Lifelong Learners

                                                                                   Photo By: Met Museum                                            Before going into the details of the subject, it is very important to focus on the concept of "civilization" to better understand the subject. The word civilization is derived from the Arabic root "m-d-n", which means "settling and residing somewhere" and means "urbanism, sedentary life, living well and prosperous". This concept, which started to be used in the last periods of the Ottoman Empire, corresponds to the term "civilization" in Western thought. To express the concept of civilization in Turkish, the word “civili...

Photo by: Jean-Léon Gérôme  Understanding and interpreting Islam has been varied according to regions, societies, and historical context. The biggest common point among different Muslim communities is Islam. However, the biggest difference is that they have wide various Islamic understandings. Because different places have an impact on how to believe. On one hand, religious beliefs influence and shape every society it enters without exception but more importantly, it is shaped by society/civilization. In this context, religion is both a perpetrator and an object. On the other hand, the differences in understanding and interpretation stem from human nature. These differences stemming from the nature of man have been examined by the anthropologist Clifford Geertz on two Muslim countries, Morocco and Indonesia. The author, who examines the relations of the peoples of Morocco and Indonesia with the sacred, presents a detailed and profound comparison of the interpretati...