İlmihâl is the modern spelling of the compound "ilm-i hâl," which means "science of the state." It is the common name for both the basic knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence and the books containing this knowledge. İlmihâl books contain information that it is fard (obligatory) for Muslims to know and by which they are expected to shape their lives.

The principles of faith and the rules of worship form the main topics of these works. However, just as there are types that leave the principles of faith to books of creed (akaid) and cover only topics of worship, there are also ilmihâl works that address a single subject of worship, such as prayer. There are also works that add the Prophet's biography (siyar) to these principles of faith and worship, or that go into more detail in some of these areas.

The history of ilmihâl works dates back to the 4th/10th century. The content described above has been shaped according to the needs of each period, and the style and nature of ilmihâl works have varied. Two works that hold an important place in Ottoman ilmihâl culture; Mızraklı İlmihâl and Nîmet-i İslâm, which was written in the late period, can be considered as two good examples of this. While the former is a concise work in which issues are addressed item by item, the latter has taken on the identity of a fiqh book beyond that of an ilmihâl book.

The work at hand is a new ilmihâl text written in a new style, first published by Ömer Rıza Doğrul in 1933 under the title Müslümanlık Nedir? (What is Islam?). In this form, it can be considered one of the first examples of the ilmihâl tradition in Turkish in the modern era. The book's primary purpose was to awaken the Turkish youth, who were subjected to positivist education for the construction of a secular society in the early years of the republic, to the principles of Islam. For this reason, a style of narration based more on the principles of faith and the wisdom and benefits (maslahah) of acts of worship was adopted, avoiding the language of classical ilmihâl. According to the author, this method was tested in geographies where the modern mentality threatened all areas of religion and was successful in terms of tabligh (conveying the message).