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The article deals with the essence of the family Orthodox holiday. The festive family and household rituals of Ukrainians with its circular miseenscene and a ritual script is considered. The attention is focused on the worldview, socializing, axiological, ethical and aesthetic-educational functions of these components of the festive and ritual culture of our people.
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As the main educational institutions of the time, the Madrasah’s were very spread in Albania as well as in the other parts of the Ottoman Empire. Thus, we can testify their presence in the most developed Albanian towns such Berat, Gjirokastra, Shkodra, Elbasan etc. where were taught many sciences by eminent professors. In these educational institutions we find students and teachers who came from different areas of the Balkans, an aspect which points out the quality and the high educational level of these institutions. The maintenance of madrasah’s and their operation in general was closely linked to the economic factors, which were very crucial in the functioning of them. This important aspect makes evident another important institution of Islamic and Ottoman history, waqf. Waqfs were pious endowments founded by people or groups and gave their contribution in several areas, including education. In this context, starting from the early days of the Ottoman Empire until the second half of XIXth century, all education institutions and the people who served here were financed by these philanthropic objects. This important aspect can be traced easily in the madrasah’s which operated in several Albanian towns during the ottoman period.
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The first Christians celebrated marriage according to the laws and customs of the nation that they belonged to, only without the elements that may have been part of a pagan cult. They soon began to think about marriage in a theological way as well and began to add liturgical elements to the celebration of marriage. Gradually, norms emerged that prescribed Catholic Christians to marry in church. Entering into a marriage outside the sacred space was considered a rather undesirable exception. Today, however, more and more Catholic Christians wish, for various reasons, to celebrate marriage outside the sacred space. The article deals with this issue and attempts to outline the criteria for the appropriateness of such a chose.
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In the second half of the eleventh century a reform movement came into being, which focused on the observance of weekly fasts. The reformers demanded that the faithful must fast on every Wednesday and Friday of the year, eating dry food and drinking water. This was a considerable tightening of the fasting regime, at least as regards laypeople who traditionally had only abstained from meat. The reformers backed up their claim with a barrage of canonical proof texts among which canon 69 of the Apostles took pride of place. Since canon 69 did not mention any exceptions they declared that one should keep a strict fast even on feast days. Traditionally monks had consumed cheese and eggs on feasts of Christ and Mary and of a number of ‘great’ saints, and dishes prepared with oil on the feasts of less important saints. The reformers outlawed eating of cheese and eggs altogether, demanded that only oil be consumed on great feasts, and maintained that all other saints did not warrant any relaxation at all. Yet in practice they had to compromise, which earned them the scorn of the Armenians. The reformers looked askance at a recent development, the custom to break the fast during the Meatfare Week. During this week the Armenians kept a strict fast, only eating bread and water. The Byzantines reacted by eating well throughout the week: laypeople ate meat and monks consumed cheese and eggs. This was a grassroots movement, which spread without an élite input. The fast was broken even on Wednesdays and Fridays, which led to a strong reaction by the religious leaders. They attempted to stamp out the custom but had little success. Indeed, they were even accused of Armenian leanings since their practice of eating dry food and drinking water was identical with the Armenian fast.
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Review of Between Revival and Uncertainty. Monastic and Secular Female Communities in Central Europe in the Long Eighteenth Century / Zwischen Aufbruch und Ungewissheit. Klösterliche und weltliche Frauengemeinschaften in Zentraleuropa im „langen“ 18. Jahrhundert, eds. Veronika Čapská, Ellinor Forster, Janine Christina Maegraith and Christine Schneider, European Social Fund – Silesian University in Opava 2012, 340 p. ISBN 978-80-7248-786-8.
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The aim of the article is to present deeds relating to the foundation of the Altar of the Holy Cross in the cathedral church in Litomyšl. The main source on the topic is an original deed issued by Šimon of Prague, vicar general and officialis of the Bishopric of Litomyšl, dated 27 November 1417, written by the public notary Havel Duchek of Lysá. The document is deposited in the State District Archives in Svitavy, seated in Litomyšl, under inventory number 34. In 1397, Jan, called Mladeč of Branná, bequeathed the sum of one hundred schock of groschen to the cathedral church in Litomyšl for the foundation of a new altar for the salvation of his soul. He was already ill by this time. On 16 June 1402, Bishop of Litomyšl Jan IV. Železný issued a deed which created a new altar benefice in the cathedral church in Litomyšl. Jan Mladeč had already passed away. The executors of his last will were Bishop of Litomyšl Jan IV. Železný and Petr and Přibík, brothers of Hrochův Týnec, otherwise from Chroustovice. This follows from a joint deed issued by all three on 18 April 1405. The conditions to be met by the holder of the altar benefice were laid down therein. He was to perform his duties personally or through another suitable priest, and a statement is made on precisely how many masses were to be celebrated during the week. The study is accompanied by an edition of four deeds relating to the foundation of the altar: a deed of 16 June 1402, a deed of 18 April 1405, a notarial copy of both deeds drawn up on 16 May [1405, 1406 or 1408], and a notarial copy of the latter deed drawn up on 27 November 1417.
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We will focus on cyber-addictions also considering the psychological and theological therapies in case: we will first make a survey of artificial intelligence and the way it impacts modern life; we will then describe nomophobia, Facebook depression included; we will finally refer to the manifold effects of digital media on sleep
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Aim. The article describes the attitudes of students of religious education towards the values of sustainable development. It examines the degree of knowledge of these values and their practical reflection in the monitored groupConcept. We carried out a preliminary examination through interviews and a questionnaire. The questions focused on the knowledge of the values of sustainable development and ways of their interpretation by respondents.Results. Students have adequate to poor knowledge of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They do not understand their connection with religious values and have no motivation to apply these values in their pedagogical practice.Conclusion. It is appropriate to innovate curricula where future religious teachers are trained to strengthen education in the values of sustainability. It is necessary to support education aimed at understanding sustainable development as a key aspect of school education.Cognitive value. Complementing curriculum content with sustainable development values creates support for social cohesion and inclusion, which is crucial for a sustainable society.
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Review of: Kateryna Dysa: Ukrainian Witchcraft Trials. Volhynia, Podolia, and Ruthenia 17th-18th Centuries. Central European University Press. Budapest – New York 2020. X, 254 S., Ill. ISBN 978-615-5053-11-5. ($ 75,–.)
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The Arab Spring uprisings marked a watershed moment in regional politics, significantly impacting Islamist movements in terms of strategies, ideologies, and organizational structures. Accordingly, this paper examines whether these dramatic events strengthened or weakened the post-Islamist evolution of traditional political Islam movements, focusing on the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood (E-MB) and the Tunisian Ennahda Movement Party (EMP) as case studies. The proposed hypothesis is that the Arab Spring has variably influenced Islamists. In Egypt, it initially weakened the post-Islamist turn of the E-MB. However, owing to the 2013 coup and subsequent repression, the E-MB was politically excluded and weakened, creating a vacuum that was filled by various forms of less political or non-ideological forms of Islamic activism. The Tunisian Islamists had a different story. The Arab Spring seems to have strengthened their transition to post-Islamism. In its tenth conference, the EMP declared its exit from political Islam, adopting the new concept of Muslim Democracy. Even after the presidential takeover in July 2021, which resulted in the political exclusion of the EMP, the Work and Achievement party that defected from it maintained clear post-Islamist features.
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This article explores the interplay between political thought and practice within Tunisia’s Ennahda party, first during its period in opposition, then after it took power in 2011, and finally in the aftermath of the 2021 coup. We trace the genealogy of political thought within the party from the point of its foundation. In doing so, we explore the gradual evolution of party ideology, from a daʿwa-based belief system between 1969 and 1981, to Islamic democracy between 1981 and 2011, to ‘Muslim democracy’ after the 2011 uprising. We examine this ideological evolution through the framework of three key elements: (i) Islam, (ii) Tunisia’s changing socio-political context, and (iii) the broader universal episteme. As we show, a significant turning point came in 2016, with the separation of the daʿwa from party politics, which revealed a burgeoning state / party conceptualization of politics. However, the 2021 coup challenged Ennahda’s concept of Muslim democracy, as well as all aspects of the party’s own sense of continuity as a significant socio-political actor, such as its institutional structure, leadership, membership, social base, political strategy, and ideology. Ennahda is now confronted by an authoritarian resurgence, which aims at containing the party, and at delegitimizing its participation within nation-state structures. Empirical evidence, based on content-analytical evaluations of personal interviews as well as the media’s coverage of Ennahda, shows that the party’s representatives are increasingly focusing on organizational reform in order to deal with the ramifications of the 2021 coup. Their aim seems to be to democratize both Ennahda and the Tunisian state itself.
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This paper aims to map the terrain of religion and politics in modern and contemporary Morocco. Seeing the chronological and intellectual diversity within Moroccan religious thought and politics, this paper proposes three major historical periods to facilitate approaching the topic: the pre-/ colonial, the colonial, and postcolonial times. The first pre/-colonial period is hybrid; it coincides with the rise of the first generation of the Moroccan Nahda renewal, before the colonial period, although it lived into the colonial period and played important roles in it for liberation. I mark this with the “Islamic” label, since Islam was the only common identity marker for any project of renewal in an intellectually “homogeneous” society. As to the colonial period, this Islamic identity became stronger since the colonial administration tried to weaken this identity and the social fabric and its related institutions, be they religious brotherhoods, religious endowments, or Sufi orders; at a certain moment in 1930, the colonial administration played on linguistic differences to divide and rule, and in another occasion, in 1953–1955, it tried to dethrone the nationalist Sultan and replace him with a docile one. Here, again, the “Islamic” identity marker of society and politics was further emphasized as a force of unity, thus the label of Nationalist Islam in this stage, despite the variety of currents within the nationalist movement. As to the postcolonial period, it is a phase in which the modern debates over the format of the nation state, the place of religion in politics, democracy, liberalism, socialism, and secularization become part of Moroccan thought and politics. Thus, three major labels are used to describe the variety of political Islams in society: the Ultra-Orthodox Islam, the Orthodox Islam, and Critical Islam. And since they all share Islam as an identity but interpret it differently, I borrow the term from Asef Bayat to call this period the “post-Islamist” period, since the actors with the Islamic label are multiple, and no one single trend or project manages to win to enforce its Islamist interpretation on society and political stakeholders. More importantly, this diversity of interpretations is what saves the “Islamic” from rigidity and turns it into its fluidity of pre-modern times, i.e. to the “Islamic” as a lived spirituality and moral compass, as a theocentric way of life, in a forthcoming post- Islamist society, a secular world and neoliberal economies.
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This paper studies the development in the thought and praxis of Islamic movements that aim to revive a political system governed by Islamic law. Post-Caliphate Islamic movements – the subject of the current study – have undergone recent reforms in thought, approach, and even branding since the Arab Spring. Notwithstanding the movements’ legal and theological diversity, the author argues that they share common features of reform characterized by (a) appeal to public opinion and grassroots work; and (b) willingness to work with groups outside their movement. These reforms were shaped in tandem with and in reaction to the War on Terror, the Arab Spring, and the Taliban’s victory in Afghanistan. The author argues that these changes gave rise to dynamic reform in the latest generation of Islamic movements, leading to substantive revisions in their approach (manhaj) to achieving Islamic change. Despite tightening proscription and censorship, the author argues that the fruit of these reforms has been a resurgence in the form of highly efficient and creative collaboration between movements. Examples studied include collaboration between the Muslim Brothers (MB) and Hizb ut Tahrir in the West, and between former-al-Qaeda and MB affiliates in Syria. The author estimates these strategies – following a period of political failure and internal skepticism – have precipitated a resurgence that makes the future of Islamic movements highly potent, despite resulting in a dilution of each group’s identity and possible decline in membership. As a result of this trajectory, this study argues for the need to theorize contemporary Islamic movements beyond historical categories that have fossilized in Western academia, and often do not capture the dynamic, fluidity and comprehensiveness of Islamic struggle. This study utilizes a mixed methodology, including archival analysis and intellectual genealogy.
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This paper critically examines the socio-political dynamics affecting Muslims in Europe, focusing on the significant barriers that hinder their active participation in party politics. A central argument is that the internalized secular worldview has led to widespread political disengagement. This issue is further compounded by the first generation of Muslims in Europe, who developed and entrenched a minority mindset, along with certain ulema who promote socio-political passivity and quietism, severely limiting more complex and effective political engagement. To counter this situation, the paper emphasizes the urgent need for Muslims to move beyond status quo or reactionary approaches, such as supporting mainstream parties or resorting to political abstention, both of which only superficially address their concerns. Instead, it advocates establishing independent political entities rooted in Islamic principles that strive for more profound systemic change. Such an approach would empower Muslims to form strategic alliances, challenge the status quo, and tackle broader societal issues, ultimately advancing the interests of both their communities and European society as a whole.
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Since the start of the Arab Spring, no topic has been more polarizing to elites than secularism, the civil state, and political Islam. In this article, I will analyze the academic literature written by researchers and sometimes political activists in journals published in the Arab world on this topic. I will conduct a quantitative (bibliometric) and qualitative analysis of this literature (149 articles), in order to try to answer the following questions: To which extent is there interest in these topics in academic journals? How did these writers address the topic of secularism or the civil state? How do leftist/secular/liberal trends on the one hand and Islamic trends on the other interact with the issue of secularism? What type of journals are these?
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In this article, the way Christians and Jews are handled in The Message (1976), directed by Mustafa Akkad, is analyzed by making a detailed comparison with Islamic historical sources. In line with this purpose, interrogations are made in the article through the historical film criticism method. In this context, the topics are explored in a triple order in the article: First, it is revealed in general how Muslim-Christian and Muslim-Jewish relations are mentioned on in the sources of Islamic history. Secondly, how Christians and Jews are portrayed in the film is described by making a content analysis. Then, comparisons between these two situations are made and the harmony between the historical sources and the film is analyzed. Finally, the differences between historical realities and the film are determined and these differences are evaluated through discourse analysis and semiotic methods. Thus, it is tried to examine what kind of meanings are constructed in the film. As a result of the issues questioned in this context, it is seen that Christians and Jews are presented in the film The Message with a content that is incompatible with Islamic historical sources. When examined carefully, it is understood that these differences are presented to the audience with a content that supports the interfaith dialogue approach. It seems possible to attribute the reason for such an approach to the Hollywood film industry, which is dominated by the Jewish lobby and the Christian environment, and to the reactions of Western audiences who will watch the film.
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The subject of this research is to determine the approach of Arabic preparatory class students at the faculty of theology to Arabic at the beginning of the academic year. Their approach to Arabic is discussed in the categories of thought, goal and expectation. The purpose of determining the students' approach to Arabic, especially at the beginning of the year, is to reveal the motivation of the students before they have received this education. It is hoped that the results to be obtained at the end of the research will provide data on the field to the instructors who teach this course in order to improve the education and teaching of Arabic. Survey design, one of the quantitative research methods, is used in the study. The sample of the research consists of 126 students who received Arabic preparatory education in the 2020-2021 academic year at Tekirdağ Namık Kemal University Faculty of Theology. The data are collected with a Likert-type structured interview form consisting of a total of 18 questions in the three categories specified above. SPSS program is used in the analysis of the data. At the end of the research, it is determined that the students responded more positively to their approach to the Arabic course at the beginning of the year in the thoughts and expectations category than in the goals category. This situation was interpreted as the students coming to the Arabic preparatory class at the beginning of the year with high motivation.
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The role of poems in comprehending and transmitting the elements of Arabic literature and culture is unquestionable. The poems composed by Su'luk poets, which arose as a response to the societal inequities and injustices experienced, similarly fulfill this objective. These poems, distinct from classical Arabic poetry due to their utilization of concise lines and departure from the al-aṭlāl tradition, illuminate the political, social, and cultural landscape of the era. This study delves into the su'luk movement and the fundamental characteristics of su'luk poets within the contextual boundaries of the Jahiliyyah, Sadru'l-Islam, and Umayyad epochs. According to this, it can be stated that during the early stages of the su'luk movement, a quest for justice and weath redistribution from the afuent to the underprivileged was evident. However, particularly in the Umayyad era, being a su'luk evolved into a profession and had a political meaning. Furthermore, in this study, the life and personality of al-Qattāl al-Kilābī, who is known for the number of murders he committed during the Umayyad period, and some of the poems that he wrote in his imprisonment were mentioned. While the phenomenon of imprisonment had precedent in earlier epochs, it can be posited that its prevalence became more pronounced during the Umayyad period. In this context, akin to other poets who cherished their liberty, al-Qattâl conveyed his experiences of imprisonment, the spiritual conflicts he underwent, his interactions with authorities, and related themes in his poetic compositions. Circumstances such as exile from his tribe, pursuit by the state, and imprisonment compelled al-Qattâl to adopt a nomadic lifestyle, resulting in feelings of isolation, helplessness, and pessimism. Through al-Qattâl's prison-themed poems, not only can insight be gained into the prevailing prison culture of that era, but also the names of regions, cities, and locales come to light. Given that the diwan of most Su'luk poets have not endured, al-Qattâl's poems play a crucial role in filling a significant void within this field.
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In the Arabian Peninsula (Jazīrat al-Arab), before Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was commissioned with the mission of preaching Islam and conveying the message of worshipping only one God, the Arabs believed in various religions during the Jāhiliyya period. Therefore, they did not have a single understanding of religion. In the pre-Islamic period, beliefs such as ancestor cult, fetish cult, totem cult, etc. were common among the Arabs. In addition to these beliefs, they also had beliefs in a secret realm (jinn, ghul and devil). There has naturally been mutual communication and interaction between these religious groups. One of the most important reasons for the coexistence of groups with so many different beliefs is that the islanders were in constant communication with the people living around them. Communication with them was mostly through trade and tribal migrations. They believed in the spirits of various people and objects until the end of the fourth century AD. The fact that they had these beliefs can also be determined through their poems. In this context, most of the poems we include in our study are praise-type poems. In addition, poems of praise and satire are also included. Based on these poems, it is seen that idolatry constituted the dominant religious phenomenon in the region before Islam. The dominant beliefs in the region before Islam were basically idolatry. The religious phenomenon of the period was also shaped by the cults that developed on the axis of idolatry. It is expected that our study will contribute to the field and guide new studies in this field.
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In the ultra-Orthodox Jewish tradition, there are different types of schools for men and women, providing education for their varying social and religious roles. This difference is particularly visible in the religious education curricula. Until 1917, the religious education that women were able to receive, albeit to a lesser extent than the religious education received by men, was not systematised. In the late nineteenth century, the rapidly growing interest in the secular world among girls was mainly characterised by the lack of religious education for Jewish girls, and Sarah Schenirer (1883-1935) found it necessary to open religious schools for Jewish girls as a solution. With this initiative, Schenirer called for change in an anti-innovationist culture and aimed to help Ultra-Orthodox girls retain their Jewish identity and remain connected to the community. To this end, Schenirer founded the first Bais Yaakov school in 1917, and within a few years the school grew rapidly into an extensive “network of schools” across Europe, and became known as the Bais Yaakov movement. This initiative acted as the domino that initiated the change in the addressee profile of religious education within the anti-innovationist Ultra-Orthodox Judaism. In this respect, knowing Sarah Schenirer is key to analysing how Bais Yaakov legitimised itself within Ultra-Orthodox Judaism and how this innovation in girls’ education found a foundation within a tradition that seemed to lack the necessary resources and support. Considering that there are not enough studies on religious education in Ultra-Orthodox Judaism in Turkey, we believe that this study on the educational activities of Bais Yaakov will contribute to the field of history of religions.
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