Secularism and the relationship between religion and society

Zahraa’ Al-Salem

Abstract

 The article studies and analyses the relationship between religion and society, and discusses how secularism dealt with religion as it is considered a well-established phenomenon in human societies. Therefore, we shall refer to the important foundations and elements of secularism that are specific to this topic, and then discuss the application of secularism to Islamic societies. We have followed the descriptive analytical approach that led us to certain results showing that secularism- despite its being the product of limited Christian thought that was unable to meet the needs and requirements of the new era, and despite its difference with the characteristics of Islam- was welcomed by some Islamic societies. These societies have drawn a way and direction to show the relationship between religion and man, through which they have embraced secularism in a special way, and been able to establish their authorities and governments with this thought, which called for limiting the role of religion in the social arena, considering it as a private individual matter, and removing its issues from the political government system, or limiting and restricting them.
 The discussion of secularism, in terms of its dealing with the steadfast relationship between religion and politics, and evaluation of the types of applying secularism in Islamic societies, has opened the way for analyzing and criticizing this kind of thought from this side, whether theoretically or practically.

Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)