Worldview Theory and its relation to Islam and Muslim İdentity

Year 2021, , 133 - 158, 31.07.2021

Mustafa Cabir Altıntaş

https://doi.org/10.54659/ulum.950364

Cited By: 1

Abstract

Since the 18th century to the present, the concept of worldview has been used in various forms by various writers and extensively in several fields of academic disciplines. The article provides a brief historical overview of its usage in the discipline and demonstrates how worldview has been perceived differently over time. It presents the evolution of the concept, its essential characteristics, worldviews frameworks, Muslim worldviews, and the identity formation of young Muslims. Thus, it provides a detailed, overview of how the concept has been understood in the core disciplines, particularly in Islam and Western culture, and most relevant for Muslim identity.
The Worldview Theory has been popular in the West but has not yet found a proper place in the Turkish context. This study aims to remedy the lack of the concept of worldview in the current literature. Nevertheless, exploring the Muslim identity is important. The meaning of identity is defined with Tariq Ramadan’s four foundational pillars. These four aspects provide a sufficient idea of the basics of Muslim identity, individual and social, in a particular area of the world. Regarding this, religion and religious education have attempted to respond to the challenges faced by many young people seeking to find a worldview that holds the promise of a meaningful life. Thus, the religious worldview dimension of life is significant and is given special attention in this article. This paper is concerned to be one of the few attempts to discuss a need for professional care in dealing with the development of worldview and identity relations.

Keywords

Worldview Theory, Secular and İslamic Worldviews, Muslim İdentity

References

• Aadnanes, Per M. Livssyn. Oslo: Tano, 1992.
• Aadnanes, Per M. New Age Som Livssyn. Ph D dissertation University of Oslo, 1997.
• Al-Aswad, El-Sayed. Muslim Worldviews and Everyday Lives. Altamira Press: UK, 2012.
• Baker, David A. A study of the effect of culture on the learning of science in non-Western countries. Melbourne: Curtin University, 2002.
• Berkes, Niyazi. The Development of Secularism in Turkey. London: Hurst and Company, 1998.
• Blackburn, Simon. Ethics: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
• Brown, Wilson E. Thinking worldviewishly [Electronic version], Cedarville Torch, 2004.
• Campbell, Joseph. - Moyers, Bill. The Power of Myth, New York & Toronto: Anchor, 1991.
• Campbell, Joseph. Myths to Live By, New York: Penguin Books, 1993.
• Cox, James. Expressing the Sacred: An introduction to the Phenomenology of Religion, Harare: University of Zimbabwe, 1996.
• Daniels, Denise- Franz Randal S.- Wong, Kenman. “A classroom with a worldview: Making spiritual assumptions explicit in management education.” Journal of Management Education, 24(5) (2000): 540–561.
• Dawkins, Richard. The God delusion, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006.
• DeGraaf, A.H. “Towards a New Anthropological Model”, Hearing and Doing, edited by J. Kraay and A. Tol Toronto: Wedge, 1979.
• Dennett, Daniel.C. Darwin’s Dangerous Idea, Simon & Schuster: USA, 1995.
• Dickens, Charles. Great expectations, New York: Penguin Books, 2013.
• Droogers, Andre -Harskamp, Anton van. Methods for the study of Religious Change, Sheffield, UK: Equinox Press, 2014.
• Fernhout, Harry. “Christian schooling: Telling a world view story”, The crumbling walls of certainty edited by L. Lambert, & S. Mitchell, pp. 75–98. Sydney, NSW: Centre for the Study of Australian Christianity, 1997.
• Geertz, Clifford. The Interpretation of Cultures, New York: Basic Books SOAS, 2000.
• Gilsenan, Michael. Recognizing Islam: an Anthropologist’s introduction, London and Canberra: Croom Helm, 1982.
• Goldsworthy, Graeme. Preaching the whole Bible as Christian Scripture, Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans, 2000.
• Griffioen, Sander. “The approach to social theory: Hazards and benefits”, Stained glass: Worldviews and Social Science, edited by Paul Marshall – Sander Griffioen, & Richard Mouw, pp. 81–118. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1989.
• Griffiths Anthony JF - Gelbart William M. - Miller Jeffrey H. Modern Genetic Analysis, New York: W. H. Freeman; Darwin’s Revolution, 1999. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK21378/
• Heil, John. From an Ontological Point of view, New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
• Holmes, Arthur F. Contours of a Worldview, WIEP Company: Michigan, 1983.
• Husain, Sherif. S. - Ashraf, Sherif. A. The Crisis in Muslim Education, Jeddah: King Abdulaziz University, 1979.
• Kearney, Michael. Worldview, Novato, CA: Chandler& Sharp, 1984.
• Klapwijk, Jacob. “On worldviews and philosophy: A response to Wolters and Olthuis”, Stained glass: Worldviews and Social Science, edited by P. Marshall, S. Griffioen & R. Mouw, Lanham, pp. 41–55. MD: University Press of America, 1989.
• Marshall, Paul. “Epilogue: On faith and Social Science”, Stained glass: Worldviews and Social Science, edited by P. Marshall, S. Griffioen & R. Mouw, Lanham, pp. 184-187. MD: University Press of America, 1989.
• Marx, Karl. Das Kapital, Capital: Volume I, Hamburg- NY, 1867.
• McKenzie, Leon. Adult education and worldview construction, Malabar, FL: Krieger, 1991.
• Middleton, J. Richard - Walsh, Brian J. Truth is stranger than it used to be, London: SPCK, 1995.
• Moyers, Bill. Genesis: A Living Conversation, Toronto: Doubleday, 1996.
• Naugle, David K. Worldview: The history of a concept. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2002.
• Naugle, David K. “Worldview: History, theology, implications,” After worldview edited by J. Bonzo, and M. Stevens, pp. 5–26. Sioux Center, IA: Dordt Press, 2009.
• Nelson, Kristina. The Art of Reciting the Qur’an, London: University of Texas Press, 2001.
• Newport, John P. The new age movement and the biblical worldview: conflict and dialogue, Grand Rapids, MI: B. Eerdmans Publishing company, 1998. Ok, Uzeyir. “Faith Development and Perception of Diversity among Muslims in Turkey: construction and Initial Test of a Measure for Religious Diversity in Islam”, Din Bilimleri Akademik Arastirma Dergisi, VI, no: 3, Ondokuz Mayis University Press, Samsun: Turkey, 2006.
• Olthuis, James. “On worldviews”, Christian Scholars Review 14(2) (1985): 155–165.
• Olthuis, James. “On worldviews,” Stained glass: Worldviews and Social Science, edited by P. Marshall, S. Griffioen & R. Mouw, Lanham, pp. 26-40. MD: University Press of America, 1989.
• Olthuis, James. “Where there is love, there is vision: Witnessing in/under/through worldviews,” After worldview edited by J. Bonzo, and M. Stevens, pp. 81-94. Sioux Center, IA: Dordt Press, 2009.
• Oxford English Dictionary. UK: Oxford U.Press, 1989.
• Pierson, George. “Evangelicals and worldview confusion,” After worldview edited by J. Bonzo, and M. Stevens, pp. 29-42. Sioux Center, IA: Dordt Press, 2009.
• Putnam, Richard - Campbell, David. American grace: How religion is reshaping our civic and political life, New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010.
• Ramadan, Tariq. Western Muslims and the Future of Islam, Oxford University Press: UK, 2004.
• Rosnani, Hashim. Educational Dualism in Malaysia: Implication for Theory and Practice, Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 2002.
• Ryken, Philip G. What is the Christian worldview? Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2006.
• Sandsmark, Signe. Is Worldview Neutral Education Possible and Desirable, Paternoster Press, UK, 2000.
• Schultz, Katherine - Swezey, James A. “A Three-Dimensional Concept of Worldview,” Journal of Research on Christian Education, 22:3, (2013) 227-243.
• Seerveld, Calvin. “The damages of a Christian worldview,” After worldview edited by J. Bonzo, and M. Stevens, pp. 55-80. Sioux Center, IA: Dordt Press, 2009.
• Singer, Peter. The Life You Can Save: How to Do Your Part to End World Poverty, New York: Random House, 2010.
• Sire, James W. The universe next door: a basic worldview catalog, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1997.
• Sire, James W.Naming the elephant: Worldview as a concept, Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2004.
• Sire, James W. The Universe Next Door, Downers Grove: IVP, 2009.
• Smart, Ninian. Worldviews, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1983.
• Storer, Tracy I. - Usinger, Robert L. - Nybakk-en, James AV. - Stebbins, Robert C. Elements of Zoology, New York McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1977.
• Taylor, Charles. A Secular Age, Cambridge MA: Belknap Press, 2007.
• Valk, John. “Stories of our elders: Exploring traditional Wolastoq knowledge and knowledge transmission,” Journal of Australian Indigenous Issue, 12, (2008): 278–288.
• Valk John. “Worldviews of Today”, Values, Religions and Education in Changing Societies, edited by Sporre K., Mannberg J., pp. 103-119. Springer, Dordrecht, 2010.
• Valk, John- Albayrak, H.- Selcuk, Mualla. An Islamic Worldview from Turkey, CA: USA, Palgrave, 2017.
• Walsh, Brian. J. - Middleton, J. Richard. The Transforming Vision. Shaping a Christian World View, Downers Grove, Ill.: lnterVarsity, 1984.
• Walsh, Brian J. “Transformation: Dynamic worldview or repressive ideology,” Journal of Education and Christian Belief, 4(2) (2000): 101–114.
• Watson, John. Including secular philosophies such as humanism in locally agreed syllabuses for religious education, British Journal of Religious Education, 32 (1): 5–18, 2010.
• Willard, Dallas. Knowing Christ today, New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2009.
• Wolters, Albert M. Creation regained: a transforming view of the world, Leicester: InterVarsity P., 1985.
• Wolterstorff, Nicholas. “On Christian learning,” Stained glass: Worldviews and Social Science, edited by P. Marshall, S. Griffioen & R. Mouw, Lanham, pp. 56-80. MD: University Press of America, 1989.
• Wright, Nicholas T. The New Testament and the people of God, London: SPCK, 1992.