Marife Turkish Journal of Religious Studies

Abstract

Nation refers to a group of people who have similarities within themselves and the same values to which they are attached, and who differ from other groups in this respect. The phenomenon of nation, to which individuals or groups are affiliated, reveals the membership of individuals with the concept of national identity with the unity of language, religion, race and history. National identity is a collective identity assumed by the individual and society at the level of their attachment to the national culture and each element of that culture. It is a supreme attribution that transforms uniqueness into unity and elevates personal identity to the collective spirit with the emphasis on partnership and belonging.
Nations recognize and sustain their existence through the national identity that they will give to their members. For this purpose, every nation uses education as a tool and benefits from the effective power of education in forming of a national identity. Courses such as literature, history and citizenship are among that serve this cause. Moreover, religious education refers to one of the fundamental dynamics that forms the national identity. This is because religion is one of the dominant elements among the root values in which national identity is formed. Among other values, religion has the highest power of influence due to its divine origin.
Islam draws attention to the elements that make up nations because it itself points out the differences in race, color and language, and presents this diversity in creation as evidence of Allah’s power. Each Muslim nation represents and lives Islam in different ways. The Islamic culture produced by each nation has created Islamic civilization. For this reason, racial diversity in Islam is a divine wisdom. No race or nation has superiority or greatness over any other. The national conservatism of a racist nature cannot be justified by Islam, and such a tendency harms Islam itself with its extremism. We need to develop a national identity that does not lead to extremism or seeking superiority.
Since national identity is a personal and social issue, it is frequently addressed in scientific research studies with its linguistic, historical, social, and religious dimensions. This study draws attention to the importance and function of religious education in forming of national identities due to the increasing severity of internal and external interventions that undermine national identity. The research was carried out using the method of document analysis and sought to answer the question of why religious education is necessary in the construction of national identity. It aims to reveal the function of religious education in children and young people’s process of acquiring national identity to make Turkish Islamic identity prominent. The study argues for the necessity of religious education in forming of a national identity based on the effective role of religion in the development of national feelings and understanding. The study reveals that religion is one of the strongest elements of national culture, that the diversity of language, race and color that make up different nations is of divine origin and that this diversity should be a religious reference in the construction of national identity. At the end of the research, it was suggested that the contribution of religious education to the development of national feelings and thoughts should be discussed with different methods.