Religious Trends Research Articles

Религиозный фактор в деструктивных социальных процессах (на примере исламизма)

Spiritual and cultural characteristics play a significant role in modern society. The religious factor is one of the key elements that ensure spiritual security, strengthen friendly relations between various ethnic and religious groups, and shape their self-determination. Religion is one of the driving forces of the development of civil society and even determines the degree of its intensity. Due to the increasing influence of religion on political processes, its influence is becoming extremely important for domestic and foreign policy activities, therefore, the government of any state should take into account religious specifics. The religious factor has a powerful consolidating condition in countering the development of destructive processes. At the same time, in order to satisfy personal ambitions and achieve political goals, despite the contradiction of the basic religious principles and doctrines, representatives of destructive religious trends actively use psychological methods of influence, using the faith and beliefs of their followers. The implementation of the proposed measures to ensure spiritual security in various spheres of civil society at all levels of government makes it possible to counteract destructive influences using religious beliefs. The aim of the study is to formulate the main outlines of a balanced policy in the ethno-confessional sphere and based on ideological principles that can provide conditions for agreement and unification of relations between political actors. It is precisely such ideological concepts that can act as a weighty opponent to the destructive process. In this study, methods based on rationalism, dialectics, comparative analysis, historiography were used, structural-functional and civilizational approaches were applied. The results of the research can be used in the development of conceptual documents in the field of security.

Reflections on the Sources of the Contemporary Islamic Revival

ABSTRACT The groups and movements that comprise the Islamic revival of the past half century share an ideology of return to the origins of the faith and strictly following the scriptures. They are habitually divided into Islamist activists, who seek involvement in the political arena; Salafi purists, who censure “deviations” from “true” Islam; and Traditionalist ʽulama, who uphold the living legal, theological, and Sufi tradition. This article offers some reflections on the intricate connections and conflicts among these three large religious trends by reviewing three recently published studies that touch upon the ideational sources on which they draw. It shows the ambiguous stand of Sunni Islamic Modernists, the precursors of Islamism, toward old and new Muslim sects; the lingering exclusivism and militancy of Wahhabis, who form a subset of Salafism, in al-Qaʽida and ISIS; and the versatility of Traditionalists in accommodating to modernity.

A Sociological study of the religious identity of young people in Central Asia and Europe (following the example of Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Poland)

The purpose of the article is to determine the situation in the field of religious preferences of young people in the Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Poland by studying the specific features and dynamics of the development of traditional beliefs in the Central Asian and European regions. The main methods used in the preparation of the work were the system-analytical method and the statistical method. The characteristic features of different areas of religion in Asia, as well as the origins and root causes of the formation and development of religious trends in Kyrgyzstan, are studied. The key moments in the history of the transformation of the Kyrgyz society in the XVIII-XXI centuries are outlined in the context of the influence of this process on the emergence of specific signs of local religious trends. Different approaches and concepts to the study of the young generation of the Central Asian Republic and Poland are evaluated by considering the qualitative and quantitative results of a number of sociological surveys. The results and conclusions of this work can be used as a basis for the development and implementation of a number of political and social reforms with an emphasis on raising awareness of the issue among the younger generation of Kyrgyzstan.

The Phenomenon of Loneliness in the Context of Philosophical-Religious Ideology

This article explores the phenomenon of loneliness in the context of a philosophical and religious worldview. The authors analyze the relationship between loneliness and religious experience, and also explore how religious and philosophical ideas and practices can influence the experience and overcoming of loneliness. The article outlines the main provisions of various philosophical and religious trends related to the phenomenon of loneliness. Considers the contribution of authors such as Martin Buber, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre and others in understanding loneliness and its connection with religious practice. Various religious traditions and beliefs are analyzed as resources and approaches for overcoming loneliness. In conclusion, the article summarizes and draws preliminary conclusions about how philosophical and religious worldview can influence the perception and overcoming of loneliness. She calls for further research on this topic and takes into account its importance for human development in society.

Resilience of Faith: Post-Covid Religious Trends and the Effect of Ecclesiastical Policy in the United States

Resilience of Faith: Post-Covid Religious Trends and the Effect of Ecclesiastical Policy in the United States

Resilience of Faith: Post-Covid Religious Trends and the Effect of Ecclesiastical Policy in the United States

Resilience of Faith: Post-Covid Religious Trends and the Effect of Ecclesiastical Policy in the United States

Religious Construction in Decision ­Making of Indonesian Customers for Financial Transactions on Syariah Banks

This study aims to explain how Islamic concepts, symbols and values have implications for people. Especially when they must make decisions to make financial transactions in Islamic banking. Likewise, the religious trend accompanied by the spirit of city has resulted in the enthusiasm of the community to transact with institutions labelled religion in practice. Data collection used in this study was carried out by observation and distributing questionnaires to respondents (customers). Documentation studies are also conducted to find literature related to this study. There are three findings described in this study. First, the conception and symbol of religion is an essential element in the existence of Islamic banking in Indonesia. Second, the understanding of the religious community has been constructed in the decision to make economic transactions in Islamic banks. Third, the religious trend accompanied by religious zeal makes sharia banks in Indonesia have bright prospects to attract the interest of the public to transact. The enermous potential of Islamic banks in Indonesia will experience an increase if the religious values and symbols are implemented correctly and adequately. Religious construction of economic behaviour has resulted in a shift in the pattern of community transactions in the name of religion. This shift certainly provides not only positive expectations in the religious society, but also provides broad opportunities for the banking business world.

Legendary tales about saints in Tatar folklore

The relevance of the research topic is the cultural and social need to comprehend one of the Tatar history and culture key phenomena in terms of holiness and subjects, reflecting the image of “the saint”, the tasks of restoring the people’s spiritual values, the most important ones for the moral education of modern society, as well as the need to replenish knowledge about the specific features of folk spirituality and folk beliefs. The object of the study is Tatar legendary tales about saints. The subject of the study is the image of a saint and motifs about saints in Tatar legendary tales. The purpose of the work is to identify the features, reflecting the image of the saint in Tatar tales, and the prerequisites, forming the basis of the holiness phenomenon. The research task of the article is to review legendary tales about saints, determine their genre features and identify the specific features of reflecting religious trends in modern folk thinking based on the transformation of the image of a saint and ideas of holiness in the oral folk art of the Tatars living in different regions of Russia.The article concludes that the characters of the tales are endowed with holiness due to their sincere faith in God, a feeling of sincere love for him, they do not pursue the goal of demonstrating their abilities.

Comparing Islam with other Late Antique Religions: Examining Theological Parallels with Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Manichaeism

This article argues that Islamic theological doctrines emerged out of broad late antique religious trends. Such trends were reflected in Judaism and Christianity, but also transcended them. In support of this view, the article systematically examines parallels between Islamic theological doctrines, and those found in the late antique religions of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Manichaeism. It is argued that all of these religions share six basic doctrines: (1) belief in one morally-concerned Supreme Being (2) belief in lesser spirit beings that are good or bad (3) belief in prophets (4) belief in scriptural texts (5) belief in an afterlife (6) belief that the world will end with the triumph of good over evil. It is argued that the preceding six doctrines coherently fit together into a larger perspective on the universe. The article explains how this perspective is central to late antique religions, including Islam.

The Role of Abu Hanifa in the Formation of the Traditional Religion and Religious Worldview of the Kazakh People

This article is devoted to a comprehensive analysis of the role of Abu Hanifa in the formation of traditional religion and religious knowledge of the Kazakh people. The article is based on the analysis of Abu Hanifa's works “Fihq Al-Akbar” and “Al-‘alim wa-l Muta‘lim” and contains excerpts from the works of Kazakh thinkers reflecting the continuity between Abu Hanifa's thoughts and the religious knowledge of the Kazakh people. The period of Abu Hanifa's entry into the historical arena was a period of serious disagreements between various religious trends of the Islamic world. Abu Hanifa was a member of one of the famous Murji movements. For a deeper explanation of the religious foundations and Sharia views of Abu Hanifa, such concepts as: flesh, soul and consciousness were studied and analyzed. In this regard, the reasons why Abu Hanifa's concepts of faith and Islam differed from those of Islamic scholars of that period were identified, and the continuity of Abu Hanifa's teachings with the traditional religion and religious worldview of the Kazakh people was also shown.

Civilizational Transit and Post-Coloniality

The work is the result of the scientific events held on March 23, May 11 and September 21, 2020 by the Center for Civilizational and Regional Studies of the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Commission on Socio-Cultural Issues of Globalization of the Academic Council “History of the World Culture” under the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences on the topic «Civilizational transit and Post-Coloniality». The problems debated in the course of the aforementioned scientific events went beyond the issues stated for discussion and were of an interdisciplinary nature. The problem of the forms and features of Christianity as one of the most important confessions of modern Africa received special attention at the conference. The problem of the clash of secular and religious trends in the civilizational development of post-colonial Africa turned out to be of no small importance. The work starts with an introduction, which reflects the topic, problems, purpose, as well as the issues stated for discussion. It is followed by the short theses of the conference participants, representatives of the leading scientific and educational centers of Russia. At the end of the work, a conclusion is given, which summarizes the main results of the conference.

PHILOSOPHICAL MESSAGES IN TUHAN MAHA ASYIK NOVEL FOR RELIGIOUS INCLUSIVITY

In Indonesia, there has been a religious trend that emphasizes formality and exclusivity. As a result, conflicts among religious communities or groups within a particular religion are often unavoidable. This case certainly requires solutions, including intellectual solutions. This article explores the philosophical messages of the novel, Tuhan Maha Asyik (God is Fun), written by Sujiwo Tejo and MN. Kamba: contribution to their thought is related to religious attitudes; to get the pre-structure that influences their thought. This article is literature-based research with a hermeneutic approach. The main data source is the novel above, while data collection is done through documentation. The data analysis used is the Verstehen technique. The result shows that according to the novel, worshipping God and practicing His teachings should be based on love, doing good to fellow human beings, and not acting in the name of God to judge others; the ideas contribute to educating the mind and attitude of readers to develop inclusivity in religious life; the ideas are built by authors’ educational background, their life, and their religious tradition which ultimately influence their perspective and concept in understanding the issues of divinity and religiosity. This idea is one of the cultural capitals that needs to be internalized in Indonesian society, especially, to strengthen religious moderation and achieve harmonization in diverse lives.

How Exceptional Is the West? An Investigation of Worldwide Trends in Societal‐Average Levels of Religiosity, 1981–2020

AbstractResearch shows most Western societies became less religious over recent decades. But we know much less about the rest of the world. Is the non‐Western world also becoming less religious, as some varieties of secularization theory would lead us to expect? Using 1981‐to‐2020 World/European Values Survey data from 103 countries, this study describes, and uses mixed‐effects models to rigorously estimate, religious trends in eight world regions and five former Soviet and Eastern Bloc (FSEB) subregions. Results indicate that religious decline occurred in Latin America, Central and Baltic Europe, and (recently) in the Mideast and North Africa. But there is little evidence of such decline elsewhere in Asia, Africa, or the FSEB—despite the broad reach of many modernizing social trends. These findings do not lend support to a strong version of secularization theory but may be consistent with some versions of the idea that modernization can make people less religious.

Importing Religion into Post-Communist Albania: Between Rights and Obligations

After the communist regime seized power in Albania in 1944, the vilification, humiliation, persecution and execution of clergy of all faiths, including Muslim, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox, were conducted publicly. Religious estates were nationalized in 1946, and around the same time, religious institutions were closed or converted into warehouses, gymnasiums, workshops or cultural centers. In the communist constitution of 1976, Albania became the first constitutional atheist state in the world. In Article 37 of the Constitution was stated “the state does not recognize any religion”. Albanians were forced to deny their religion, change their belief system and adopt the new socialist way of life that praised secular gods such as the Communist Party and its leaders. The image of the party leader replaced religious icons. Young people were encouraged to follow worldly pursuits, including offering their life for communist deities. With the fall of communism, Albanian clerics and foreign missionaries encouraged the revival of religiosity in the country. Because in Albania, religious institutions and clergy did not exist for more than 3 decades, foreign actors played a major role in the return of religion to social life and among young people. Post-communist Albania represents a quintessential case study of importing religion into a formerly atheistic country that lacked qualified clergy, religious institutions and strong religious beliefs. In the permissive post-communist Albania, people, especially young people, attributed different meanings to religion and religiosity. Mere investigations and surveys of faith communities along traditional lines would fail to provide useful insights into the significant transformations that have impacted the religious field in Albania after the fall of the communist regime and the current challenges faced by new and “traditional” denominations. The post-communist religious context is dominated by two opposing currents: The first trend is marked by the legal organization of religious practice in the public space, which grants freedoms and equality to the “traditional” religions recognized by the state, but autonomous and independent from it. The other trend is shaped by the rituals and practices of believers from abroad who are pushing for the creation of new autonomous religious communities. This paper is not investigating religious “communitarianism” along traditional lines but rather examines salient religious identification and societal relationships and discusses their implications. This analysis rests on survey data and free-flowing and open-ended interviews conducted mainly with students of the Political Science Department of the University of Tirana and of the European University of Tirana, as well as research of different social networks. The article is divided into three parts, which present the following: literature insights, the historical background of Albania’s secularization and current religious trends and practices.

Law, Education, and The Place of Religion in Public Schools: International Perspectives. Edited by Charles Russo

When it comes to the challenges posed by emerging religious trends in education today, it turns out that countries around the world are much more alike than different. This is one of the central lessons of Law, Education, and The Place of Religion in Public Schools edited by Charles Russo. Malaysia, Turkey, Mexico, and Poland may have long had a single dominant faith receiving educational preference, but immigration and secularization have forced them to confront growing religious diversity in their schools. The United States and Canada may have had rich religious diversity from their very beginnings, but today many revanchist believers continue to seek restoration of privileges their faiths once enjoyed in public schooling. The race to maintain civility against religious conflict resulting from globalization, and the shift to rationalism emerging from the Enlightenment shows no signs of slowing down, and much evidence of speeding up. When it comes to the legal solutions adopted to respond to these educational challenges, though, it turns out that nations remain much more different than alike. Professor Russo’s threefold categorization of legal regimes in his concluding chapter hardly does justice to the wild diversity of approaches evident in the preceding chapters. Herein lies this book’s great strength and contribution to the existing comparative literature on education and religion. While previous compendiums about religion and public schooling have been North American and Euro-centric, this volume contains seventeen case studies covering nations from five continents. If other collections limited themselves to the restricted palette of Titian, here we have a color wheel reminiscent of Kandinsky.

The Spirit-Writing Movement in the Chaozhou Region: Response to Modern Crises (1840–1949)

The spirit-writing (fuluan 扶鸞 or fuji 扶乩) movement was a response to modern crises in the domain of Chinese popular religion. From the nineteenth century, spirit-writing cults sprang up throughout China and became a national religious trend. These cults were centered around moral reform promoted through spirit-writing and aimed to reorient traditional values. This article focuses on how the Chinese conceptualized modern crises as jie 劫 by means of spirit-writing, expounded crises in the local context, and reacted to these ideas and crises in their religious and social practices. In the Chaozhou region, the movement arose in the context of disasters, political chaos, and the transmission of foreign culture and religions from the late nineteenth century. Chaozhou spirit-writing cults discoursed on the concept of jie as their doctrinal foundation and endeavored to save the world by receiving moral revelations from deities. They regarded doing good deeds as a way of cultivation and urged people to perform good deeds to avert disasters. Through the planchette, they expounded the meaning of good deeds and enriched their crisis theories in their religious practice. The movement demonstrated the initiative of popular religion, interpreting and reacting to modern crises by using traditional soteriological notions and practices.

Global Christianity: A Guide to the World’s Largest Religion from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, by Gina Zurlo

<i>Global Christianity: A Guide to the World’s Largest Religion from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe</i>, by Gina Zurlo

Pesan Semiotis Kesalehan: Studi Analisis Ayat-ayat Filantropi Lembaga Amil Zakat Muhammadiyah dan Nahdlatul Ulama di Instagram

This article seeks to reveal the interpretation of piety from the Islamic philanthropic tradition (zakat, infaq, and alms) which has experienced both narrowing and development at the same time. In the realm of agency (perpetrators), muzakki are considered pious and generous people. Whereas zakat, essentially removes other people's property contained in our property. While in the social domain, there is a development of meaning if zakat is seen from a functional point of view. From a simple idea of giving transformed into a social movement for humanity. Through a semiological approach, it can reveal not only the linguistic meaning (denotational meaning) of the verses of the Qur'an related to Islamic philanthropy, but also continue to explore deeper such as symbolic meanings. The depth and specificity of the messages contained in the verses of the Qur'an are explored by continuing the process of subjective interpretation through the disclosure of further message connotations. This connotative meaning then becomes the basis for the formation of myths (philosophical meanings). This study finds the interpretation that piety according to Muhammadiyah is practicing al-Ma'un theology. A Muslim has not perfected his Islam if he has not practiced the essence of the values of Qs. Al-Ma'un. As for NU, it implies that piety has a practice based on the understanding of Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah. Although different in the basis of belief, both have similarities in philanthropic activities; strengthening of religious trends and religious symbols among urban communities and the middle class. In addition, between the two there is a tendency to collaborate rather than contest. Both of them confirmed as the guardian of wasatiyah Islam (guardian of wasatiyah Islam) in Indonesia.

Basic formation of environmental education in the scientific word (based on the terminology of environmental science)

Key historical facts in the formation of the conceptual apparatus of the natural and human sciences from early times to the present are subjected to linguistic analysis in this article, and the idea is confirmed that many terms directly contain a decoding semantic element, and proper names lay the foundations for the behavior and worldview of their carrier , indicate the clan affiliation of the first stage and “refer” to the deeper origins of the clan, and together serve as a folk identification, reflecting cultural and religious trends that carry Vedic knowledge to subsequent generations. In the narrow linguistic aspect, the work pays attention to the structural and semantic analysis of Russian terminological and personal names, in particular, the etymology of surnames with the suffixes -ov- (-ev-), -yn- (in-) was presented, the differences in their declension were revealed and structural and semantic features in functioning were described. In the course of the study, the authors prove the genitive linking of the indicated lexemes to nature and its ecology as the primary source of the origin of all living things, explain the close relationship between language and culture, which are formed under the influence of the environment.

The existential paradigm of F. Tyutchev's creativity in the context of philosophical and aesthetic research of the first half of the XIX century

The article examines the work of F. Tyutchev in the light of aesthetic phenomena of Russian literature of the XIX century. A comparison of the works of Tyutchev and lyubomudrov is made. The author of the article comes to the conclusion that the generation of creators to which Tyutchev and Lyubomudry belonged has developed a kind of type of Russian philosophy, whose specificity consists in the fact that it is expressed through art, and primarily through literature. Tyutchev's poetry reveals a number of unique existential-philosophical concepts: the prerequisites of the borderline situation described in the existential theories of K. Jaspers in the twentieth century, as well as analogies with reflections on the death of the founder of the religious trend of existentialism – S. Kierkegaard. The author of the article concludes that Russian philosophical thought tends to be expressed through the language of art, in particular, the language of poetry. Tyutchev and the Moscow idealists create a new type of hero – thinker. He is faced with such existential problems as the place of man in the universe, the meaning of human life, understanding of the psyche and human feelings. He asks questions about the higher powers that rule the world. He faces "damned problems" that will worry Russian writers of the second half of the XIX century. It was poetic thought that contributed to the development of such a great psychologism in the second half of the XIX century.