Religious-moral role modeling of religious officials in the context of social cognitive learning theory

In this qualitative study, the religious-moral role modeling of religious officials is discussed in the context of social cognitive learning theory. It has been analyzed how the role modeling of imam hatips and muezzin trustees working in mosques affiliated with the Presidency of Religious Affairs in Samsun province and its districts is perceived by the mosque community. The study consists of two main parts. In the first part, the topics of social cognitive learning theory, learning through models in the Islamic education tradition, and the cleric as a religious-moral role model are discussed using the document analysis technique. In the second part of the study, based on the interview data conducted with 46 people in 2023, it was tried to understand how religious officials were perceived as role models by the mosque community. Participants' statements, themes and codes located under these themes are shown in tables. Then, these themes and codes were analyzed and interpreted using theory, and some inferences were reached. 10 of the participants have taken a religious official as a role model in the past or currently do. It was observed that the most important code emphasized by all participants regarding the religious officials who were taken as role models was "communication". According to the participants, most religious officials cannot be role models. Factors affecting religious officials not being role models: personal factors, mosque-centered activities, non-mosque activities and institutional factors. The most frequently expressed theme is personal factors and these factors include civil servant mentality, word-behavior incompatibility, weakness in communication, personality, lack of knowledge and equipment. Finally, the participants expressed the characteristics that a successful and effective role model religious official should have. The most frequently expressed codes are communication, religious knowledge/equipment and word-behavior harmony, respectively. As a result, it was determined that social cognitive learning theory was compatible with the participant statements, and religious officials could not be role models for the mosque community and were not taken as role models. The most striking and important finding of the study is that the participants made comments about personal characteristics rather than issues such as prayer, adhan, sermon and sermon, which are the primary responsibilities of religious officials.