Challenges of Developing Cultural Capital from the Perspective of the Qur'an and Hadith

Abstract

The development and reinforcement of cultural capital in Islamic countries—and the integration of its foundational principles within the framework of modern educational and social systems—entail unique complexities that may be met with various challenges requiring identification and analysis. Accordingly, this study employs a library-based methodology and adopts a descriptive-inferential research approach to qualitatively analyze the content of Qur’anic verses and Hadiths through thematic exegesis. The study identifies these challenges from the viewpoint of the Qur’an and Hadith. The findings indicate that the most significant obstacle to the formation of cultural capital in Islamic societies lies in four domains: epistemological-intellectual (e.g., the suspension of reason and intellectual despotism), ethical-moral (e.g., hypocrisy and disbelief), social (e.g., historical distortion and the promotion of inappropriate models), and theological-doctrinal (e.g., superficial understanding of religion). These challenges not only endanger cultural authenticity but also prevent societies from attaining a civilizational model rooted in divine guidance. However, such challenges can be addressed through Qur’anic and Hadith-based teachings such as strengthening religious knowledge and awareness, fostering social ethics, utilizing divine and educational models, combating cultural monopolization, and ultimately enjoining good and forbidding evil. These strategies are grounded in the principles of piety, justice, and collective responsibility. In contrast to secular approaches, they define culture and cultural capital not as tools for the pursuit of power but as a path toward nearness to God and the realization of a just society.