Considered as one of the four essentials of the Qur’an, worship expresses intentional behavior reflecting the attempt to obey Allah’s consent, as a result of the person’s respect and love for Allah, in Islamic literature.

Found in any religion in different forms and considered as an indicator of servitude, worship is worth being examined and kept in agenda due to the different areas it addresses such as religious, philosophical, ontological and socio-psychological areas etc.

The fact that modernism failure to provide solutions for socioeconomic depressions resulted from its tendency to exclude-ignore religious rituals, which arose upon enlightenment, made people of modern era, who destroyed their relation with their creator, completely restless. Together with the disease which spread to Islamic societies as well, some problems in personal and social areas arose. In this context, the things that worship, bearing the key qualities for worldly and ethereal happiness may provide to the people who suffer from many diseases and are looking for the meaning of life should not be disregarded.

Forming the second ring after belief in Islamic thought, the worship also means “disciplining and reinforcing religious provisions which are reasonable”. From this perspective, belief-worship unity and emphasis on worship’s aspect concerning belief, is important for making a type of Muslim with devotion and good works visible. Moreover, emphasizing that in Islam worships and other areas are complementary parts and that religion should be lived and considered holistically is important for ensuring that the religion, personal, social and political life can be seen as a whole.

Nevertheless, the fact that worship bears a meaning to contact with the creator in different dimensions and manners and that it spreads through life’s all moments and aspects, addresses this concept’s different functions. Worship is important in developing human relations and improving social structure, since in Islamic literature any act of the created for gaining Allah’s consent is considered and awarded as worship, any positive behavior for personal and social benefit gains a religious and spiritual meaning. The fact that all acts by all beings in the universe are considered as a prayer and act of worship in Holy Koran and that everything is in an act of worship in any single moment, reveals the wide perspective of the issue.

And in the aforementioned framework, we determined the file of this issue as “worship”. We planned to examine the issue in the light of below written questions and in the framework of the following concepts: “worship, belief, Fear of Allah, prayer, pure worship, patience, gratitude, forgiving, mercy, total adoration, freedom, justice, fraternity, weakness, shelter, elevation, love, fear, will, tesbih, salaah, fast, zakat, hadj, jihad, force of wrath and defense, reason, powers of anger and lust, universe’s worship, observances of worship, social worships”:

What is worship? What are the issues determinig conceptual framework of worship in religious literature? How can Bediüzzaman’s interpretation of worship as a fact raising “person to his/her predestined perfection” and his evaluation of worship as the fruit of life and purpose of universe be explained? How important are prayer and worship in terms of physical and spiritual health? What are the socioeconomic effects and benefits of worship in general? What is the worship-freedom relation? What are the similarities and differences between Islam and other religions, when they are compared in terms of worship? What can be said on worship-ethic relation? What is the importance of worships aiming at maintaining and sustaining observances, which is whole society’s responsibility as well as personal worships? What is the importance of worships in terms of social solidarity and integration? What can be said on worship-justice relation? Based on the hadith “One-hour/Thinking meditation is better than a year of voluntary worship”, what is the importance of “meditative worship” in Islam?

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ABSTRACTS OF THE ARTİCLES 

Life-Worship Balance and Meaning and Importance of Worship in Western Countries

Assoc. Professor Dr. Özcan HIDIR/Islamic University of Rotterdam, Faculty of Theology

In Islam, worships were not only considered as some behaviors to approach Allah, but also any behavior performed or quitted for the purpose of approaching Allah was considered as worship for turning all life on the earth into a worship. In Islam, the very life is worship and all worships are the life. In this text, life-worship balance is considered, and by questioning understanding of worship in Western countries where secular understanding is dominant, some clues on the place of Islam in Western societies are provided.

Keywords: Life-worship, balance-harmony, business life and worship, diseases, Western countries, secularization, Christianity, Islamic citation and representation

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Board and Lodging of Worship: Worships

Assoc. Dr. Mustafa Doğan KARACOŞKUN/Istanbul University, Faculty of Theology, Psychology of Religion

A believing person with strong belief and continuing his/her worships accordingly, is the one with a healthy state of mind, who can address his/her soul’s board and lodging in a manner to satisfy those, can be at peace with him/herself and his/her environment, has the power to bear life’s responsibilities and can always feel sense of happiness. Such a person will have a sound personality and character without needing any other choices, feel self-confident, trusts his/her powers and capabilities, and will be brave, entrepreneur, contented and patient. As expressed by our Prophet, he/she is the one, who is deeply attached to life as if he/she will never die, and who does not forget herefater, as if he/she will die tomorrow. In this text, importance of worships in terms of mental health will be considered.

Keywords: Worships, mental health, happiness, salaah, fast, zakat and hadj

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Contribution of Worships to the Cultural Life: “The Case of Ramadan”

Professor Dr. Ramazan ALTINTAŞ/Selçuk University, Faculty of Theology.

Islam not only addresses to the person’s mind’s needs, but also his/her heart’s. Because dry devotedness is not real devotedness. Therefore, worships performed in Islam depending on both the time and space reveal their cultural aspects within time. This aspect fed by the religion adds enthusiasm to the worships. One of the time-dependent worships is the fast performed during Ramadan. Bearing a circular quality in terms of time, Ramadan month affixed its signature on all phases of human life such as arts, literature, aesthetics, music, wearing styles, cuisine and some performing arts. Therefore, cultural aspects of the worships, which are the important factors to unite us should be sustained.

Keywords: Worship, culture, fasting, Ramadan, Mahya, religious music

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Two Sources of Personal Development and Social Growth: The Prescribed Prayers and Zakat

Reşat AÇIKGÖZ

The prescribed prayers and zakat are not only forms of worship, but also are two divine terms with great uses for the human and society. The prescribed prayers both helps the person to get mature and make him/her gain a personality and functions as a shield to prevent him/her from doing bad things. And zakat constituting ethical principles therein both serves to social growth as a whole and brings those who are involved in economic affairs to an ethical maturity. Since the society is formed by persons, it needs tools for both personal development and social growth. The prescribed prayers and zakat were included in the Islam as two facts to meet that very need. This is why they generally mentioned together. In this text, firstly the prescribed prayers and zakat will be considered historically, and then social aspects thereof and their importance for the person and the society will be mentioned.

Keywords: Person, society, the prescribed prayers, zakat, social growth, ethics

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The Necessity of Praying According to Imam Al-Maturidi and its Rational basis

Assoc. Dr. Hülya ALPER/Marmara University, Faculty of Theology

In this article I will analyze how Imam Abu Mansur al-Maturidi replied that of the question “why people must worship God?” Then I will focus on the term of gratitude so al-Maturidi thought that gratitude is the real meaning of worship. In this context I will examine reasons of gratitude for God. In the end, I will explain the purpose of prays which accepted the pillar of Islam according to al- Maturidi.

Key Words: al-Maturidi, worship, pray, gratitude (shukr), blessing, gracious

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Centrality of Worship and Sacrifice in Judaism and Christianity

Assoc. Dr. İsmail TAŞPINAR/Marmara University, Faculty of Theology, Department of History of Religions.

In the research, worships in Judaism and Christianity, and particularly the worship of ‘sacrifice’ as assumed to be the base of these worships are considered. Accordingly, in this research, it was attempted to reveal the fact that it is possible to understand all worships in Judaism and Christianity, as the natural continuation thereof by associating those with the worship of sacrifice. The text consists of tow sections. In the first part of the first section, worship of sacrifice, which is the basic worship in Christianity was considered, and its development was attempted to be revealed by considering the Old Testament tradition. And in the second part thereof, worships performed by today’s Jews and relationships between those and the worship of sacrifice were considered. In the second section it was revealed that the worship in Christianity is the continuation of Jewish worship, and in the following parts reflections thereof on daily and weekly worships were examined.

Keywords: Judaism, Christianity, worship, sacrifice, mezbah, hadj, fast

Source: This article is the editorial writing of the akademic magazine Köprü/Winter 201