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This research investigates the subject of the dialogue between the Indic and Sufi philosophies in the Muslim world and common theological and metaphysical backgrounds of the two traditions. Both Indic and Sufi traditions are based on the denial of the physical world, the sanctity of an individual and the achievement of the state of unity. The research is focused on the ontological side of the two traditions and their views on spirituality; non-dualism in Vedanta and tawhid in Sufism, their views on self, worship and the way to the divine. The study also captures the historical and cultural interaction that made it possible for the two traditions to touch each other intellectually and spiritually with special focus on the spread of Islam in South Asia. By analyzing these similarities this research conclude that Indic and Sufi philosophies offer two different ways of understanding the divine, human being and salvation. This comparative study helps readers to understand some of the syncretistic traditions that are part of the religious experience of the Islamic world and to better appreciate the complex patterns of religions of the world.

Scholars have argued for centuries about the relative importance of religion in determining behavior. Do actors with genuine religious beliefs, both leaders and foot soldiers, actually fight wars and commit atrocities in the name of religion and religious institutions? Or is religion a proxy for materialist variables such as land grabs or wealth creation? A case study of the Catholic Crusading movement and an evaluation of Crusading as an institution demonstrate that religiously motivated military campaigns, when decisive conclusions are not possible, may last longer than other campaigns because of the nonmaterial reasons for continuing to fight. Despite spectacular failures and rising costs, Crusading continued for centuries. The evidence shows that it is impossible to comprehend the persistence of Crusading over a severalhundred-year period without understanding the religious devotion at the heart of this institution. This research contributes to growing work in international relations on the importance of identity attributes and helps to explain how factors such as religion can influence processes such as crisis bargaining and war termination.

يُركِّز البحث على العناصر الأساسية التي يتحقَّق بموجبها الانتقال من العقل النظري إلى العقل العملي، أو من منطق الصحة الذي مداره العلم والفلسفة إلى منطق الصلاحية الذي مداره السياق التاريخي والسياق الاجتماعي، وذلك من منظور المنهجية التي بسطها مالك بن نبي، ولكنْ في سياق التحديات والمشكلات الراهنة. وقد أظهر البحث أنَّ شروط تحقُّق هذا الانتقال من النظر إلى العمل تتمثل في ثلاث ركائز صحيحة ينبغي توافرها؛ الأُولى: الفكرة الدينية بوصفها نقطة الانطلاق، والثانية: الوعي الروحي بماهية السند الشعوري والمحسوس للفكرة الدينية، والثالثة: روح القيام بالواجب لا المطالبة بالحقوق. وتُعَدُّ هذه المنظومة الدرب الذي يأخذ بيد الإنسان إلى الحضارة من جديد؛ قصْد الارتفاع إلى قداسة الوجود الإنساني بعد بلوغ مرحلة الحضارة.

Four-to 6-year-old children (N = 131) heard religious or nonreligious stories and were questioned about their belief in the reality of the story characters and events. Children had low to moderate levels of belief in the characters and events. Children in the religious story condition had higher levels of belief in the reality of the characters and events than did children in the nonreligious condition; this relation strengthened with age. Children who used God as an explanation for the events showed higher levels of belief in the factuality of those events. Story familiarity and family religiosity also affected children's responses. The authors conclude that God's involvement in a story influences children's belief in the reality of the characters and events in that story.

This study examines the perspective of Malek Bennabi regarding the role of religion (religious idea) in building civilization. Bennabi’s writings are analyzed to comprehend his understanding of religion and its multiple dimensions. Specifically, the paper focuses on three dimensions of religion, namely religion as a part of universal laws, as a historical force, and as a governing principle of thought. Bennabi’s view about the civilizing function of religion is also highlighted, including its objectives as outlined in the Quran, its historical significance, and its social dimensions. The study concludes that his perception of religion encompasses various dimensions, including existential, metaphysical, teleological, and practical dimensions. Furthermore, religion serves a crucial role as a compound of civilizational values, providing a medium for individual and group formation, organizing human thought towards spiritual goals, embodying the relationship between God and man, and establishing a moral law that gives meaning to human life and actions. Bennabi’s work on religion and civilization is of utmost significance in contemporary discussions about the role of religion in the society. Hence, this study contributes to the ongoing discourse by providing an in-depth analysis of his perspective, which emphasizes the positive and constructive impact of religion on human society. By recognizing the civilizational function of religion, Bennabi’s work promotes a more nuanced and inclusive understanding of religion in the contemporary society.

This article explores the effects of religious appeals by politicians on attitudes and behavior. Although politicians frequently make religious appeals, the effectiveness of these appeals and the mechanisms of persuasion are unknown. This article explores the possibility that religious language can affect political attitudes through implicit processes. Because religious attachments are formed early in the lives of many Americans, religious language may influence citizens without their awareness. Implicit and explicit attitudes are related but distinct constructs, and implicit attitudes may have behavioral implications in the political realm. I test these hypotheses experimentally, relying on a widely used implicit measure, the Implicit Association Test. I find that a Christian religious appeal affects implicit attitudes and political behavior among people who currently or previously identify as Christian. Furthermore, an explicit preference for less religion in politics does not moderate implicit effects.

The renewed interest in the life and ideas of Fray Servando Teresa de Mier originates this article. The study tries to analyze the relationship between his religious convictions based on the Dominican tradition, and his ideas concerning political independence, liberalism and republicanism detectable in his Memoirs. Particular focus is laid on the psychological function of a very efficient rhetoric in Fray Servando’s text and the importance of closed spaces in the process of its writing.

Religious modes of thinking about the world are widespread in Africa, and have a pervasive influence on politics in the broadest sense. We have published elsewhere a theoretical model as to how the relationship between politics and religion may be understood, with potential benefits for observers not just of Africa, but also of other parts of the world where new combinations of religion and politics are emerging. Application of this theoretical model requires researchers to rethink some familiar categories of social science.

The \"crusades\"—a series of wars launched by the Latin Church between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries—pose a significant unresolved puzzle for International Relations Theory. The purpose of this article is to develop a historically sensitive yet theoretically governed account of the crusades that solves this puzzle. Empirically, the article draws heavily on a body of historiographical work that emphasizes the constitutive role of \"religious\" ideas and discourses in the evolution of the crusades. Theoretically, it adopts a constructivist approach, specifying the intersubjective factors that enabled the crusades to emerge as a significant instrument of papal \"statecraft\" and as a key element of medieval geopolitical relations. The article concludes with some reflections on the theoretical relevance of this account of the crusades for both medieval geopolitics and contemporary international relations.

Across contemporary Mongolia, people feel that precious religious knowledge has been lost during socialism, and that an unbridgeable gap between pre-socialist and post-socialist times has emerged. Instead of viewing this as a passive lack of knowledge, however, this article explores the procreative aspects of absent knowledge. It is argued that such absence is a precondition for the efficacy of certain religious images and practices because it directs people's attention towards a compelling unknown. Here, religious knowledge is effective only insofar as it is revealed as a concealed but potent presence through magico-religious charms and (post-) socialist imaginations. It is argued that the presence of absent knowledge is a cause that does not contain its effects, and, hence, that relations to the unknown are also unknown relations. /// Les habitants de la Mongolie contemporaine ont le sentiment que des savoirs religieux précieux se sont perdus pendant l'ère socialiste et qu'un fossé infranchissable s'est creusé entre les époques pré-et post-socialiste. Au lieu d'y voir un manque de connaissances passif, l'auteur explore ici les aspects procréatifs de l'absence de connaissances. Il avance que cette absence est une condition nécessaire à l'efficacité de certaines images et pratiques religieuses, parce qu'elle attire l'attention des gens vers un inconnu irrésistible. Les connaissances religieuses ne sont efficaces ici que pour autant qu'elles soient révélées comme une présence cachée mais puissante, grâce à des charmes magico-religieux et à l'imaginaire (post-isocialiste. L'auteur affirme que la présence de connaissances absentes est une cause qui ne contient pas ses effets et que, de ce fait, les relations à l'inconnu sont aussi des relations inconnues.