CONSTRUCTION OF SECULAR & SACRED

RELIGION

ABDULGAPHOR M. PANIMBANG

DEFINITION

Secularization

is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward nonreligious (or irreligious) values and secular institutions

Sacred

the state of being holy (perceived by religious individuals as associated with the divine) or sacred (considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspiring awe or reverence among believers in a given set of spiritual ideas)

Secularization

• Social theorists such as Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Max Weber, and Émile Durkheim, postulated that the modernization of society would include a decline in levels of religiosity

• In Catholic canon law, the term can also denote the permission or authorization given for a member of a religious Order to live outside his or her religious community or monastery, either for a fixed or permanent period

BACKGROUND

Background

Secularization is sometimes credited both to the cultural shifts in society following the emergence of rationality and the development of science as a substitute for superstition

Max Weber called this process, "the disenchantment of the world"

Two consequences

1. The collective conscience as defined by Durkheim is diminished; and

2. Through the fragmentation of communal activities, religion becomes more a matter of individual choice rather than an observed social obligation.

Islam and Secularization

Abdel Wahab Elmessiri (2002) outlined two meanings of the secularization term Partial Secularization: "The separation between religion and

state". Complete Secularization: "The separation between all (religion,

moral, and human) values, and (not just the state) but also to (the human nature in its public and private sides), so that the holiness is removed from the world, and this world is transformed into a usable matter that can be employed for the sake of the strong".

Secularism has no place in Islam

Islam is the religion that Allah sent down to replace the previous manifestations of the faith and to govern all aspects of life

Throughout the history of Islam, it never experienced any amendment or alteration

Secularist movements

In 1924 ,Mustafa Kemal Atatürk led a political and cultural revolution• The abolition of the Caliphate.• Religious lodges and Sufi orders were banned.• A secular civil code was adopted to replace the previous codes based on Islamic

law (shari’a) outlawing all forms of polygamy, annulled religious marriages, granted equal rights to men and women, in matters of inheritance, marriage and divorce.

• The religious court system and institutions of religious education were abolished.• The use of religion for political purposes was banned.• The article that defined the Turkish state as Islamic was removed from the

constitution.• The alphabet was changed from Arabic to Roman.• A portion of religious activity was moved to the Turkish language, including the

Adhan (call to prayer) which lasted till 1950

SECULAR LAWS

POLYGAMY

Islam “Marry women of your

choice, two, or three, or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one.”

[Al-Qur’an 4:3]

Christianity Many Hindu religious

personalities, according to their scriptures, had multiple wives

In earlier times, Christian men were permitted as many wives as they wished, since the Bible puts no restriction on the number of wives

Polygyny is permitted in Judaism

PORK FORBIDDEN

Christianity “Of their flesh shall ye not

eat, and their carcass shall ye not touch, they are unclean to you.” [Leviticus 11:7-8]

“And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you. Ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcass.” [Deuteronomy 14:8]

Islam “Forbidden to you (for

food) are: dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine, and that on which hath been invoked the name of other than Allah.”

[Al-Qur’an 5:3]

PROHIBITION OF ALCOHOL

CHRISTIANITY “Wine is a mocker,

strong drink is raging; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.” [Proverbs 20:1]

“And be not drunk with wine.” [Ephesians 5:18]

ISLAM “O ye who believe!

Intoxicants and Gambling, (dedication of) stones, and (divination by) arrows, are an Abomination – of Satan’s handiwork; eschew such (abomination), that ye may prosper.” [Al-Qur’an 5:90]

Questions Please . . . . .