coskun Coruz, Member of Parliament for CDA, Mrs. Kathleen Ferrier, also from the CDA, Mr. Wubbo Tempel, the president of the local CDA and Mr. Muzaffer Cetin also from the CDA but also Mr. Fouad el Hajji from the local PvdA attended the reception and they all congratulated the rector and staff of the IUR. From the business world the President of HOTIAD, Mr. Turgut Torunogullari and other members of HOTIAD, Mr. Gulali Alkilic, Mr. Metin Yilmaz but also the president of HOGIAF, Mr. Mehmet Kabakyer came to visit and celebrate the accreditation of the Islamic University of Rotterdam. The reception began with a short recitation from the Quran by Dr. Mustafa Akdemir. After this recitation the rector of the IUR, Mr. Prof. Dr. Ahmet Akgunduz opened the series of speeches with his welcoming word and words of thanks to all the guests. He expressed his feelings about the accreditation and informed the guests on the procedure. The IUR will continue its work for accreditation of the other programmes he said. The rector closed his speech with a wisdom from the Islamic tradition in which the humanity is seen as one family because the Creator is One and the father of all humans is One. Therefore there is no need to feel arrogant and to feel superior above other groups of people.

 After the speech of the rector, Prof. Dr. Mehmet Gormez took the stage. Mr. Gormez, vice president of the Turkish Presidency for Religious Affairs pointed out in his speech that the fundament of inter-human relations have to be based on knowledge, wisdom and ethics. We cannot organize human relations with terms which we have borrowed from the science of Chemistry Gormez said. Integration, assimiliation, participation are terms from chemistry and they are used to describe the relations between chemical substances. These terms cannot be used for inter-human relations. So we have to consider this and we have to establish new fundaments for these relations on the basis of knowledge, wisdom and ethics Mr. Gormez said. He closed his remarks by expressing his hope that all authorities in all countries will consider this seriously because only then the relation between humans, between East and West and between the Islamic world and the non-Islamic world can become better.

Then Prof. Dr. Jan Peters, the member of the Supervisory Board of the IUR,  took the  microphone. Mr. Peters stressed in his speech the difficulties of a new University. He compared the Islamic University of Rotterdam with the Catholic Universities which were one century ago established in the Netherlands. They had the same difficulties Peters stated. They did not give in and they persevered, so the IUR has also a mission to continue. It will not be easy but there is a need for such an Instiute in this country he said. The Catholic Universities had to wait and struggle for 25 years in order to obtain a budget from the government, so this is a long process Peters said.  The IUR has a lot of work to do in order to become a complete University and to be considered as such. Professor Jan Peters advised the IUR to open its doors for other Universities and other people who have a warm heart for this university. He also advised the IUR to open its doors for other Muslims than only Turks and Moroccans. With these wishes and advises Jan Peters closed his speechs with a word of thanks and congratulations.   

The last speaker of the reception was Professor Rasit Kucuk, the dean of the Faculty of Theology of Marmara University. Mr. Kucuk began his speech  with a word of thanks to the Dutch state and government which made it possible to open and establish an Islamic University in this country. Professor Kucuk congratulated the rector and staff of the IUR and he expressed his conviction that the rector and staff of the IUR is able to bear the responsibility of such an Institute. They have shown this with this accreditation and they have a very important task to fulfill which is  the contribution to the integration of Muslims and the education of an Islamic elite in this country. As long as the IUR is  continuing to prove their ability to contribute constructively to this society I firmly believe that the  authorities of this country will support this project Prof. Kucuk stated and he closed his remarks with words of thanks and congratulations.

After this last speech of Prof. Kucuk, the rector and the dean of the IUR presented some gifts to the  guest speakers from  the Art Centre of the IUR.  The reception ended with drinks and an informal gathering.