Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founder Rector Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, was a guest at the Akra Search Conference, moderated by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Oğuz Babüroğlu. Tarhan, who made evaluations in the program attended by Akra employees, experts guesting and consulting Akra, and worldwide participants, said; “Currently, we need to grasp the language young people understand. For instance, young people ask not how to perform prayer, but why to perform it. This is a question of 'Ilm al-Kalam' (science of dialectic theology). We can reach young people on this matter linguistically.”
“Traumas caused a change in societal perceptions”
Tarhan, stating his views on the shortcomings of group studies, said; “Regarding shortcomings, apart from limited news sources within principles, weakness in critical direction, editorial deficiencies, and short spots, I also have an opinion. There are two major traumas that have occupied our recent years. One is the July 15th trauma, and the other is the Covid trauma. These two traumas show that we need to provide new answers to many old questions. There are old, classical existential questions. These traumas have brought about a change in societal perceptions. People's definition of certainty towards religious groups has changed. Therefore, we must definitely consider this negative perception towards religious groups.” he stated.
Globalization brought the problem of loneliness among young people…
Tarhan stated that a serious problem of loneliness has emerged, especially among young people, as a result of rapid global digitalization during this period; “England established a ministry to address this loneliness problem. Japan also established a ministry on March 3rd. Suicides have further increased in these countries after Covid. On top of this, a new branch of science, like a continuation of psychology, has emerged in America. Harvard introduced Positive Psychology as a course in 2015, and Yale in 2018. It is offered as a public course at Yale University. 3 million people want to take this course. I believe we need to grasp the language young people understand right now.
For example, young people ask not how to perform prayer, but why to perform it. This is a question of 'Ilm al-Kalam'. The Akra group is one of the most accessible powers to the public after TRT. I saw this in my 'Marriage School' project. It is a group that synthesizes religion and science well. Linguistically, we can reach young people on this matter. Currently, a closed group of listeners can be turned into an open group. For this, we need to analyze global needs. Currently, the biggest global problem is loneliness. Western philosophy reduced capitalism, hedonism, and narcissism to a life purpose. There are currently books on the 'illness of narcissism'. This is already known as 'nefis terbiyesi' (self-discipline/purification of the soul) in our culture. If we approach young people with classical 'nefis terbiyesi', we cannot teach them. This time, young people will run away saying, 'You are doing religious propaganda to me.' This is a reality. Building upon this reality, we can bridge the old and new religious values. We respect tradition, but we are not traditionalists. It would be good if there could be a format change in the style of wisdom education.” he expressed.
“Ensuring accessibility to young people is the greatest need”
Tarhan stated that ensuring accessibility to young people is the greatest need; “There are 21st-century skills. The half-life of knowledge used to be 30 years, now it has fallen to 3 years. We need to update our 21st-century skills. While doing this, existential constants are very important. We will use these constants as strategic goals. As you know, vision involves imagining what one can be, and mission involves imagining what one can do. We will currently renovate this vision and mission. As you know, that is also the purpose of the search conference.
Tarhan: “The equivalent of 'Ilm al-Kalam' is philosophy of science…”
For example, I see the Quran and Hadith as constants. Other topics are not constants. Imam al-Ghazali is not a constant, in my opinion. Imam al-Ghazali enlightened his era, Mawlana enlightened his era. All of them enlightened their respective eras, and thanks to them, we can use those sources. Therefore, we need to provide new answers to some old questions based on the non-constant data of this era. To speak more openly, the equivalent of 'Ilm al-Kalam' is the philosophy of science. This needs to be brought down to high school level. When I tell this to theology professors, they say to me, 'Philosophy is the subject of the ulama (Islamic scholars).' The ulama say, 'Islamic scholars discuss among themselves.' In my opinion, it is no longer the subject of the ulama but rather high school students. Therefore, there should be a program in the style of a wisdom school. The program should unite the mind with the heart, the past with the future, and synthesize science. I am saying these things considering its audience and culture, and by looking at the big picture from a distance. If Akra FM's target audience becomes young people, then young people will create a new audience anyway. Ensuring accessibility to young people is the greatest need. Without criticism, there is no analysis. Therefore, doing these things means, in a way, redrawing one's roadmap.” he concluded.