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Culture from a different, Islamic perspective
Author(s) -
Dhaouadi Mahmoud
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
international social science journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.237
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1468-2451
pISSN - 0020-8701
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-2451.2009.01679.x
Subject(s) - credence , islam , perspective (graphical) , epistemology , islamic culture , sociology , interpretation (philosophy) , transcendental number , phenomenon , mythology , social science , anthropology , linguistics , philosophy , mathematics , theology , statistics , geometry
This essay proposes a new perspective for understanding and studying the concept and the phenomenon of culture. This perspective is rather different from those of contemporary Western anthropology and sociology, and uses the term “cultural symbols” rather than “culture”. Cultural symbols are defined as follows: language, thought, religion, knowledge/science, myths, and cultural values and norms. Language in particular, may be regarded as the “Mother of all cultural symbols”. The article emphasizes the transcendental dimensions of cultural symbols, which have neither weight nor volume in the material sense of the terms. This view is compatible with the interpretation of the Koran's vision of cultural symbols as a Divine Spirit. This gives credence to the study of culture through the Islamic perspective.