Despite the fact that Islam is the second largest religion in the world, empirical studies on Muslim religiosity have been very rare. The reason for this is seen in the lack of measurements applicable to Muslim samples. Nonetheless, the few empirical studies about Muslims, the role of Islam in terms of physical and psychological well-being, and comparative studies give rise to hope. The problems of application, adaptation and translation of religiosity and spirituality scales developed for Christian traditions is an issue (...) that the psychology of religion in Turkey is facing but has not yet solved. This article shall provide an overview of the religious landscape in Turkey that has to be considered when applying Turkish or Western measures of religiosity to Turkish samples. Further problems in cross-cultural/religious studies due to inappropriate measures are illustrated. Finally religiosity scales developed and/or applied within the psychology of religion research in Turkey are listed. (shrink)

Since the emergence of psychology, its relation with religion has been inconsistent. Their different sources and methodologies but common aims made them close or distanced. Today these disciplines acknowledged and learned to benefit from each other. The affect of religion/spirituality on human’s lives raised the attention of psychology and required the integration of these into psychotherapy. In order to approach the psychology-religion relation via the traces of religion within psychotherapy the paper deals with the necessity, the knowledge needed, the principles (...) when integrating religious/spiritual principles and practices into psychotherapy; finally the religious traces in psychotherapy. The paper comprises few Turkish examples together with the huge body of theoretical and practical examples on the topic. These theories and practices should be important examples for Turkey. By addressing the religious traces in psychotherapy the aim of the paper is to show that the cliff between psychology and religion is in fact not that deep.SummaryIt can be argued that psychology and religion have common interests relating the well-being of individuals. There is a huge body of research that emphasizes the implementation and necessity of cultural, religious, spiritual principles in professional psychology. The proprium of these models is to integrate the client’s religious/spiritual sources into therapy. Especially religious clients benefit from therapies that define their treatment goals around their religious views. However, it must be considered that if the disorder has a biological dimension and/or is severe psychopathologic pure religious interventions will not be sufficient. This paper traces the religious/spiritual principles within psychotherapies and shows that the cliff between religion and psychology is not that deep.At different places in the world therapy is done according to western standards. However, determining mental health or disorders according to western criteria might be problematic. In societies in which religious/spiritual life is an essential part of culture, religion plays a crucial role in people’s perception of disease and treatment. In mental health, spirituality is an important and primary source for coping. Empirical studies reveal the positive outcomes of religious practices such as personal prayer, repentance, meditation, and dhikir on mental and physical health. In light of this data it becomes clear that psychotherapies should be revised socio-culturally and culturally sensitive psychotherapies that cover belief and religious practices should be developed. Another need for the integration of religion, belief, and spirituality with psychotherapy is the significant effect of these experiences on individual’s lives. With regard to the broad impact of religion, psychological interventions solely might not be sufficient to fulfill human psychological needs. As studies show, religious clients expect religious practices in treatment as well as a therapist who is open and respectful to religious principles, ready to talk about own religious beliefs, willing to integrate religious matters into therapy. To fulfill these expectations therapists, need to be trained and educated in religious/spiritual matters. Additionally, the therapist must acknowledge and be conscious about her/his own worldview, religious commitment, and spiritual life. However, the therapist needs not to be religious him/herself or share the same religion as the client. It is sufficient that the therapist is open and receptive to the client’s beliefs so that these can be used as effective sources in therapy. Spiritual psychotherapy considers spirituality as one of the main sources of clients. Thus, it might be critical when the therapist has poor knowledge about religion when the client considers it as significant. This source might be helpful for the client in coping with his/her problems and limitations. Having knowledge about the client’s religion and culture might also be important to acknowledge his/her perceptions and beliefs. Because individuals’ understanding of disease, their beliefs about reasons for mental disorders, their expectations from the health system are important factors in seeking help and choosing therapy.Therapists who decide to integrate spiritual/religious principles into psychotherapy have to adhere to some ethical principles. The source and the degree of the psychological disorder are important, too. Even though the efficacy of religious rituals and spiritual interventions are extensive in each case it has to be investigated whether religiosity/spirituality is part of the problem or the solution. Certain aspects will guide the therapist in deciding whether to integrate religiosity/spirituality into the therapy process or not. Additionally, he/she has to gather information about the client’s religious/spiritual life (spiritual anamneses) in order to choose the most appropriate religious method and intervention. Today psychotherapy deals with coping, questions about the meaning, purpose, and way of life. Actually, these are issues with which religious traditions has dealt and proposed solutions for thousands of years ago. For example, ethical principles for mental health professionals correspond to those of religious teachings. The attitudes and the type of relationship recommended by the client-centered approach are also commended by religious teachings for all human relations. Beginning with the 1960’s an increasing interest in Buddhist teachings is observable among psychotherapists. Mental exercises (especially meditation) cause transformations in the self-perception and lead to enduring changes in consciousness. Religions such as Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism recommend meditation technics like contemplation, dhikr, and yoga. Confession in the Catholic Church has similarities with psychotherapeutic catharsis. Many cultures own one kind of forgiveness rituals of confessions. As studies report people benefit from these rituals. Forgiveness is a multifaceted issue with psychological and spiritual dimensions and involves cognitive, emotional, relational, and spiritual processes. Research indicates the religious and psychological functions of forgiveness. Many subjects such as personal prayer, hope, empathy, love, and tolerance are common issues of both, psychotherapy and religion/spirituality. Different psychotherapeutic approaches and especially positive psychology integrate these values that are valued by religion/spirituality into their theories and practices.In conclusion, the cliff between psychology and religion/spirituality is not that deep at it seems at first sight. They have many subjects in common. Individuals turn to religion and spirituality in times of crises. This makes it inevitable to include religion and spirituality into the therapeutic process. Because religions provide ways of coping, hope, and meaning in difficult times. This fact is recognized and accepted abroad and lead to the religious/spiritual psychotherapy movement, which will hopefully an inspiration for Turkish psychology as well. (shrink)

In this paper, we propose some transfor mations based on the centroid points between single valued neutrosophic numbers. We introduce these trans formations according to truth, indeterminacy and falsity value of single valued neutrosophic numbers. We propose a new similarity measure based on falsity value between single valued neutrosophic sets. Then we prove some properties on new similarity measure based on falsity value between falsity value between single valued neutrosophic sets. Furthermore, we propose similarity measure based on falsity value between (...) single valued neutrosophic sets based on the centroid points of transformed single valued neutrosophic numbers. We also apply the proposed similarity measure between single valued neutrosophic sets to deal with pattern recognition problems. (shrink)

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Islam as a religion and culture on Turkish women’s health. The study included 138 household members residing in the territory of three primary health care centers in Turkey: Güzelbahçe, Fahrettin Altay and Esentepe. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire prepared by a multidisciplinary team that included specialists from the departments of public health, psychiatric nursing and sociology. We found that the women’s health behavior changed from traditional to (...) rational as education levels increased, and that religious and traditional attitudes and behaviors were predominant in the countryside, especially practices related to pregnancy, delivery, the postpartum period, induced abortion and family planning. One of the most important prerequisites for the improvement of women’s health is that nurses should know the religious practices and culture of the society for which they provide care, so that their efforts to protect and improve women’s health will be effective. (shrink)

This study examined the validity and reliability of a Turkish version of the Modified Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire for Student Nurses. After obtaining permission to adapt the MMSQSN into Turkish, the translation/back-translation method was used with expert opinions to determine content validity. Factor analysis was conducted to examine the construct validity and test–retest was performed on the questionnaire to determine reliability. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were calculated to assess for internal consistency. Participants included 272 baccalaureate degree student nurses who took ethics lessons (...) prior to their clinical internship. The factor analysis revealed that even though the factor structure in the original scale was the same, relevant items were categorized with similar components, and factor loads were sufficient. The correlation coefficient in the analyses of test–retest scores was.66 for the total scale and the Cronbach’s alpha was.73 for the total scale. The translated MMSQSN is a valid and reliable measure of ethical sensitivity in student nurses in Turkey. (shrink)

Judaism is one of the oldest surviving religious traditions in the world. The Jews, who base their history on Abraham and his son Isaac, began to be called religion with Moses. The Jews, who lived their golden age in and around Jerusalem during the David and Solomon periods, also built the Temple, which was at the center of their religious life. The Jews, who rebuilt the Temple during the Babylonian exile and subsequently Ezra's reign, lived in these lands until the (...) destruction of the temple by the Romans in 70 AD. The statelessness that started after the destruction of the temple had an important place in the Jewish identity. The exile life, which continued for two thousand years, caused the Jews to go to different parts of the world and live there. In this period, which is expressed as the period of exile, Jews lived in many regions such as Africa, Anatolia, Europe and America. The arrival of the Jews in the Americas dates back to the Columbus era. Jews were present in South America and subsequently in the British colonies. Currently, most of the Jews in the world live in the USA. Among the Jews who went to the Americas, Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews constitute the majority. However, in the Americas, Jews have formed different groups over time. These include groups such as Conservative, Orthodox, Reformist, and Reconstructionist. Jewish groups formed by African-Americans also have a special place among these formations. These African-American Jews in the USA, are discussed within the framework of this article. In the article, firstly, a piece of brief information about Judaism in America was given, and then the relations between Blacks and Jews were discussed. Afterward, the main features of these formations, which are of African origin and consider themselves the descendants of the Israelites, are emphasized. Finally, the Jewish groups established by Black Jews were contacted and if they had different practices and beliefs from the others, they were included. The research was carried out based on the literature review and information was given about the prominent black Jewish groups. (shrink)

Analogy-making is finding analogies between different situations. In this paper, we provide a new model of computational analogy-making which uses Situation Theory as its formal background. Situation Theory is a semantic and logical theory which provides a naturalistic way to represent relations in situations. The system described in this paper is aimed at solving analogy problems made by basic geometric figures in a chessboard-like environment.

Concepts, such as death, life and spirit cannot be known in their quintessential nature, but can be defined in accordance with their effects. In fact, those who think within the mode of pragmatism and Cartesian logic have ignored the metaphysical aspects of these terms. According to Islam, the entity that moves the body is named the soul. And the aliment of the soul is air. Cessation of breathing means leaving of the soul from the body. Those who agree on the (...) diagnosis of brain death may not able to agree unanimously on the rules that lay down such diagnosis. That is to say, there are a heap of suspicions regarding the diagnosis of brain death, and these suspicions are on the increase. In fact, Islamic jurisprudence does not put provisions, decisions on suspicious grounds. By virtue of these facts, it can be asserted that brain death is not absolute death according to Islamic sources; for in the patients diagnosed with brain death the soul still has not abandoned the body. Therefore, these patients suffer in every operation performed on them. (shrink)

Many studies have been done in non-Western academia that raise the issue of indigenousness, holding that it should be taken into consideration as an important element in explaining human behaviour. It is within this context that one can regard the studies and discussions on the notion of Islamic psychology. An investigation into the literature on Islamic psychology shows that although a good number of studies on the subject have been done, sufficient attention has not been paid to its epistemological foundations, (...) e.g., its nature, origin, and scope. With regard to Islamic psychology, this study is intended to analyse the relationship between science and religion, the borders of religion and science, and the possibility of Islamic psychology as a nascent social discipline. (shrink)

This chapter aims to discuss critically the changing values in higher education within the context of culturally, ethnically and religiously plural modern European societies with a special focus on the case of emerging European Islamic higher education institutions. The inquiry argues for the need to rethink the core values in Islamic and western liberal, secular higher education in order to facilitate a new creative engagement between these two distinctive perspectives on higher education that share an intertwined intellectual legacy. The focus (...) of the study is framed by the following questions: Do central educational values of Islam and western secular higher education remain in conflict? To what extent can a critical dialogue of convergence be facilitated between the educational/pedagogic cultures of Islamic and western higher education? Why should such a critical engagement be based on a shared relational ethics of respecting the dignity of difference and recognition of mutual interdependence? The study adopts a phenomenology- infomed critical, comparative analysis method while exploring the topic within its historical and contempoaray dimensiosns. The original contribution of the inquiry lies in its reflective engagement with the Islamic and western values of higher education and developing a distinctive conceptual framework to facilitate a new pedagogic dialogue among the communities of learners and teachers coming from these educational cultures who increasingly share the same social space. After presenting the aims and context of the inquiry, a brief historical account of Islamic and western values of higher education will be provided. This will be followed by discussing the arguments supporting the incompatibility of Islamic and western values of education. The incompatibility thesis will be deconstructed by critically examining its logic of binary literalism. By drawing on the evidence suggesting presence of a shared reflective, critical educational heritage between Islam and the West, the chapter argues for the need to revive these forgotten traditions of pedagogic curiosity and critical openness to inspire a new cross-pollinating dialogue capable of acknowledging the dignity of being different and recognizing the reality of sharing an interdependent world. (shrink)

This study examines the relationship between teachers' beliefs and their practices at Key Stage 2 (ages 7-11) in relation to the use of questioning. Data were collected from interviewing and observing Key Stage 2 teachers at four schools in the West of England. A Straussian approach to grounded theory is followed broadly in order to analyse the data. In contrast to the findings of previous studies, which suggested a mismatch between teachers' beliefs and practices in that teachers, in certain respects, (...) do less than they claim, the research revealed that teachers use a variety of skills during their teaching that they may not always be aware of. It is also argued that teachers do not share researchers' language to express the way they teach. (shrink)

This is the introductory chapter I co-authored with professor Kaya Sahin for our edited book, Political Thought in the Ottoman World (oxford University Press, 2024).

Kur’an tasavvuru belli kavramlardan meydana gelmektedir. İnsanın fiziki ve manevî yönünü ifade eden fıtrat kavramı, Kur’an tasavvurunu ifade eden önemli kavramlarından biridir. Fıtrat kavramının ilk günden itibaren tefsircilerin ilgi odağı olması da bundandır. Genellikle fıtrat, İslam dini, ilk yaratılış ve insanın dini kabul etme potansiyeli olarak yorumlanmış ve bunların değişip değişmeyeceği üzerinde durulmuştur. Rum sûresinde geçen “khalqullah” ile Nisâ sûresinde geçen “khalqullah” terkiplerinin bulunduğu âyetler arasında bu çerçevede bağlantı kurulmuştur. Bu çalışmamızda fıtratın mahiyeti ile fıtratla ilgili âyetlerin birbiriyle ilişkilendirilmesi irdelenecek (...) ve fıtratın temel unsurları üzerinde durulacaktır. Akıl, sevgi, aşk, güzel şeylere ilgi duyma ve çirkinliklerden kaçınmanın, insan fıtratının temel bileşenleri arasında yer alıp almadığı tartışılacaktır. Ayrıca fıtrat âyetinde geçen tebdîl kavramı ile Nisâ sûresinde geçen tağyir kavramının, aynı manayı ifade edip etmediği üzerinde durulacaktır. (shrink)

Neutrosophic theory and its applications have been expanding in all directions at an astonishing rate especially after of the introduction the journal entitled “Neutrosophic Sets and Systems”. New theories, techniques, algorithms have been rapidly developed. One of the most striking trends in the neutrosophic theory is the hybridization of neutrosophic set with other potential sets such as rough set, bipolar set, soft set, hesitant fuzzy set, etc. The different hybrid structures such as rough neutrosophic set, single valued neutrosophic rough set, (...) bipolar neutrosophic set, single valued neutrosophic hesitant fuzzy set, etc. are proposed in the literature in a short period of time. Neutrosophic set has been an important tool in the application of various areas such as data mining, decision making, e-learning, engineering, medicine, social science, and some more. (shrink)