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European Journal of Scientific Research ISSN 1450-216X Vol.14 No.3 (2006), pp. 372-387 © EuroJournals Publishing, Inc. 2006 http://www.eurojournals.com/ejsr.htm Islam and Education from Religious Man’s Perspectives Nazenin Ruso Educational Sciences, Eastern Mediterranean University Gazimagosa, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Via Mersin 10 Turkey E-mail: nazenin.ruso@emu.edu.tr Telephone 0392-630-2920; Fax: 3651584 Abstract The present descriptive study investigates the observable effects of education on religion in TRNC from Imam’s (religious men’s) perspectives. Although the primary concern of the study is to see if there is a link between educational and religious values, the study presents a detailed description on the interests shown to religion and education in the country. Furthermore, the study investigates whether these values may change if TRNC joins to European Union. In this study, mainly a qualitative approach is adopted and 132 Imams (religious men) from local mosques in Northern Cyprus responded to the openended questionnaire prepared by the researcher. The data analysis involves a comparative reading of the Imams’ opinions about education and Islam investigated through questionnaire. The findings of the study reveal that there is no observable effect of education on religion. Moreover, the findings of this study emphasizes the importance of religion for the development of a country but it Imams reported being disappointed in the interests shown to religious requirements such as attending to mosques. Another conclusion of the study reveals that nowadays, the youth started to loose many values but the unification of the island and Turkish entry into the European Union might have a beneficial effect on raising the religious level of Muslim Cypriots. Finally, participants in the research suggest that our educational and religious values will improve if we join to European Union. Purpose of the Study TRNC is a secular and modern community following Ataturk’s reforms, who is the biggest figure who established secularism for Turkish people. Since Ataturk’s death, Turkish Cypriots have followed the religious practices for Turkey. All Turkish people accepted Islamic religion conveyed through Muhammad’s teachings and Holy book Koran. Although the state of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) supports Islamic religion, it is observed that in TRNC religious interests became a matter of private conscience. The purpose of the study is to find out how Imams view education and religion. Literature Review After reading relevant literature on the topic, several research questions aroused. This section presents the literature review on the topic and tries to show why certain questions were asked. First of all, the literature review reveals that what is meant by the word Muslim is a controversial issue on the island because the word “Muslim” means different to different people in TRNC. According to many religious
Islam and Education from Religious Man’s Perspectives 373 sources including a website on Cypriot Information Resource “the word Muslim means one who has surrendered to God’s will”. God’s will consist of five pillars of Islam which are daily prayers, fasting during Ramadan, almsgiving, visiting Mecca and to believe in God and Muhammad as his messenger. However, the understanding of the word “Muslim” is completely different for people living in TRNC. “What is meant by the word “Muslim?” is one of the research questions. As the focus of this paper is describing Islam and education from Imam’s perspectives, I felt the need to clarify these terms first according to Imam’s definitions. Within the light of these clarifications, I tried to display a more conscious interpretation of the data. Like the word “Muslim”, the word “Education” is a very broad concept and it can be interpreted in a variety of ways. A check on some Islamic resources reveals various interpretations with regard to Islam. Seyh Nazim is a very important religious figure in Cyprus who points out that knowledge comes from heaven. For Seyh Nazim and his followers, the most ambiguous issue is to see how an educated person can claim that there is no God. During a discussion, Seyh says that the world is covered by ignorance and at the top of this ignorance are those people who deny the existence of God. (Atay, 1996, p.184). “What is meant by the word education?” is another research question. Although the devout Muslims define being Muslim as mentioned earlier, many Turkish Cypriots, specifically those who are academics claim that they do not have time to practice their religion due to their educational requirements but their heart is clean and that is the most important thing for a Muslim. At this point an important question arises: “Is clean heart really the most important thing for a Muslim?” Apparently, the number of educated people increases day by day and according to several official researches, education is causing people move away from religion. For example, Carkoglu &Toprak(2000) found that while the education level of people increase, the number of people who claim that they are not religious increases. Is this true? At this point I added a new research question as “Do you think university and above education is causing people to move away from religion? If yes, what sort of people? Why?” There is a belief that education causes modernization and there has always been a conflict between tradition and modernization. Like in many parts of the world, TRNC is also abandoning some of its old traditions to be able to adapt modernity and global ascendancy of the West. As reported in an article on Reframing Orientalism: Weber and Islam, the incorporation of “Muslim society” into the “global society” of the past two hundred years is felt among Turkish people. This incorporation has caused a rise in secularization and modern interpretations of Islam. Another article on cosmopolitan virtue() further discusses the issue of secularization and relates it to educational systems by claiming that “It is clearly true that Islamic fundamentalism has rejected differentiation by attempting to enforce religious law over the operations of secular institutions such as educational systems.” These different observations about globalization are insightful but do we know how do Imams in TRNC define the words “globalization” and “modernization” and if they think globalization and modernization are causing people towards or away from religion? Islamic religion is the second most important religion in the world. A website on religion states that ”Everyone in TRNC has the right of religious freedom in teaching, worship and observance, without any interference from the state.” Although Turkish Cypriots reflect Islamic tradition for about 400 years through celebrating bairams, the value given to religious practices required by Islam is decreasing everyday. The same website adds that “Approximately 10 % of the population in the north attends religious services regularly” and Muslims make up 99% of the TRNC. Considering this percentage, several questions can be asked such as “Are we starting to loose any of our values? Which ones? Why?”, “What can be done by the religious establishments to overcome this problem?” , “What percentage of the mosques capacity are full?” and “When do the people go to mosque nowadays?” One website on Turkish Society points out that Ataturk’s reforms brought modernity for Turkish culture by claiming that “Under Ataturk’s leadership, the ideological, secularist and modernist urban elite ended state support and patronage of Islamic institutions and attempted to make religion a matter of solely of private conscience”. The same site adds that Ataturk’s reforms created two different
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