Tuba Işık was born in Mainz, Germany. She began her university studies in 2001 at the University of Göttingen in International Public Law and Pedagogy, while simultaneously completing a degree programme in Islamic Religious Education at the University of Osnabrück. In 2010, she commenced her academic career as a research associate at the Center for Comparative Theology and Cultural Studies at the University of Paderborn. She completed her Ph.D. in 2013 with a dissertation entitled „The Role and Significance of the Prophet Muhammad in Islamic Religious Education.“ During her doctoral studies, she also pursued Catholic Theology at the University of Paderborn and at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in the Rome, thereby gaining a second theological qualification. Between 2013 and 2019, Işık held the position of a postdoctoral researcher and habilitation candidate at the Department of Islamic Theology at the University of Paderborn, and also served as a lecturer and associate professor at the same department.

In 2020, she was appointed Professor at the newly established Berlin Institute for Islamic Theology at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, where she currently holds the Chair of Islamic Religious Pedagogy and Practical Theology. Within this department, she founded and directs FORLÄB – The Research Laboratory for Aesthetic-Islamic Education, which explores the intersection of art, ethics, and spirituality in Islamic pedagogy.

In addition to her significant contributions to scholarship, Işık is also recognised for her commitment to social engagement. In 2009, she co-founded the „Council of Muslim Women in Germany,“ the country‘s largest independent Muslim women‘s organisation. Under her leadership, the council made a significant contribution to the process that led to the annulment of the headscarf ban in Germany, through the submission of a comprehensive report to the Federal Constitutional Court.