Western Researchers Have A Materialistic View of Civilization: Expert
Seyed Reza Mehdinejad made the remark in a forum held to discuss the theoretical approach to the issue of religion and civilization.
Following are excerpts from his remarks at the forum:
When we talk about Islamic civilization, its main basis and foundation is religion. On the other hand, we are facing questions and doubts with regards to the relation between civilization and Islam that we must answer. Answering these questions requires introducing subjects such as the one being discussed today, that is, the relation between religion and civilization. We are facing a severe shortage of scholarly research in this area. Although there have been some works, there is a lack of integrated scholarly studies. This is while the subject has very extensive dimensions.
The questions is the relation between religion and civilization depend on what variables? Naturally, the first variable is the attitude to religion and the understanding of civilization. Most of differences existing about this subject are because of this variable.
The major approaches in the definition of civilization and its relation with religion can be divided into two: materialistic and two-dimensional. In the materialistic approach to civilization, it is considered a merely materialistic phenomenon that is manifested in such things as science and technology, architecture, industry, and the like. Here, non-materialistic factors such as religion, ethics, and culture have no place or are very weak. The other approach is one in which we consider civilization a two-dimensional phenomenon that includes both materialistic and non-materialistic dimensions.
Western researchers and scholars who study civilization have a materialistic view of the subject and highlight this approach.
Such an approach has also spread to some Muslim academics and they say if a society achieves development in materialistic aspects, it can be called civilized. It seems that by combining these two approaches to religion and civilization, we can reach several views. A maximum view has a two-dimensional definition of civilization and believes that religion can lead to making civilization in any place and any time. Those holding such a view even cite historical examples.
Another view is one that rejects any relation between religion and civilization. I have discussed this and cited some examples in my paper. How one looks at religion and civilization can also lead to different views on religious civilization.
