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In the Sacral Patrimonium Senj was opened the exposition of the national and foreign literature on Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac named the "Lighthouse in our City" and under the authorship of Milena Rogić28.07.2000. - 31.12.2000.). The exposition was realized thanks to a donation of the reverend Ante Kosina Senjanin. On request of the Anthology of Senj, this essay deals only with those exhibited materials which refer visit of the Zagreb archbishop Alojzije Stepinac to Senj. The first visit took place on the 27th Nov 1934 onoccasion of death of dr. Ivan Starčević, the bishop of Senj. The text from the then catholic diary the CROATIAN GUARD, published on the 27th Nov 1934, entitled "The Bishop dr. Ivan Starčević" clearly displays figure of the deceased bishop, his life and work and also a deep sorrow of his fellow-citizens for the loss of beloved bishop. At the end of the text there is a note saying that the funeral rites will be led by the Zagreb archbishop coadjutor dr. Alojzije Stepinac. The second arrival took place on the 28th July 1935 when dr. Viktorwas inaugurated the bishop of Senj. In the text, entitled the "Inauguration of Bishop Burić", published in CROATIAN GUARD on the 30th July 1935, the ceremony of the inauguration of bishop Burić was described details. The special attention was paid to the two subtitles, the Archbishop Stepinac at Senj and the Important Words of the Archbishop Stepinac. Beside these two themes, there are also the short biographies of bishops Starčević and Burić and Cardinal Stepinac at the end.
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A great number of sacral middle-aged buildings, various types of their construction and largeness provide evidence of an intensive development of Brinje during middle-ages. The Turkish aggression on the Croatia of that time made that a fairly great number of objects were attributed to an anonymous designation "crkvina" (which means a place where once stayed a church) while in some other places not even that one. The development of sacral architecture seems should be connected to a favourable location of Brinje on the important road going from the north to the south and also to the vicinity of Senj, and the Adriatic Sea. In fact, the key role had the noble family of princes from Krk, later the Frankopans. The oldest sacral building should perhaps be regarded the Chapel of St. Apollonius, located in a characteristic place, i.e. on the Illyrian fortification and place of the roman "tegula" finds. But, it will yet be the unknown until the archeological excavations have taken place. The romanism can't be found here before the Chapel of St. Fabian and Sebastian, which most probably was arisen later, meaning not during the blossoming of the romanism in the 12th -13th c. Perhaps, the romanism could be looked after on the place of trapezoidal sanctuary of a present-day sepulchral Chapel of St. Stephen the first martyr at Holjevac near Brinje. It would, however, mean that the elder settlement was not located on the same place as the later and Brinje of nowadays. In an obvious contrast are the sculpture of a she-wolf, carved with a very fine workmanship, and other equipment of St. Vid's as well as the coats of arms of the princes from Krk and the Frankopans. Meaning, those couldn't be pieces of work of the constructor of St. Vid's, but the sculpture must have been brought from somewhere, probably from some roman ruin. We wonder if it was not already the anticipating of the reneissance and taking over of the roman heritage. There are no traces of the sacral architecture in the 15th c. and specially not in the 16th c. In 1478 the king Matija Korvin took Brinje and Senj from the Frankopan princes and construction activities from that time on were oriented toward the fortification. Very soon the life out of the walls became not possible because of continuous Turkish assaults in those regions. In view of that, the construction of late-gothic churches and monasteries failed to take place there. In the course of the following two centuries the great number of buildings were reduced to ashes, unrestored, abandoned and only by the banishment of Turks in the late 17th c. the reconstructions could take place again. The monastery of the augustinians and its church were not preserved, but by the two fragments of the architectural plastics and by the largeness of sanctuary of the parish church of St. Mary could already be discerned architecture of Middle-European origin. The fortress Brinje with its chapel belong to the architecture of the highest category and it was obviously designed by the architect who was familiar with the activities of Peter Parler and the court shop of king Vaclav IV at Prag. Although the lack of precision and some simplifications, like deficiences of sculpture decorations with the exception of some rare and very simple details, the chapel and palace were by the beginning of the 15th c. the objects of the highest quality in Croatia of that time. So important site must have had some reflections on the Croatian architecture of that time and we can find it already with St.Vid's chapel at neighbouring Humac and perhaps also in the chapel of the fortification Komici of the Kurjakovići princes. The sanctuaries of both buildings were made "in peak" the same as in the collateral chapel at Brinje, which were in our country very exceptional examples of forming the ground-plan. The structure and the equipment of buildings at Brinje and its neighbourings responded to requirements and possibilities of the local population: from the modest rural objects to the rich architecture of the Frankopan princes from Krk. Design of modest rural objects responded to the so called "outskirts architecture" (Lj. Karaman), which from one side lives its own traditional life and from the other takes over the news in the construction, but applying them in the traditional way.
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Biblical Job is a character that simply cannot escape comment and his story has been retold across the monotheistic religions and across a wide variety of genres, in which he is sometimes praised and sometimes condemned. The Book of Job contains many ambiguities that leave plenty of room for ambivalent interpretations, as is especially evident in the reception history of the Book of Job in the Jewish literary tradition. The long reception history of the Book of Job helps exemplify how intertextuality functions, how old material is reset into new contexts and how characters transform, both from one text to another and within the changed context of a single text. A good example of this is the pseudepigraphic Testament of Job when explored in light of its reception history both in the Jewish tradition (or the lack of such) and in the context of the biblical Book of Job. The aim of the current paper therefore is to highlight the intertextual (from patient sufferer to an enduring “athlete”) as well the intratextual transformation of Job (from reward-oriented suffering towards freedom from sufferings thorough insight) as presented in the Testament of Job.
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The article examines the common motifs of the Testament of Job and New Testament literature. The research question is: what literary and theological motifs have encouraged the use of the work in a Christian context? The aim is to research the Testament of Job and its function from the perspective of early Christian eschatology, Christology, demonology and philanthropy
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COVID-19 crisis has challenged Estonian churches both in practical issues as well as in ethical reflection into a dialogue with nowadays medicine and health promotion. Learning from biblical background, historical experience of the church, and current discussions on Christian ethics, the author shows how churches in Estonia could particularly via ecumenical cooperation benefit more and relate better to medical development and future of health promotion by Christian virtue ethics approach.
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The meaning and importance of the 13th-century saint Hacı Bektâş-ı Velîwere researched among the Alevis of Kurdish background in Hacıbektaş (Aug 2018) and Alevi Culture Association’s cemevi in Buca, a district of Izmir (March 2019). Perceptions and beliefs about his person,teaching and mausoleum were collected during participant observations of cemand sohbet gatherings. 17 interviews were conducted and analyzed.Hacı Bektâş-ı Velî is considered as Saint of saints (serçeşme), perfect man(insân-ı kâmil), descendant and embodiment of Ali bin Ebû Tâlib. As such,his proverbs, teaching of 4 gates and 40 stations and his Velâyetnâme areof great importance to be followed on the Alevi „path“
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This article explores the life and ministry of Ilse Katvel (1906–1987), a female preacher. She was influenced by pietistic Lutheranism, holiness movement ideas, and Estonian free church spirituality. In 1934, she joined the Evangelical Christian Free Church in Narva, which had grown out of the Blue Cross movement in the area. After moving to the Saaremaa Island in 1944, she became a deacon and co-elder in a Pentecostal-background church in Valjala, which was part of the Union of Evangelical ChristiansBaptists. Katvel became an influential Bible teacher who was invited to preach all across Estonia. The article argues that Katvel’s spiritual disciplines resemble the mystical-devotional lifestyle practised in different Christian traditions, including in Medieval piety – a commitment to work and prayer, fasting, living modestly, remaining unmarried, receiving food gifts, as well as being generous, and taking care of people in need. She and a group of like-minded „sisters“ devoted themselves to prayer, including prayers for healing. This group had an experiential openness to the work of the Holy Spirit. Katvel contemplated the relations between creation and the Creator, and images from nature helped her interpret spiritual realities. Cooperating with Christians from different denominational backgrounds and preaching both in Lutheran and free churches, she highlighted the unifying element of spirituality, focusing on Christcentredness and lived-out sanctification, which is present in a wide range of Christian traditions.
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This article focuses on the use of the concepts kogudus (Eng congregation) and kogukond (Eng community) in Estonian Christian tradition and present-day society. The etymology of these words is explored as well as their use in Estonian Bible translations and theology to assist in understanding changes in use of these terms – for example the shift towards preferring community instead of congregation or church. Also, relations between religious fellowship and the wider society are described, thus bringing into discussion the sociological dimension. The latter argues that a Christian congregation, as a relations-building network, is itself a community operating in a wider social framework. Historically, kogudus has denoted a crowd or people, though the Christian meaning – a congregation gathered for worship or members of a local church – has also been strongly present. Kogukond is found to be in wider use in the Estonian language only since the 19th century, partly in relation with administrative changes, referring mainly to inhabitants of a local community or parish. The authors argue that even if these two words have been intertwined in their meaning, the synonymous or near-synonymous use of these concepts is a recent development. Some new church plants refer to their Sunday worship and discussion group as kogukond, reserving the word kogudus for a more abstract Christian fellowship, often including several communities. This may be a result of focus on missional contextualization, as kogukond is more neutral while kogudus has become a part of sacral language. The article concludes that the linguistic, religious and sociological use of these concepts is closely linked and awareness of these aspects helps to make clear the changes in the use of these words, and in related practices.
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This article asks how COVID-19 has shaped the Estonian churches, how it might affect their future development and what implications has it brought for the planting of new free churches. Hypermodern times are changing society in its perception of spirituality and maturity of faith. History of Christianity – including the history of Estonian free church movement– shows how vital are discipleship and fellowship within churches for following Jesus and embodying missional relationships. Estonian denominational leaders have noted both strengths and weaknesses that have emerged in their churches during the COVID-19 crisis. In the future of Estonian free church planting both authentic relationships of smaller communities of faith and digital capabilities seem to become crucial for the missionally sustainable church-life
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The article explores a Baptist approach to the relationship of ‘free’churches to society and in particular to the state. It describes ‘monopoly religion’ as the attempt to establish one approach as the uniform religion of a society. In the West this took the form of ‘Christendom’. A divergent understanding arose with the Anabaptist and Baptist movements of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This denied the right of rulers to override the religious conscience in its duties to God. From 1644 his instinctive approach found intellectual expression through figures such as Roger Williams and John Milton laying the foundations for a political ideology of religious freedom. Although this took root only slowly it has eventually achieved dominance in a range of liberal democracies.
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The earliest English Baptists of the 17th century were among the first to argue for universal religious freedom in the face of state-imposed religious conformity. This article examines the origins of that conviction in English Separatism and continental Anabaptist thought. It discusses the challenges that such a conviction brought, to the religious situation of the time, to succeeding generations of Baptists themselves, and to the contemporary situation of religious freedom around the world. The subsequent development of the idea of religious freedom for all among the Baptists is explored, including the importance of keeping in balance the three elements of the rule of Christ, natural rights, and respect for conscience. The necessity of advocacy for religious freedom being always in the context of human rights as a whole is highlighted.
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This paper analyses the narrative representations of religious agents in the contemporary Arabic novel. Contextualizing the domain of the religious in its fragile ideological age, or within the dominant secular matrix, the paper locates the established religious topoi in the contemporary novel as an effective cultural narrative. Within the framework of literary criticism and theoretical models, the paper offers the interpretation of the genesis of fixation, otherness and stereotypes in the images of religious characters. Central analysis is devoted to the novels of Taha Hussein and Naguib Mahfouz, which are considered the best representatives of literary narratives in the period between the 1930s and 1990s. The paper discusses the monolithic representation of the religious, deconstructs secular stereotypes, and analyses the phenomenon of parallax and its social and cultural consequences within the aforementioned novelistic narratives.
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In the world history, the nineteenth century witnessed globally major economic, politic, and social changes. More importantly, their implications constitute today’s challenges particularly for modern Muslim-majority states where the tension between state, religion and society has not been settled. There is no doubt that looking at the past where the separation between sharī‘a and state started clearly to appear serves for a better understanding of today’s struggle in locating the role of sharī‘a in legal systems of modern Muslim-majority states. Many of them, i.e. the Middle Eastern and some North African states are the successors of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans ruled over continents for centuries thanks to their well-established governmental policy and legal system. However, they were also obliged to introduce some remarkable changes in social, political and legal spheres in the nineteenth century. The era is generally called as the process of Ottoman modernization and secularisation referring to Tanzimat Edict and following legal reforms. This study seeks to analyse the way Ottoman law has been transformed in the nineteenth century, as well as its roots, challenges and implications. To this end, the paper offers an answer to the questions as to whether secularisation of Ottoman law was evolutionary or revolutionary, why it had to go through a process of secularisation, and to what extent classical Ottoman system could serve this secularisation process. To address these inquiries, the study is divided into two principle sections: the first part evaluates the classical Ottoman legal system and its religious and non-religious characters, arguing that the Turkish state tradition with its influence on government and law making were in fact the changeable features of the Ottoman law
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The main claim of this article is that Salafi religious understandings lead to many negative psychological and sociological (psycho-social) consequences. At the same time, these elements are not only related to Salafism and Salafi groups, but also they are generally related to the belief elements of most Muslim individuals and groups. In this context the purpose of article is to reveal the mutually affected psycho-social negative features that have emerged in the past and present and may also come to light in the future, even though there are many different features that characterize Salafi thought. In the article, research and evaluation are made through an interdisciplinary method. In this framework, basic informations and discussion topics that will provide comprehension of Salafi understandings of religion of different disciplines are discussed in relation to the research areas of the Sociology of Religion. Firstly, the characteristics and basic attitudes of Salafi religious conceptions that may have negative psycho-social consequences are described, afterwards these attitudes are listed separately and the negative effects they can cause are explained within successive effect framework by presenting cause-and-effect relationship. As a result of the research, it has been seen that the characteristics of Salafi understandings of religion that may have negative consequences are as follows: 1-Disregard of the socio-cultural anthropological approach 2-A constant understanding of faith and religion at the basic level 3-Apparent/literal approach 4-Unity in faith and actions 5-The thought that reason cannot comprehend religious issues 6-The idea that the Qur'an is not created 7-Constructing daily life through religious texts 8-Being limited to the Golden Age 9-The blessing of the language 10-Standing against history and tradition 11-Looking for the solutions to post/modern problems through past 12-Opposition to bid‘ah (innovation) 13-The only truth discourse 14-Absolutisation of religious knowledge 15-Standing against cultural construction 16-Sanctifying religious authorities 17-Mission of tabligh (reaching out) 18-‘Ummah understanding 19-Dār Al-Harb (abode of war) discourse 20-Patriarchal religious discourse 21-Traditional education methods. When these features are analyzed in detail, it is understood that these approaches have factors that may negatively affect individuals and groups in many ways. However, Salafism is approached mostly as a negative structure by considering radical/jihadist Salafi movements in researches prevent us from seeing what kind of serious negative consequences of these understandings of religion have caused in the history of Islam and today, and what kind of problems they may cause in the future. Therefore, it is an important result that these understandings of religion should be carefully examined by believers.
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In this digital age, the presence of information is felt more and more day by day. When this information circulating in the digital environment is processed and transformed into a high-quality form, it will be able to serve for the developing technology age. At this point, data mining methods and algorithmic research that process large amounts of information come into play. Data mining is one of the technologies that is applied and will might be utilized in many fields including natural and social sciences. Such studies, which appear in many scientific disciplines, have also been carried out in the field of hadith, especially within the last twenty years. In this study, the most cited scientific articles that apply data mining methods and algorithmic research to the science of hadith in the world were examined. The studies carried out so far have focused on the the text of the hadith, its rawi (narrator), its authenticity or its use in the web environment. Some of these studies aim to classify the hadiths according to their subjects in general and to create hadith dictionaries in particular. On the other hand, there are studies to systematize the authenticity of the hadith by formulating the chain of narrators and the authentic hadith. In addition there are some studies that evaluate narrators by creating social network graphics. These researches offer the opportunity to present the data in the hadith in a computable and objective way by structuring, as in the sciences. In fact, the hadith scholars (muhaddiths), who aimed to prevent the oblivion and destruction of the sunnah centuries ago, tried to measure and evaluate the knowledge they had acquired on the hadith. From these muhaddiths, we have received some subjective, which are sometimes agreed upon, and sometimes individual evaluations about both the rawi and the text of the hadith. At this point, data mining techniques and algorithmic research will sometimes turn interpretation-based and repetitive information into concrete data. Another opportunity offered by these studies is that the people who access the hadith text from the digital environment gain the awareness of obtaining information about the content of the hadith data. As a matter of fact, as seen in some studies, anti-hadith websites are frequently visited by students who want to learn about hadith. For this reason, managing the information sources that the public reaches will help to solve many social and political problems arising from the wrong perception of religion. The aim of this work is to introduce data mining and algorithmic research to scholars in the field of hadith in Turkey and to use these techniques together with the science of hadith to enable scholars to contribute to the field of hadith.
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Qutb al-dīn-zāda al-Izniqī (d. 885/1480) is one of the important scholar-sūfī figures who represented Akbarism in the Ottoman Empire due to his interpretation of Sadr al-dīn Qūnawī’s (d. 673/1274) Miftāh al-ghayb (The Key to the Unseen). In addition to this commentary, he wrote many works and treatises on different subjects such as the interpretation of dreams, the moral-Ishārī interpretation of the wisdom of the creation of lice. He devoted one of these treatises to the issue of the eternal remaining of unbelievers in hell (khulūd al-kuffār) and the defense of al-Ghāzalī’s views on this issue. Although he said that he wrote this treatise upon the request of his close friend Mahmūd Pasha (d. 878/1474), - who is one of the grand viziers of Fātih Sultan Mehmed (AR. 1451-1481),- he listed many reasons for the compose of the treatise. Contrary to Qutb al-dīn-zāda, today’s studies include the views of many names from the companions (al-sahābīs) who have expressed their opinions on this subject, but al-Ghazzālī’s views are not included. In the treatise, Qutb al-dīn-zāda mentions the existence of those who saw what al-Ghazzālī said on this issue outside the consensus and were bad suspicious for him in his own time. This indicates that al-Ghazzālī’s views on this issue were widely known and discussed in the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century AD. Considering that Qutb al-dīn-zāda al-Izniqī’s successor, Bahā al-dīn-zāda (d. 952/1545), placed al-Ghāzalī at the center of the issue, it is seen that this situation continued in the same way in the next century. In this treatise, he revealed al-Ghāzalī’s opinions on the aforementioned subject and argued that al-Ghazzālī’s views were not necessarily out of consensus, generally with narrations and rational/literary interpretations. In this defense, he focused on al-Ghazzālī’s views in his works titled Ihyā and Faysal al-tafriqa. Since he centered on defending al-Ghazzālī, he did not refer to the comments of the Akbarī Sufīs, of which he was a member, on the subject. His treatise is not limited to the defense of al-Ghazzālī’s views on the subject. In addition, he tried to answer possible questions that may arise while addressing the issue, tried to answer new questions that would arise from the answers he gave and analyzed the evidence of opposing views in detail. All these efforts are related to his desire to encompass the whole subject. This attitude shows itself throughout the treatise. Another point he paid attention to in the treatise was that he wanted to defend the issue with the data of the Ahl al-Sunnah theology. That is to say, in his defense of al-Ghazzālī; however, he refers to the views of Mutazili theologians, his analysis that these views are compatible with the theology of the Ahl al-Sunnah reveals his Ahl al-Sunnah sensitivity. In this respect, Qutb al-dīn-zāda al-Izniqī's treatise stands out by presenting al-Ghazzālī’s views and defense on this issue, as well as by trying to answer possible objections that may be raised against al-Ghazzālī while handling the issue, and by analyzing the evidence of opposing views in detail. In addition, while seeking a solution to the issue, it is of great importance in terms of establishing the distinction between corporal (jasadānī) torment and spiritual (rūḥānī) torment and interpreting the hadiths of intercession (shafāah) in the context of the issue. In the appendix, there is the critical edition of the treatise, corrected by the author and added notes.
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In religion, prayers take second place after the principles of belief that constitute the essence, because praying is the aspect of religion reflected in practical life. When we look at the first years of the history of Islam, it is seen that every pray has its history, from being obligatory to its application. In this sense, ḥajj has a history dating back to Prophet Adam, according to some narrations in Islamic sources. However, the origins of almost all of the sacred places, especially the Kaaba, and the worship practices during the ḥajj, are based on Prophet Ibrahim and his son Prophet Ismail. However, it is a known fact that the ḥajj practices in question were subjected to many changes or distortions in the process from Prophet Ismail to Prophet Muhammad, and it was amended back to its correct form in the course of the Tawhid religion with the practices of Prophet Muhammad during the Ḥajj Al-Wadā. Again, in the context of the political and institutional dimension of the ḥajj, the practices in the period of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs are also quite remarkable. In this study, it will be tried to deal with the religious, political and institutional aspects of how the ḥajj was restored to its essence and made legitimatewith Islam in due course of the ḥajj of Prophet Muhammad and the Rightly-Guided Caliphs in the light of early Islamic history narratives. In this context, firstly, the ḥajj prayers that took place during the period of Prophet Muhammad, the first of which were directed by ʿAttāb b. Asīd, the second by Abū Bakr, and the last by Prophet Muhammad himself will be discussed. In line with the narrations regarding these hajj prayers, questions such as when it is obligatory for the worship in question, whether Prophet Muhammad or other Muslims performed ḥajj according to the polytheistic customs before the ḥajj was obligated, when the ḥajj institution/organization came into existence and who was the first Amīr al-ḥajj the answer, will be sought. Then, the different practices occured during the ḥajj prayers such as citizens’ claiming the rights, questioning the governors and who will be the Amīr al-ḥajj since the period of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs will be examined in detail, and as a conclusion, besides the change and transformation that the ḥajj went through during the periods of Prophet Muhammad and the Rightly-Guided Caliphs it will be made to shed light on the religious, political and institutional aspects of the ḥajj. In addition, since it would go beyond the limits of such a study, the subject of ḥajj prayer after Prophet Ibrahim and Prophet Ismail, or the ḥajj during the period of Jāhiliyya, will not be examined, only some changes during the conversion of the prayer to the religion of Islam or the belief of Tawhid will be assessed without going into details. Similarly, ʿumra travels that took place during the Prophet Muhammad or Rightly-Guided Caliphs will not be included, but will only be pointed out when it comes to their importance.
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Developments in the social, cultural and economic fields in the modern period have brought about changes in social values. The family institution, which is the most fundamental building block of society, is one of the areas where this change is experienced. With modernization, the disintegration of extended family structures and their replacement by nuclear families and the acceleration of this process with the participation of women in business life has seriously changed the position of the elderly in the family and society. This change in the structure of the family has caused elderly and needy parents to live away from their children and grandchildren, or to be doomed to isolation in nursing homes away from warm family circle and social environment. The increasing number of these institutions which are not a product of Islamic civilization and the number of people living here disturbs everybody with a conscience. This situation requires revealing the necessity of protecting the elders of the family, protecting and taking care of them and providing their alimony in case of need in terms of Islamic law, and reminding our responsibilities in this regard. Due to the justification aforementioned, the alimony responsibility of children towards the their parents and grandparents will be discussed in this study.There have been some studies on alimony in Islamic law. However, while the alimony of the ascendant/uṣūl (parents and grandparents) is presented as a chapter or subtitle in some of these studies, the practical applications of this issue have not been touched on in other studies. Whereas, a study that does not take into account the practical application of the law, will be incomplete. For this reason, it is necessary to reveal how the theoretical knowledge discussed in the classical fiqh books about the alimony of the ascendant is applied in practice.Furthermore, the studies conducted so far about the alimony of the ascendant have been handled with a cross-sectarian approach. However, this mentioned situation does not quite coincide with the legal activity style in traditional fiqh thought. Therefore, it would be more appropriate to read the views on the relevant subject through the literature of a particular madhab/sect or school. Because, the legal situation of an issue has been handled within the furū’ al-fiqh systematic of each madhab in traditional fiqh thought and the system has been operated in this way. For this reason, we will try to handle this study where we will examine the alimony responsibility of children towards their parents and grandparents, based on the sources of the Hanafī School. In this context, first of all, the definition of alimony and its types and the rules on the subject will be presented. Then, it will be revealed whether there is a change within the Ḥanafī school in the issue of the alimony of the parents, how the views put forward previously were reflected in the Ottoman fatwā collections, how these views were applied in practice based on the Ottoman sharīʿa court records and how the alimony of the parents was handled in Turkish Civil Law.
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Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education institutions in Turkey have started to give the courses through distance education in order to prevent the spread of the virus. Unlike classical distance education, it is absolutely necessary to know the characteristics of these unprecedented distance education practices, for which students, teachers, and educational institutions were caught unprepared. Based on such a need, this study aimed to determine the metaphorical perceptions of higher education students regarding the concept of “distance education” and carried out in line with the qualitative phenomenological research design method. The study consisted of 197 female and male students who attended different classes at Kilis 7 Aralık University, Faculty of Islamic Sciences in the 2020-2021 academic year and participated in distance education from different settlements such as villages, districts, and towns. The relevant data were collected using a semi-structured form in which the students who continued their compulsory distance education due to the COVID-19 pandemic were asked to write a metaphor and their justification for generating such a metaphor by completing the gaps in the statement “Distance education is like … because …”. As a result of the analyses, it was determined that 167 different metaphors were produced by 197 participants. The metaphors were grouped under 11 themes, 9 of which belonged to the negative category and 2 to the positive category. When the metaphors were examined, it was concluded that the students’ perceptions of distance education were mostly expressed negatively. Those who expressed negative opinions about distance education formed their metaphors in line with the themes of being “deceptive” and “artificial”, and in such a way to show metaphors in which distance education intends to stand in for face-to-face learning, but does not have the characteristics of it, no matter how much it tries to resemble it. The metaphors in the positive category consist of two themes mentioned as follows: Under the theme of being “advantageous”, students stated that distance education provided them with both the comfort of being at home and the advantage of continuing their education. Within the theme of being “necessary”, distance education was expressed as a necessity to replace face-to-face learning and prevent interruptions in education during the pandemic. Although the metaphors given by the students about distance education were mostly negative, it was discovered that none of the students at the Faculty of Islamic Sciences, where the participating students were studying, preferred to defer enrolment during the pandemic. All these data can be evaluated in the sense that some of the drawbacks that emerged at the beginning of the pandemic have been overcome in time and that students have turned to adapt to distance learning despite the above-mentioned negativities.
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