- Authors: Ahmad-Norma Permata
- From: State Islamic University, Yogyakarta
Abstract:
Political science seems rather unfamiliar with religions?as indicated by statistics at the centennial edition of American Political Science Review (2006) that religions-related topics constitute less than 2%. Nothing is surprising, therefore, that it is the least developed in theorising religious phenomena compared to other social sciences. There are three major approaches to religions popular among political scientists-i.e. primordial (religion as identities), instrumental (religions as capitals), and constructive (religions as meanings)-which, unfortunately, are adopted or at least adapted, from other disciplines: sociology, economics, and phenomenology, respectively. The worst is, political science has no established-let alone agreed- definition of religions. One major obstacle in building such indegenous theory of religions?as were the case in other disciplines-is that it must be drawn from within the so called -political phenomena-: i.e. power competition. In addition to the negative image of religions left behind by European social sciences, there seemed no religious phenomena in the last century inspiring/challanging enough to attract scholars to construct theories. However, cruising the 21st century dubbed by many as an era of religious revivalism, political science is in dire need for an indegeneous theory of religion. Nevertheless, stretching the horison into Islamic golden Age, there is one potential candidate by which political scientists may construct a political definition of religion-as a corner stone to build political theory of religions-in Ibn Sina (Avicenna, 981-1037) doctrine of religion as Prophetic Legislation ( الصناعة الشريعة ). Following Ibnu Sina’s doctrine, a political definition of religion will be: (i) A Mechanism of Domination; (ii) By Authoritative and Powerfull Agent over The Masses; (iii) Through Legislation of Practical Knowledge Drilled through Repetitive Symbolic Acts; (iv) Devised with Ethical and Legal System of Incentives; (v) To Create Internal Sense of Existential Certainty and External Public Order
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