Proof for the Existence of God according to Izmirli Ismail Hakki

The existence of God is the most fundamental issue for humankind. In all periods of history, there are a lot of works and arguments in order to prove the existence of God and also along with some suspicions. Especially, in the 19th century, it is seen that some denial movements against the existence of God and atheistic thoughts which have emerged from Western Philosophy reached large masses of people through using power of science and philosophy. These denialist movements had a negative impact on Ottoman intellectuals and among Islamic society. In order to refuse those atheistic ideas some attempts were observed in the Islamic Theology. Among these attempts "New Islamic Theology" movement attracted attention. In this period, theologians developed some special works, and made efforts to prove the existence of God. Izmirli Ismail Hakki (1868-1946) is one of the scholars who made valuable researches in order to prove the existence of God in the concept of New Islamic Theology. The aim of this study is to determine the understanding of Izmirli and find out his opinions in a different or similar way by comparing other Islamic scholars regarding the existence of God and put forward his impacts if any. For this purpose, the study, firstly, is supported by classical Islamic books and then analyses the approach of last period Islamic scholars and makes some comparisons among their proofs. In the case of God's existence, Izmirli differed from other scholars by including philosophical arguments in the scope of classical Islamic theology. However, it can be said that all the arguments he mentioned are mostly translations and retrospective narrations but not original. As a result of the study, it is understood that Izmirli Ismail Hakki, who cannot lead a new ecole or theological system, could not put forward any different idea about renovated Islamic theology regarding the proof for the existence of God. Keywords: God, Proof for the Existence of God, New Islamic Theology, Izmirli Ismail Hakki, Atheism.