One of the contexts for the development of social capital and spiritual health is cultural capital. The relationship between religion as an independent variable and social capital as a dependent variable has been analysed. This article aims to analyse the role of cultural capital in the development of social capital and spiritual health from the perspective of religion and negative Islamic teachings. This study attempts to answer the question, ‘what is the role of cultural capital on the development of social capital and spiritual health from the perspective of negative Islamic teachings?’ In this article, an attempt has been made to compare the negative aspect of education in the form of the Qur’anic concept of ‘cultivation’, with its positive aspect in terms of principles, approach and method, in order to return to the model arising from Qur’anic and mystical teachings. The research method is descriptive and analytical, and data processing is interpretive and critical. Data collection has been performed utilising documentary and library study methods. The research findings demonstrate that ‘ethics, science, values, norms, rituals and art’ are the most important elements of embodied cultural capital, which are effective in the development of social capital.
Therefore, there is a substantial relationship between religion, negative Islamic teachings, the development of embodied cultural capital and the development of social capital and spiritual health.
Social capital is a general resource and tool that an individual, group, institution or community uses to achieve its goals (Mousavi
Social trust refers to the socially acquired and validated expectations and commitments that individuals have towards each other and towards the organisations and institutions related to their social life.
Social participation means the presence of individuals and groups in activities, decision-making and social change (Rasoulzadeh Aghdam, Adlipour & Abedini
Social interactions are actions of the type of social relations that occur between individuals and groups and ultimately create a kind of social cohesion between them.
Cultural capital is one of the most important areas for the emergence of social capital, which has three components (embodied, objectified and institutionalised). Bourdieu (
This study attempts to answer the following question: what is the role of cultural capital on the development of social capital and spiritual health from the perspective of negative Islamic teachings? The purpose of this study was to explain the relationship between the roles of cultural capital on the development of social capital from the approach of negative Islamic teachings.
Bourdieu (
[
Rasoulzadeh Aghdam et al. (
Hamdi and Esfahani (
Both religion causes the development of social capital through the belief, emotion, ritual dimensions etc. and social capital provides the basis for sustainable social and cultural development through the creation of networks of trust and connection of actors. (p. 168)
Ebrahimi (
As can be seen, none of the mentioned researches have explored the issue of ‘the role of cultural capital on the development of social capital in the approach of negative Islamic teachings’. So in this research we tried to identify the negative Islamic teachings and their cultural and social effects on the society as the main objective of the article.
The research method is descriptive and analytical, and data processing is interpretive and critical. Data collection has been performed by utilising documentary and library study methods. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of embodied cultural capital on social capital from the perspective of negative Islamic teachings. The theoretical framework of the present study is based on Pierre Bourdieu’s perspective and, accordingly, it pursues the following subobjectives:
Recognising the effect of negative Islamic teachings on embodied cultural capital.
Recognising the effect of embodied cultural capital on the development of social capital.
The purpose of this study was to explain the relationship between the roles of cultural capital on the development of social capital from the approach of negative Islamic teachings. For this purpose, in this research the survey was done by literature review and determining the effects of negative Islamic teachings on various parameters, which are discussed in this section.
Avoiding delusion or illusion, avoiding suspicion and not following non-science in order to develop embodied cultural capital, which results in the development of social capital, are emphasised by negative Islamic teachings such as ‘do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge’ (Qur’an, Surah Al-Yunus, Ayat 17). Islam has forbidden following beliefs, speech and behaviour that are not based on knowledge and awareness (Tabatabai
The Qur’an wants human beings not to base their thoughts and actions on non-science; in many cases, it expresses this prohibition in the form of a denial or reprimanding question, such as ‘do you ascribe to Allah what you do not know?’ (Qur’an, Surah Al-A’raf, Ayat 33) or ‘but why do you argue about that of which you have no knowledge?’ (Qur’an, Surah Al-Ahzab, Ayat 3) or ‘so do not be amongst the sceptics’ (Qur’an, Surah An-Nisa, Ayat 22). The Qur’an has forbidden this behaviour.
It is noteworthy that in negative Islamic teachings, not only suspicion but also ‘harmful science’ is forbidden. ‘There is no good in useless knowledge’ (Sayyid Razi
Therefore, dealing with harmful science and not prioritising benefiting from sciences both cause loss of life and deprive man of the opportunity to address important and necessary issues. Ignorance of priorities in various economic, social, political and cultural spheres leads to conflict, strife, pessimism and ambiguity between individuals and groups, leading to the destruction of trust and social interactions and the spread of irrational lifestyles.
History has witnessed stupefactions, riots, seditions, conflicts, wars and killings rooted in hasty judgements, orders or statements without science and knowledge, relying on suspicion and disregard for priorities. Paying attention to negative teachings based on the avoidance of suspicion removes the individual and society from the detriment of many irreparable mistakes or deceptions based on suspicion, which are amongst the factors of the lack of preparation for social capital and the decline of lifestyle.
Following superstitious habits based on fantasies, following ancestors, sales talk of prophets, quoting dreams, desecrations, accepting and rejecting irrationally, condemning and praising irrationally, accepting rumours, insulting and destroying individuals and populations, shariahisation and atheism, judgements based on emotions and cases like these are amongst the effects of the pursuit of suspicion, each of which contributes to a decrease in trust, participation and social relationships, which are considered a threat to increasing social capital and lifestyle excellence. Applying negative and deterrent teachings can be a good action to remove these obstacles and threats and create opportunities for the simultaneous development of social capital and lifestyle excellence.
Therefore, there is a direct and significant relationship between increasing and improving the level of knowledge of individuals and groups and the development of social capital and improving lifestyle, because the more scientific individuals and groups benefit from the scientific level, the more comprehensive and transcendent knowledge of the world, humanity and society they gain, and they have more power to analyse the causal relationships that govern phenomena and to choose appropriate behaviour. All the greater, therefore, is the ability to analyse causal relationships between the components and factors of social capital development and the capacity to establish and develop healthy relationships between individuals and groups, which are components of social capital and lifestyle excellence.
Ibn Muskawiyyah (
Oppression means tyranny and harming others, such as killing, beating, insulting, backbiting, slander, aggressive possession and the like (Naraghi
Sins cause darkness in the relationships of individuals and social groups. Therefore, in order to avoid definite sins, we must also avoid possible sins, because the principle is based on the trust, dignity and innocence of human beings in a society of faith. ‘Indeed, some suspicions are sins’ (Qur’an). The Prophet of Islam (PBUH) said: ‘the way to escape from suspicion is not to put it into practice’ (Feyz Kashani
The Holy Qur’an forbids many suspicions. Hence, suspicion is forbidden. Forbidden suspicion means the order of its effect. ‘The Holy Prophet (PBUH) does not approve three things in a believer, including suspicion’ (Feyz Kashani
The threshold of tolerance for adversity increases at the individual and social levels.
The self-monitoring and self-control of individuals and groups towards avoiding deviation becomes apparent.
The degree of reduction of suspicion, bad temper, violence, malice and stinginess, peaceful coexistence, understanding, effective communication and interaction between individuals and social groups (social capital) increases.
Having such a capacity means enjoying ‘peace, patience, gentleness, friendliness, humility, generosity, benevolence, honesty, respect and kindness’. These traits are innate in the structure of human existence, which creates appropriate opportunities to strengthen relationships between individuals and groups and promotes trust and social participation, and as a result, has a direct impact on the development of social capital.
In psychology, the word ‘value’ is used to mean a desire or criterion that expresses a person’s inclination at the time of choice, which refers to the individual’s preferences, motivations, needs and biases. Values are rooted feelings that everyone shares. Values are the origin of people’s choices, such as interests, attachments, behaviours, desires, wants, needs, dislikes and passions, etc. Cultural norms and fixed intellectual standards are behaviours that a group expects or approves of from individuals. These expectations and the resulting behaviours often vary from culture to culture (Al-Darmi et al.
As a social religion, Islam has a significant approach to the preservation and development of values and norms. This attention is because of the fact that values and norms are the basis of any social system and have a fundamental role in the emergence and stability of the identity of any society. The most important feature of values and norms is the construction of the identity of any society and any excellence in values and norms causes the excellence of social identity because the more strongly individuals and social groups feel about identity, the more strongly they feel about belonging to their community, and thus they are more prepared to protect social capital and strive to develop it. In this regard, the Qur’an and Hadith have negative teachings based on the obligation or advice to abandon anti-values that directly or indirectly reduce social capital by affecting individual and group identity and its manifestation in behaviours.
Some of the consequences of anti-values and social anomalies are (Al-Darmi et al.
impairment of solidarity and unity in society
the emergence of undesirable ways of thinking and behaving and confusion in society
disorder and reduction of unity in social interactions
lack of social control and social pressure
disintegration and chaos
reducing the threshold of tolerance in the relations of individuals and social groups
reducing the self-monitoring and self-control of individuals and groups to avoid deviance
decrease in the areas of peaceful coexistence and reduction of interaction and understanding
the emergence and spread of feelings of hatred, insecurity, distrust etc.
infidelity: ‘he who does not keep his covenant has no religion’ (Majlisi
The mentioned cases shake the foundations of trust, relationships and social cooperation whilst the necessity of life and social development is effective communication and trust of people in each other. The given consequences are either anomalous or cause it. However, the result of the prevalence of social anomalies is such things as mental and physical conflicts, impatience, unhappiness, violence, betrayal, dishonesty, disrespect and unkindness, etc., all of which reduce the components of social capital and thus reduce social capital.
The relation of religion to rituals is the relation of meaning to form, because rituals are the executive forms of religious teachings. Therefore, any development in religion leads to the development of rituals. Hence, the implementation of negative Islamic teachings about rituals and traditions refines religious issues, and this refinement is the basis for their development and excellence. In this section, the effect of some negative Islamic teachings on rituals and rituals is mentioned:
The doctrine ‘supererogatory prayers cannot bring about nearness to Allah if it hampers the obligatory’ (Sayyid Razi
Paying attention to negative teachings in order to avoid heresy and superstition in performing rituals and rituals causes social cohesion and unity of individuals and groups.
Performing rituals and expressing religious emotions and feelings according to negative teachings causes people to be spiritually and psychologically emptied of turbidity and sorrow, and removing turbidity causes the development of trust and healthy relationships between social groups.
Thus, the refining capacity of the negative teachings of religion, which also spreads to rituals and rites, refines the behaviours arising from religious rituals and rites, and consequently, the behaviour of individuals and groups in society is directly or indirectly refined. Finally, it leads to facilitating the process of socialisation, developing relationships and interactions between individuals and groups, increasing the level of participation and their trust in each other, and thus social capital is developed and strengthened.
There is an ever-increasing relationship between negative Islamic teachings and the two categories of social capital development and artistic activities, because negative teachings reduce anomalies and reducing anomalies also strengthens order, peace, security, justice, kindness, trust, respect, strengthening relationships, relations and interactions (components of social capital) at the community level. All of these provide the right conditions for the development of art and aesthetics.
Based on the strategy ‘we are for God and to him we shall return’, the main mission of Islamic teachings is to orient human life in order to gain the opportunity to enter the blissful life of the hereafter. With the same approach, art can serve humanity (Hemmati
From the collection of verses related to the subject of beauty, which is referred to as ‘beauty, adornment and goodness’, it is understood that the Holy Qur’an has accepted the attention to a fact called beauty, but since the Qur’an is the guide of man to transcendence, it only accepts humanity’s attention to lasting and enduring affairs and does not accept the loss of opportunities for transient beauties and pleasures, which cause humanity’s instinctual unrest and deprivation of eternal beauties. Thus, the negative Islamic teachings do not oppose the satisfaction of the sense of aesthetics and art that arises from innate tendencies but oppose anything that causes humanity to fall into instinctive tendencies, to fall into error, oppression, lust and filth. But if art is a tool for the growth and development of innate tendencies, then it has a lawful and significant benefit in the eyes of the wise (Tabatabai
The jurists have cited narrations regarding the ruling on sculpture and painting. According to Imam Khomeini, the forbidden narrations of sculpture were issued in the hot conditions of the idolatry and idol-making sales talk and the approach of these narrations was to deny these false gods. Therefore, sufficient attention should be paid to the conditions and circumstances governing the time and place of their issuance. That is why some contemporary jurists have carried words such as allegory, images, etc., on ‘idol’, and the prohibition of making a statue on the prohibition of ‘idol-making’. ‘It is not unlikely that the wisdom of the prohibition of allegory and images with such intensity and abundant promises, which is incompatible only with disbelief, was to eliminate the effects of disbelief and polytheism’ (Feyz Kashani
In the narration of the Prophet, it is stated: ‘indeed, the most severe torment will be inflicted on the Day of Judgement for portraitists’ (Hemmati
It is worth mentioning that art, by giving birth to feelings, imaginations, thoughts, ideas, aspirations, ideals and common values, causes companionship, empathy, unity, harmony, attachment between individuals and social groups, and as a result, develops the components of social capital such as trust, interaction and participation in society.
Works of art can provide the means of legitimate joy, happiness and vivacity, as well as the peace of mind and body of the users of those works. The effect of art on the audience is diverse, including learning, laughing, crying, hoping and regretting, such that these things drain the audience mentally. Works and actions of art such as books, audio-visual media, music, poetry, theatre, painting, film, etc., with the least cost and the greatest power and scope of influence can create trust, cooperation, empathy, normalisation and integration of different social groups.
The purpose of this study was to explain the relationship between the role of cultural capital on the development of social capital from the approach of negative Islamic teachings. The following results were obtained from the study:
There is a direct and significant relationship between the development of cultural capital and the development of social capital.
Negative Islamic teachings lead to the development of cultural components and cultural components, with the ability to reduce distortions, normalise social groups, strengthen and facilitate interactive actions between individuals and social groups and lead to the development of social capital components because ‘knowledge, ethics, values, norms, rituals, traditions and art’ are the most important elements of embodied cultural capital and are influenced by negative teachings, which influence the development of social capital.
The quality and quantity of activities, actions and functions of individuals and social groups increase or decrease with the increase or decrease of social, cultural and economic capital of the actors.
As a result:
Negative Islamic teachings have a positive and significant effect on the development of embodied cultural capital.
The development of embodied cultural capital is effective on the development of social capital.
The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.
A.A.F. was involved in conceptualising the article and writing the original draft. S.R.M. was responsible for project administration, writing, review and editing. M.K. performed investigation and R.Z.S. was involved in formal analysis and supervision.
This article followed all ethical standards of research without direct contact with human or animal subjects.
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analysed in this study.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any affiliated agency of the authors.