An Islamic Perspective (Cultura. Vol. XI, No. 1 (2014))
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CULTURA CULTURA INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY OF CULTURE CULTURA AND AXIOLOGY Founded in 2004, Cultura. International Journal of Philosophy of 2014 Culture and Axiology is a semiannual peer-reviewed journal devo- 1 2014 Vol XI No 1 ted to philosophy of culture and the study of value. It aims to pro- mote the exploration of different values and cultural phenomena in regional and international contexts. The editorial board encourages the submission of manuscripts based on original research that are judged to make a novel and important contribution to understan- ding the values and cultural phenomena in the contempo rary world. CULTURE AND AXIOLOGY CULTURE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY INTERNATIONAL ISBN 978-3-631-65486-6 www.peterlang.com CULTURA 2014_265846_VOL_11_No1_GR_A5Br.indd.indd 1 14.05.14 17:43 CULTURA CULTURA INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY OF CULTURE CULTURA AND AXIOLOGY Founded in 2004, Cultura. International Journal of Philosophy of 2014 Culture and Axiology is a semiannual peer-reviewed journal devo- 1 2014 Vol XI No 1 ted to philosophy of culture and the study of value. It aims to pro- mote the exploration of different values and cultural phenomena in regional and international contexts. The editorial board encourages the submission of manuscripts based on original research that are judged to make a novel and important contribution to understan- ding the values and cultural phenomena in the contempo rary world. CULTURE AND AXIOLOGY CULTURE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY INTERNATIONAL www.peterlang.com CULTURA 2014_265846_VOL_11_No1_GR_A5Br.indd.indd 1 14.05.14 17:43 CULTURA INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY OF CULTURE AND AXIOLOGY Cultura. International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology E-ISSN (Online): 2065-5002 ISSN (Print): 1584-1057 Advisory Board Prof. Dr. David Altman, Instituto de Ciencia Política, Universidad Catolica de Chile, Chile Prof. Emeritus Dr. Horst Baier, University of Konstanz, Germany Prof. Dr. David Cornberg, University Ming Chuan, Taiwan Prof. Dr. Paul Cruysberghs, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium Prof. Dr. Nic Gianan, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Philippines Prof. Dr. Marco Ivaldo, Department of Philosophy “A. Aliotta”, University of Naples “Federico II”, Italy Prof. Dr. Michael Jennings, Princeton University, USA Prof. Dr. Maximiliano E. Korstanje, University of Palermo, Argentina Prof. Dr. Richard L. Lanigan, Southern Illinois University, USA Prof. Dr. Christian Lazzeri, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, France Prof. Dr. Massimo Leone, University of Torino, Italy Prof. Dr. Asunción López-Varela Azcárate, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain Prof. Dr. Christian Möckel, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany Prof. Dr. Devendra Nath Tiwari, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India Prof. Dr. José María Paz Gago, University of Coruña, Spain Prof. Dr. Mario Perniola, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Italy Prof. Dr. Traian D. Stănciulescu, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Iassy, Romania Prof. Dr. Steven Tötösy de Zepetnek, Purdue University & Ghent University Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief: Co-Editors: Prof. dr. Nicolae Râmbu Prof. dr. Aldo Marroni Faculty of Philosophy and Social- Dipartimento di Lettere, Arti e Scienze Sociali Political Sciences Università degli Studi G. d’Annunzio Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Via dei Vestini, 31, 66100 Chieti Scalo, Italy B-dul Carol I, nr. 11, 700506 Iasi, Romania [email protected] [email protected] PD Dr. Till Kinzel Executive Editor: Englisches Seminar Dr. Simona Mitroiu Technische Universität Braunschweig, Human Sciences Research Department Bienroder Weg 80, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University 38106 Braunschweig, Germany Lascar Catargi, nr. 54, 700107 Iasi, Romania [email protected] [email protected] Editorial Assistant: Dr. Marius Sidoriuc Designer: Aritia Poenaru Cultura International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology Vol. 11, No. 1 (2014) Editor-in-Chief Nicolae Râmbu Bibliographic Information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de. Umschlagabbildung: © Aritia Poenaru ISSN 2065-5002 ISBN 978-3-631-65486-6 (Print) E-ISBN 978-3-653-04760-8 (E-Book) DOI 10.3726/978-3-653-04760-8 © Peter Lang GmbH Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften Frankfurt am Main 2014 All rights reserved. Peter Lang Edition is an Imprint of Peter Lang GmbH. Peter Lang – Frankfurt am Main · Bern · Bruxelles · New York · Oxford · Warszawa · Wien All parts of this publication are protected by copyright. Any utilisation outside the strict limits of the copyright law, without the permission of the publisher, is forbidden and liable to prosecution. This applies in particular to reproductions, translations, microfilming, and storage and processing in electronic retrieval systems. This publication has been peer reviewed. www.peterlang.com CONTENTS Kyung Han You & Jiha Kim 7 Marcuse’s Legacy and Foucault’s Challenge: A Critical Inquiry into the Relationship between Comedic Pleasure and the Popular Media Pedro Blas González 23 The Economics of Being: The Struggle for Existence in Prehistory Luka Zevnik 41 The Discussion about the Universality of Happiness and the Promise of Neuroscience Peter Mathews 63 The Morality Meme: Nietzsche and A Serious Man Patrizia Torricelli 83 The Cognitive Basis of Value in Grammatical Form: A Case Study of the Italian Verbs vedere volere and avere Cyril-Mary P. Olatunji 99 A Philosophical Comparison of John 1:1-18 and the Yoruba Concept of ÒrÒ Mahdi Dahmardeh, Hossein Timcheh Memar & Abbas Timcheh 113 Memar On Ethics and Culture: A Matter of Variation or Deviation? A study on Top Notch Series Adrian Nita 127 Leibniz on Spontaneity as a Basic Value Benaouda Bensaid & Fadila Grine 141 Old Age and Elderly Care: An Islamic Perspective Georg W. Oesterdiekhoff 165 Psychological Stage Development and Societal Evolution. A Completely New Foundation to the Interrelationship between Psychology and Sociology Dragos Bigu 193 The Place of Values in Scientific Knowledge 10.5840/cultura20141119 Cultura. International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology 11(1)/2014: 141–163 Old Age and Elderly Care: An Islamic Perspective Benaouda Bensaid Department of Fundamental Knowledge and Inter-Disciplinary Studies International Islamic University Malaysia 53100 Jalan Gombak Kuala Lumpur [email protected] Fadila Grine Department of Da‘wah and Human Development Academy of Islamic Studies University Malaya, Malaysia Abstract. A proper understanding of the Islamic perspective on old age with par- ticular consideration of significant current changes and adaptations affecting Muslim elderly’s emotional, cultural and socio-economic needs, transitions and transfor- mations requires a degree of acquaintance with Islam’s religious principles and val- ues. This paper discusses a number of theological and moral concepts and themes pertaining to the elderly in Islam while highlighting the moral and ethical value sys- tem underlying Muslims’ position on ageing and old age. This study shows the ex- tent to which the axiomatic perspective of Islam on old age is essentially shaped by religious beliefs, laws and spiritual practice. This inquiry into Muslim values on old age and elderly care would be of benefit to researchers on religious and cultural val- ues; particularly in multicultural contexts, and yet again more instrumental to health professionals, counselors and social workers interacting with the Muslim elderly. Keywords: Muslim elderly, geriatric care, elderly care, old age, ageing, spiritual well-being. INTRODUCTION Muslim societies are religious by nature and as such, an understanding of their socio-religious fabric is critical not only to reaching a comprehen- sion of their axiomatic perspective on a wide array of issues and prob- lems, notable among which are those of the elderly. To a rather large ex- tent however, the Islamic religious perspective sheds light on societal value systems, moral norms, customs and practices. This dynamic reality of religion and morality continues to sustain a number of traditions in- cluding those relevant to old age and elderly care. The latter is never ab- sent from the body of Muslim literature, particularly in the works of Qur’anic exegesis, hadith, law and manners in general. In his al-Adab al- Mufrad for instance, Bukhari (d. 870) devotes three different chapters to 141 Benaouda Bensaid & Fadila Grine / Old Age and Eldery Care the theme of the elderly; notably the Chapter of the Old person “bab al- kabir,” Chapter of the Virtue of the Old Person “bab fadl al-kabir,” and Chapter of Priority of the Old person as first in both speech and ques- tion “bab yubda’ al-akbar bi al-kalam wa al-su’al.” Similarly a number of early Muslim scholars have also addressed the issue of ageing and the elderly. Ibn Abi al-Dunya is considered one of the earliest authors on the question of ageing, where he discusses greying, dyeing of hair, as well as the conditions and stages of old age. Other Muslim scholars include Ibn Qutaybah al-Dinawari (d. 889) in ‘‘‘uyun al-akhbar,” Imam Ibn Abi ‘Assim bin ‘Amru (d. 900) on “al-khidhab” (dyeing of hair), Ibn Abi al- Dunya al-Asbahani (d. 922) on “al-shib wa al-khidhab” (greying of hair and dyeing of hair), Ibn al-A‘rabi A. bin Muhammad (d. 1450) on “al-Shib wa al- khidhab” (greying of hair and dyeing of hair), Ibn ‘Asakir ‘Ali bin al-Hasan (d. 1175) on