ORIGINAL RESEARCH

 

The role of embodied cultural capital on the development of social capital and spiritual health from the perspective of religion and negative Islamic teachings

 

 

Ali Asghar Fazilat^I; Seyed Reza Mousavi^I; Morteza Khorrami^II; Reza Zarei Samangani^III

^IFaculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, Islamic Azad University, Gorgan, Islamic Republic of Iran
^IIFaculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, Islamic Azad University, Ghaemshahr, Islamic Republic of Iran
^IIIFaculty of Social Management Research and Development, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Golestan, Islamic Republic of Iran

Correspondence

 

 

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ABSTRACT

One of the contexts for the development of social capital and spiritual health is cultural capital. The relationship between religion as an independent variable and social capital as a dependent variable has been analysed. This article aims to analyse the role of cultural capital in the development of social capital and spiritual health from the perspective of religion and negative Islamic teachings. This study attempts to answer the question, 'what is the role of cultural capital on the development of social capital and spiritual health from the perspective of negative Islamic teachings?' In this article, an attempt has been made to compare the negative aspect of education in the form of the Qur'anic concept of 'cultivation', with its positive aspect in terms of principles, approach and method, in order to return to the model arising from Qur'anic and mystical teachings. The research method is descriptive and analytical, and data processing is interpretive and critical. Data collection has been performed utilising documentary and library study methods. The research findings demonstrate that 'ethics, science, values, norms, rituals and art' are the most important elements of embodied cultural capital, which are effective in the development of social capital.
CONTRIBUTION: Therefore, there is a substantial relationship between religion, negative Islamic teachings, the development of embodied cultural capital and the development of social capital and spiritual health

Keywords: social capital; cultural context; embodied cultural capital; negative teachings; spiritual health.

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Introduction

Social capital is a general resource and tool that an individual, group, institution or community uses to achieve its goals (Mousavi 2013). According to Bourdieu (2002:33), 'capital includes various forms: economic, cultural, symbolic and social capital'. Amongst these capitals, social capital is privileged because economic, human, cultural and political capitals will not be available without it, and existing capitals will be gradually weakened. Therefore, it is of special importance and can be called the most effective capital. In defining social capital, Putnam refers to the characteristics of a social organisation such as networks, norms and trust, which provide cooperation and coordination amongst members of a group to gain mutual benefit (Putnam 2013). According to Fukuyama (2006), social capital is 'a set of informal values and norms shared by a group that bring members of a group together'. Thus, social capital is a spiritual and immaterial asset that facilitates and accelerates actions based on trust, the development of social participation, relationships and interactions between individuals, groups and organisations. Hence, social capital is a new concept in that the factors of its emergence and strengthening have been considered by many social scientists, especially sociologists. Amongst them, some consider the capacity of religious teachings to create social solidarity to belong to the past, and in the modern era, they see this capability only in the capacity of human ethics and social contracts (Lahiji 2011), whilst in order to create social solidarity, human morality and social contracts need the support of faith for which religious teachings, both positive and negative, can be a good support. Important components of social capital are social trust, social participation and social interactions.

1. Social trust refers to the socially acquired and validated expectations and commitments that individuals have towards each other and towards the organisations and institutions related to their social life.

2. Social participation means the presence of individuals and groups in activities, decision-making and social change (Rasoulzadeh Aghdam, Adlipour & Abedini 2018).

3. Social interactions are actions of the type of social relations that occur between individuals and groups and ultimately create a kind of social cohesion between them.

Cultural capital is one of the most important areas for the emergence of social capital, which has three components (embodied, objectified and institutionalised). Bourdieu (2002:34) defines 'embodied cultural capital' as 'the intangible part of cultural capital, which manifests in the form of spiritual capital in an embodied group and in the form of mental abilities, practical and behavioural skills in the way of speech, beliefs, values and attitudes of the person'. Embodied cultural capital is that which has manifested in the personality and temperament of the individual. That is, the only owner of this feature is the holder of this cultural capital. Therefore, this internalised capital cannot be transferred to another through forgiveness, inheritance or trade. According to this definition, knowledge, beliefs, values and common norms, ethics, education, behaviours, rituals, traditions, art and aesthetics can be considered as the most important components of embodied cultural capital.

This study attempts to answer the following question: what is the role of cultural capital on the development of social capital and spiritual health from the perspective of negative Islamic teachings? The purpose of this study was to explain the relationship between the roles of cultural capital on the development of social capital from the approach of negative Islamic teachings.

 

Research background

Bourdieu (2002) examined the relationships between 'social, cultural, economic and symbolic capital', writing:

[T]he condition for entering the artistic, political, academic, and religious fields etc. is to have the mentioned capitals, and these four capitals exist in any field, between actors or social groups and are exchanged. (p. 33)

Rasoulzadeh Aghdam et al. (2018), in a work entitled 'sociological study of the relationship between social capital and cultural deviance', concluded that there is a significant and inverse relationship between social capital and the reduction of cultural deviance.

Hamdi and Esfahani (2008), in their article 'The role of cultural managers in preserving and promoting social capital', believed there is a significant relationship between 'mutual trust, participation in decision-making, the formation of informal groups and cultural development by managers and the promotion of social capital'. Ketabi et al. (2013), in a work entitled 'Religion, social capital and socio-cultural development', wrote:

Both religion causes the development of social capital through the belief, emotion, ritual dimensions etc. and social capital provides the basis for sustainable social and cultural development through the creation of networks of trust and connection of actors. (p. 168)

Ebrahimi (2015) in the article 'Study of the effect of social capital on youth lifestyle' and Afkhami and Tavakoli (2016), in their article 'Development of social capital and psychological capital in the light of Islamic lifestyle' pointed to the relationship between social capital and lifestyle.

As can be seen, none of the mentioned researches have explored the issue of 'the role of cultural capital on the development of social capital in the approach of negative Islamic teachings'. So in this research we tried to identify the negative Islamic teachings and their cultural and social effects on the society as the main objective of the article.

 

Materials and methods

The research method is descriptive and analytical, and data processing is interpretive and critical. Data collection has been performed by utilising documentary and library study methods. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of embodied cultural capital on social capital from the perspective of negative Islamic teachings. The theoretical framework of the present study is based on Pierre Bourdieu's perspective and, accordingly, it pursues the following subobjectives:

1. Recognising the effect of negative Islamic teachings on embodied cultural capital.

2. Recognising the effect of embodied cultural capital on the development of social capital.

 

Findings

The purpose of this study was to explain the relationship between the roles of cultural capital on the development of social capital from the approach of negative Islamic teachings. For this purpose, in this research the survey was done by literature review and determining the effects of negative Islamic teachings on various parameters, which are discussed in this section.

The effect of negative Islamic teachings on the development of science and knowledge

Avoiding delusion or illusion, avoiding suspicion and not following non-science in order to develop embodied cultural capital, which results in the development of social capital, are emphasised by negative Islamic teachings such as 'do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge' (Qur'an, Surah Al-Yunus, Ayat 17). Islam has forbidden following beliefs, speech and behaviour that are not based on knowledge and awareness (Tabatabai 1970), so if dogma or suspicion prevails, it cannot be pursued; science is the preferred belief, excluding dogma and prevailing suspicion. Thus, in a personal decision, when judging others, one should not follow non-science or testify to non-science. Other than that, whether it is 'suspicion' or 'conjecture' or 'doubt and probability', none of those are reliable (Makarem Shirazi 1992). Then, following suspicions in judgements, analyses and decision-making about individuals, groups, cultural, social, economic or political phenomena undermines social trust, thereby it will damage the relationships between individuals and groups and social capital.

The Qur'an wants human beings not to base their thoughts and actions on non-science; in many cases, it expresses this prohibition in the form of a denial or reprimanding question, such as 'do you ascribe to Allah what you do not know?' (Qur'an, Surah Al-A'raf, Ayat 33) or 'but why do you argue about that of which you have no knowledge?' (Qur'an, Surah Al-Ahzab, Ayat 3) or 'so do not be amongst the sceptics' (Qur'an, Surah An-Nisa, Ayat 22). The Qur'an has forbidden this behaviour.

It is noteworthy that in negative Islamic teachings, not only suspicion but also 'harmful science' is forbidden. 'There is no good in useless knowledge' (Sayyid Razi 1993) and 'indeed, some knowledge is ignorance' (Harani 1984). It seems that acquiring sciences related to weapons of mass destruction and sciences that are harmful to know and from which people derive no benefit from knowing are considered to be useless or harmful sciences (Sheikh 1982). It is also recommended that because of the abundance of sciences, one should consider priorities amongst the beneficial sciences and learn any knowledge that is prioritised (Karajki 2015).

Therefore, dealing with harmful science and not prioritising benefiting from sciences both cause loss of life and deprive man of the opportunity to address important and necessary issues. Ignorance of priorities in various economic, social, political and cultural spheres leads to conflict, strife, pessimism and ambiguity between individuals and groups, leading to the destruction of trust and social interactions and the spread of irrational lifestyles.

History has witnessed stupefactions, riots, seditions, conflicts, wars and killings rooted in hasty judgements, orders or statements without science and knowledge, relying on suspicion and disregard for priorities. Paying attention to negative teachings based on the avoidance of suspicion removes the individual and society from the detriment of many irreparable mistakes or deceptions based on suspicion, which are amongst the factors of the lack of preparation for social capital and the decline of lifestyle.

Following superstitious habits based on fantasies, following ancestors, sales talk of prophets, quoting dreams, desecrations, accepting and rejecting irrationally, condemning and praising irrationally, accepting rumours, insulting and destroying individuals and populations, shariahisation and atheism, judgements based on emotions and cases like these are amongst the effects of the pursuit of suspicion, each of which contributes to a decrease in trust, participation and social relationships, which are considered a threat to increasing social capital and lifestyle excellence. Applying negative and deterrent teachings can be a good action to remove these obstacles and threats and create opportunities for the simultaneous development of social capital and lifestyle excellence.

Therefore, there is a direct and significant relationship between increasing and improving the level of knowledge of individuals and groups and the development of social capital and improving lifestyle, because the more scientific individuals and groups benefit from the scientific level, the more comprehensive and transcendent knowledge of the world, humanity and society they gain, and they have more power to analyse the causal relationships that govern phenomena and to choose appropriate behaviour. All the greater, therefore, is the ability to analyse causal relationships between the components and factors of social capital development and the capacity to establish and develop healthy relationships between individuals and groups, which are components of social capital and lifestyle excellence.

The effect of negative Islamic teachings on the development of Islamic ethics

Ibn Muskawiyyah (2015) wrote in the definition of morality: 'mood is the same as the sensual state that invites man to do things without the need for thought'. Feyz Kashani (2016) said in the same sense: 'mood is a firm body with a self, from which actions are issued easily and without the need for thought'. Davoodi (2010) considered moral education as 'a set of educational activities in order to eliminate the attributes of vice and create the attributes of virtue'. 'With an accurate knowledge of the angles of human existence, the holy Qur'an has used positive and negative methods for moral and social education etc.' (Mousavi 2013). Islam considers necessary the cleansing of the self from moral vices such as injustice, violence, suspicion, ridicule and profanity; as the Qur'an states in the verse, 'felicitous is he who purifies himself', the salvation of man is dependent on purification from pollution and the removal of worldly dependencies (Tabatabai 1970). From Naraghi's point of view, a successful person is one who always seeks to correct his attributes and actions (Naraghi 1998). In the following sections, we will address some of the most important negative Islamic teachings and their roles in the development of Islamic ethics (cultural capital) and the excellence of lifestyle.

Oppression

Oppression means tyranny and harming others, such as killing, beating, insulting, backbiting, slander, aggressive possession and the like (Naraghi 1998). Many types of oppression are forbidden, such as the oppression of God: who is a greater wrongdoer than the one who fabricates a lie against Allah or denies his signs? Self-oppression is also forbidden: 'and Allah did not wrong them, but they used to wrong themselves' (Naraghi 1998). Likewise is oppression of another: 'indeed, those who consume the property of orphans wrongfully only ingest fire into their bellies' (Qur'an). The next section refers to the types of oppression.

Creating discord and schism: One of the traditions of creation and the foundation of other human issues is the difference in the structure of soul, body, thought, taste and love, etc. 'If God willed, he would have made all people a single nation, but God has not done so, and human beings are always at odds' (Makarem Shirazi 1992). The prophetic hadith has called the discord of the nation the manifestation of divine mercy (Qurtubi 1985). The Holy Prophet (PBUH) has warned against the sectarianism of the nation of Islam, such as Jews and Christians (Al-Darmi, Al-Darmi & Abdul Mohsen 2000). But care must be taken that the distinction of human groups does not lead to enmity, excommunication and murder. 'But the factions differed amongst themselves. So woe to the wrongdoers for the punishment of a painful day' (Al-Darmi et al. 2000); 'they have fragmented their religion amongst themselves, but every one of them will return to us' (Qur'an) because differentiation reduces cohesion, unity and social adjustment, disorder in the development of participation, relationships and social interactions (social capital). The way out of schism is to manage differences by creating self-transcendence and to create opportunities from threats, although the Holy Qur'an introduces difference in colour, language and race as tools of cognition, not as causes of conflict: 'we created you from male and female and made you nations and tribes that you may identify yourselves with one another'.

Avoidance of guidance: The rebellious affluent were always at the forefront of the opponents of the prophets, because the teachings of the prophets disturb their desire and lust. 'And he was a defender of the rights of the deprived who, by usurping their rights, had reached this life and power'. Hence, they fought against the prophets. The affluent mislead others and take the opportunity to lead from the individual and society, which results in the growth of anomalous contexts and the reduction of social capital components. 'And we did not send a warner to any town without its affluent ones saying, "We indeed disbelieve in what you have been sent with''' (Quran, Surah Al-Forghan - Ayat 56).

Heresy and abuse of religion: The deceivers who replace divine law with superstitions and heresies and, by invoking dreams and communicating with the invisible universe, present themselves with dignity and eminence and use religion to achieve worldly lofty goals. 'Woe to them who write the Book with their hands and then say, "This is from Allah", that they may sell it for a paltry gain' (Quran, Surah Nesa - Ayat 79); 'And he said: But the wrongdoers changed the saying with other than what they were told'. Yes! Misguidance, confusion, creating discord and schism amongst the people are some of the effects of heresy. With the advent of heresy, society is divided into pros and cons, and as a result, social tensions spread. In such a situation, trust, social relations and other components of social capital are severely damaged.

Obscenity and chastity: Obscenity, the proliferation of lusts and free sexual relations will undoubtedly break moral norms and social regulations. With the increase of conflicts and psychological anxieties, the psychological security of the society is endangered, and the components of social capital are reduced. In the story of the Egyptian lady seeking Prophet Joseph (PBUH), he rejected her request with conviction, using the phrase 'God forbid', making it clear to her that he would never surrender to her will. In addition, he showed the truth to her and to everyone that the only way to salvation in difficult circumstances and to get rid of evil temptations is to take refuge in God.

Illusion and ignorance: Unfounded fantasies, illusions, slander, insults and ignorant honours lead to the misguidance and destruction of religion and the world. 'Amongst the people is he who buys diversionary talk that he may lead [people] astray from Allah's way'. Diversionary means anything that prevents a person from doing something important, and 'diversionary talk' is a word that diverts a person from the truth and leads him astray, such as superstitious anecdotes and seductive stories, rich and melodious and lustful songs and words that lead man to futility and debauchery not through song, but with contaminated content (Sadeghi Tehrani 1986). Today, immoral content is produced using artistic tools, such as poetry, games, movies and animation, etc., which take a person away from reality and destroy healthy social relations, public trust and other areas of social capital growth with a delusional life, driving them away from the divine tradition and the reality of life. In the Holy Qur'an, some of the poets have been condemned: 'as for the poets, [only] the perverse follow them' (Qur'an). Only the misguided follow the poets in lies, vain speeches, satirical and ugly words in slandering others and praising lowly people (Tabarsi 1996). Misguided are those who talk about unreal things and illusions far from the truth and move in the fields of misguidance and far from the realm of growth. They are with the congregation as long as the situation is appropriate and provides for their material interests, but when they feel threatened and the general situation is not accompanied by their poems, they run away, giving up poetry to stay healthy (Feyz Kashani 2016).

Sedition: The Holy Qur'an considers sedition worse than murder, and sedition is one of the characteristics of hypocrites. Cases such as 'hypocrisy, sorcery, abortion, strife with God and his messenger, sexual perversion, economic corruption' (Quran, Surah Al-Baghara - Ayat 1) are some examples of crime and corruption in the Qur'an, which weaken the material and spiritual capacities of society and threaten the body and soul of individuals and social groups, and they are a serious damage to the development of social capital components.

Ridicule: Ridicule of individuals or groups in the form of jokes, proverbs or short stories and the attribution of ugly and derogatory titles darken effective communication and reduce trust between individuals and social groups (social capital).

Breaking the covenant: Avoidance of responsibility, breaking covenant and concealment of martyrdom deprive one of social security and psychological peace and cause the emergence of disorders. In such circumstances, trust, which is an important component of social capital, disappears from society. The Holy Prophet (PBUH) considers breaking the covenant as the cause of the decline of society. Regarding the verse, 'anyone who conceals testimony, his heart will indeed be sinful', Imam Baqir (AS) said: 'whoever has a sinful heart, that is, his heart is an infidel' (Sheikh 1982:90).

Selfishness: Selfishness is one of the moral vices that causes a person to not be able to see the facts, to see their own actions as beautiful, to be satisfied with themselves, to forget God, to oblige God's servants and to boast (Makarem Shirazi 1992). The verse, 'someone the evil of whose conduct is presented as decorous to him' (The Originator, 8), shows this perversion that 'man sees his bad deed as good because of selfishness' (Qur'an). The spread of selfishness creates social conflict and aggression and jeopardises peaceful coexistence, which greatly reduces the possibility of growth and development of social capital.

Anger and irritability: God has forbidden humanity from being aggressive towards others. 'Anger destroys its owner and reveals its faults' (Naraghi 1998). 'Anger is the key to all evil' (7). Amongst the harmful effects of anger are to insult, reveal secrets, veil and mock others, as well as engaging, beating, injuring, tearing and killing, etc. (Naraghi 1998). Anger and aggression obviously darken social relationships (relationships with family members, friends and coworkers), hurt oneself and others and increase hatred (Afkhami & Tavakoli 2016; Makarem Shirazi 1992), all of which are destructive to social capital.

Backbiting: The Holy Qur'an considers backbiting as being like eating the body of a dead believer and forbids it (Qur'an). This behaviour has detrimental effects such as conflict and dissension, hypocrisy, resentment and enmity, which severely destroy social capital (trust and healthy social relations).

Lying: Lying is a great sin, causing schism, discord and pessimism. Lying causes enmity and alienation instead of love, unity, trust and good relationships between individuals and social groups. Hence, the Qur'an considers this behaviour as a cause of divine wrath and anger and forbids this act by denying it: 'why do you say what you do not do? It is greatly outrageous to Allah that you should say what you do not do'.

Suspicion: We are always in touch with others. If we think well of people, others will think well of us, and if we think badly of them, they will think badly of us. 'The world deals with man. If you are kind and sincere, you will see people around you who love you' (Marden 2019).

Sins cause darkness in the relationships of individuals and social groups. Therefore, in order to avoid definite sins, we must also avoid possible sins, because the principle is based on the trust, dignity and innocence of human beings in a society of faith. 'Indeed, some suspicions are sins' (Qur'an). The Prophet of Islam (PBUH) said: 'the way to escape from suspicion is not to put it into practice' (Feyz Kashani 2016). The strategy for dealing with bad thoughts is good faith. Imam Ali (AS) said: 'carry your brother's deeds in the best way, until you find a reason to the contrary' (Sayyid Razi 1993).

The Holy Qur'an forbids many suspicions. Hence, suspicion is forbidden. Forbidden suspicion means the order of its effect. 'The Holy Prophet (PBUH) does not approve three things in a believer, including suspicion' (Feyz Kashani 2016:12). Yes! Suspicion causes serious damage to the components of social capital (trust, social participation and relationships between individuals and groups).

Misery: The love of wealth has been condemned in Islamic texts as a great sin (Tabarsi 1996). The chief of all sins, the principle of every sin, the source of seditions, the basis of damages is condemned. 'And you eat the inheritance rapaciously and love wealth with much fondness' (Ibn Muskawiyyah 2015). Imam Ali (AS) said: 'the friendship of the world corrupts the intellect and deafens the heart from hearing wisdom and brings painful torment' (Naraghi 1998). The lover of the world does not spare anything to achieve his goals; he violates the rights of others and tramples on the dignity of individuals. It is clear that the given behaviours reduce trust and social relationships and are effective in destroying a healthy life.

Miserliness: Miserliness means refraining from spending when one has to spend. This attribute causes the miser to refuse forgiveness. Imam Ali (AS) said: 'miserliness includes all evils and restraints by which [miserliness] is drawn to every evil' (Harani 1984). Miserliness and jealousy or wishing for the loss of blessings from others cause a lack of trust and social relations.

Selfishness: Selfishness is anti-self-sacrifice and self-sacrifice that causes one to refrain from doing good deeds and causes pollution with vices such as miserliness, mundanity and worldliness. One of the commonalities of all behaviours derived from these traits is to have effects such as the emergence of abnormalities, reduction of peace of mind, intensification of conflicts, strained relationships, mistrust and reduction of normal relations between individuals and social groups. Hence, negative Islamic teachings, which are a kind of negative education, are considered to be the health of the human soul and behaviour, promoting the level of moral education of individuals and social groups. Therefore, there is a direct and significant relationship between raising the moral level and the development of social capital, because whenever individuals and groups benefit from a higher moral level, then:

1. The threshold of tolerance for adversity increases at the individual and social levels.

2. The self-monitoring and self-control of individuals and groups towards avoiding deviation becomes apparent.

3. The degree of reduction of suspicion, bad temper, violence, malice and stinginess, peaceful coexistence, understanding, effective communication and interaction between individuals and social groups (social capital) increases.

Having such a capacity means enjoying 'peace, patience, gentleness, friendliness, humility, generosity, benevolence, honesty, respect and kindness'. These traits are innate in the structure of human existence, which creates appropriate opportunities to strengthen relationships between individuals and groups and promotes trust and social participation, and as a result, has a direct impact on the development of social capital.

The effect of negative Islamic teachings on the development of values and norms

In psychology, the word 'value' is used to mean a desire or criterion that expresses a person's inclination at the time of choice, which refers to the individual's preferences, motivations, needs and biases. Values are rooted feelings that everyone shares. Values are the origin of people's choices, such as interests, attachments, behaviours, desires, wants, needs, dislikes and passions, etc. Cultural norms and fixed intellectual standards are behaviours that a group expects or approves of from individuals. These expectations and the resulting behaviours often vary from culture to culture (Al-Darmi et al. 2000; Qurtubi 1985; Sadeghi Tehrani 1986).

As a social religion, Islam has a significant approach to the preservation and development of values and norms. This attention is because of the fact that values and norms are the basis of any social system and have a fundamental role in the emergence and stability of the identity of any society. The most important feature of values and norms is the construction of the identity of any society and any excellence in values and norms causes the excellence of social identity because the more strongly individuals and social groups feel about identity, the more strongly they feel about belonging to their community, and thus they are more prepared to protect social capital and strive to develop it. In this regard, the Qur'an and Hadith have negative teachings based on the obligation or advice to abandon anti-values that directly or indirectly reduce social capital by affecting individual and group identity and its manifestation in behaviours.

Some of the consequences of anti-values and social anomalies are (Al-Darmi et al. 2000; Qurtubi 1985):

1. impairment of solidarity and unity in society

2. the emergence of undesirable ways of thinking and behaving and confusion in society

3. disorder and reduction of unity in social interactions

4. lack of social control and social pressure

5. disintegration and chaos

6. reducing the threshold of tolerance in the relations of individuals and social groups

7. reducing the self-monitoring and self-control of individuals and groups to avoid deviance

8. decrease in the areas of peaceful coexistence and reduction of interaction and understanding

9. the emergence and spread of feelings of hatred, insecurity, distrust etc.

10. infidelity: 'he who does not keep his covenant has no religion' (Majlisi 2019); faithfulness to the covenant prevents many social deviations.

The mentioned cases shake the foundations of trust, relationships and social cooperation whilst the necessity of life and social development is effective communication and trust of people in each other. The given consequences are either anomalous or cause it. However, the result of the prevalence of social anomalies is such things as mental and physical conflicts, impatience, unhappiness, violence, betrayal, dishonesty, disrespect and unkindness, etc., all of which reduce the components of social capital and thus reduce social capital.

The effect of negative Islamic teachings on the development of rituals and traditions

The relation of religion to rituals is the relation of meaning to form, because rituals are the executive forms of religious teachings. Therefore, any development in religion leads to the development of rituals. Hence, the implementation of negative Islamic teachings about rituals and traditions refines religious issues, and this refinement is the basis for their development and excellence. In this section, the effect of some negative Islamic teachings on rituals and rituals is mentioned:

1. The doctrine 'supererogatory prayers cannot bring about nearness to Allah if it hampers the obligatory' (Sayyid Razi 1993) guides us in maintaining and observing priorities in performing rituals and rites. Also, according to the rule of the science of principles, in the conflict between the more important and the most important (recommended and obligatory or the broad and narrow obligatory), the rule of reason and the shariah, the more important precedence is over the most important (Al-Darmi et al. 2000). The jurists also consider the obligatory to take precedence over the obligatory and supererogatory prayers (Sheikh 1982). This rule preserves the obligatory position in the process of paying extreme attention to the recommended ones. Hence, the dynamism and effectiveness of rituals and rites are guaranteed.

2. Paying attention to negative teachings in order to avoid heresy and superstition in performing rituals and rituals causes social cohesion and unity of individuals and groups.

3. Performing rituals and expressing religious emotions and feelings according to negative teachings causes people to be spiritually and psychologically emptied of turbidity and sorrow, and removing turbidity causes the development of trust and healthy relationships between social groups.

Thus, the refining capacity of the negative teachings of religion, which also spreads to rituals and rites, refines the behaviours arising from religious rituals and rites, and consequently, the behaviour of individuals and groups in society is directly or indirectly refined. Finally, it leads to facilitating the process of socialisation, developing relationships and interactions between individuals and groups, increasing the level of participation and their trust in each other, and thus social capital is developed and strengthened.

The effect of negative Islamic teachings on the development of art and aesthetics

There is an ever-increasing relationship between negative Islamic teachings and the two categories of social capital development and artistic activities, because negative teachings reduce anomalies and reducing anomalies also strengthens order, peace, security, justice, kindness, trust, respect, strengthening relationships, relations and interactions (components of social capital) at the community level. All of these provide the right conditions for the development of art and aesthetics.

Based on the strategy 'we are for God and to him we shall return', the main mission of Islamic teachings is to orient human life in order to gain the opportunity to enter the blissful life of the hereafter. With the same approach, art can serve humanity (Hemmati 2008).

From the collection of verses related to the subject of beauty, which is referred to as 'beauty, adornment and goodness', it is understood that the Holy Qur'an has accepted the attention to a fact called beauty, but since the Qur'an is the guide of man to transcendence, it only accepts humanity's attention to lasting and enduring affairs and does not accept the loss of opportunities for transient beauties and pleasures, which cause humanity's instinctual unrest and deprivation of eternal beauties. Thus, the negative Islamic teachings do not oppose the satisfaction of the sense of aesthetics and art that arises from innate tendencies but oppose anything that causes humanity to fall into instinctive tendencies, to fall into error, oppression, lust and filth. But if art is a tool for the growth and development of innate tendencies, then it has a lawful and significant benefit in the eyes of the wise (Tabatabai 1970), so it can be a desirable thing and approved and supported by religion.

The jurists have cited narrations regarding the ruling on sculpture and painting. According to Imam Khomeini, the forbidden narrations of sculpture were issued in the hot conditions of the idolatry and idol-making sales talk and the approach of these narrations was to deny these false gods. Therefore, sufficient attention should be paid to the conditions and circumstances governing the time and place of their issuance. That is why some contemporary jurists have carried words such as allegory, images, etc., on 'idol', and the prohibition of making a statue on the prohibition of 'idol-making'. 'It is not unlikely that the wisdom of the prohibition of allegory and images with such intensity and abundant promises, which is incompatible only with disbelief, was to eliminate the effects of disbelief and polytheism' (Feyz Kashani 2016).

In the narration of the Prophet, it is stated: 'indeed, the most severe torment will be inflicted on the Day of Judgement for portraitists' (Hemmati 2008). 'These severe narrations and these many promises have not even been mentioned regarding major sins such as drinking alcohol, so it is not unlikely that it can be claimed that these narrations are related to the issue of monotheism and the repulsion of polytheism and infidelity'. Therefore, this category of narrations includes only the arts that promote polytheism and idolatry.

It is worth mentioning that art, by giving birth to feelings, imaginations, thoughts, ideas, aspirations, ideals and common values, causes companionship, empathy, unity, harmony, attachment between individuals and social groups, and as a result, develops the components of social capital such as trust, interaction and participation in society.

Works of art can provide the means of legitimate joy, happiness and vivacity, as well as the peace of mind and body of the users of those works. The effect of art on the audience is diverse, including learning, laughing, crying, hoping and regretting, such that these things drain the audience mentally. Works and actions of art such as books, audio-visual media, music, poetry, theatre, painting, film, etc., with the least cost and the greatest power and scope of influence can create trust, cooperation, empathy, normalisation and integration of different social groups.

 

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to explain the relationship between the role of cultural capital on the development of social capital from the approach of negative Islamic teachings. The following results were obtained from the study:

1. There is a direct and significant relationship between the development of cultural capital and the development of social capital.

2. Negative Islamic teachings lead to the development of cultural components and cultural components, with the ability to reduce distortions, normalise social groups, strengthen and facilitate interactive actions between individuals and social groups and lead to the development of social capital components because 'knowledge, ethics, values, norms, rituals, traditions and art' are the most important elements of embodied cultural capital and are influenced by negative teachings, which influence the development of social capital.

3. The quality and quantity of activities, actions and functions of individuals and social groups increase or decrease with the increase or decrease of social, cultural and economic capital of the actors.

As a result:

1. Negative Islamic teachings have a positive and significant effect on the development of embodied cultural capital.

2. The development of embodied cultural capital is effective on the development of social capital.

 

Acknowledgements

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.

Authors' contributions

A.A.F. was involved in conceptualising the article and writing the original draft. S.R.M. was responsible for project administration, writing, review and editing. M.K. performed investigation and R.Z.S. was involved in formal analysis and supervision.

Ethical considerations

This article followed all ethical standards of research without direct contact with human or animal subjects.

Funding information

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

Data availability

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analysed in this study.

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any affiliated agency of the authors.

 

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Correspondence:
Seyed Reza Mousavi
ali.fazilat.2040.@gmail.com

Received: 22 Apr. 2022
Accepted: 07 May 2022
Published: 11 July 2022