Religious individualisation among university youth

The first aim of this study is to determine the phenomenon of "individualisation in Islam" theoretically. In this context, the intellectual and practical conditions of islamic societies were focused on and "individualisation of religion" was tried to be conceptualized under these conditions. The second aim is to question whether formal religious education is effective on this individualisation. In this context, an application was made on university youth. The importance of the issue comes first from the originality of the conceptual framework and then from the trial of this framework with an original application. In this study, three types of individualisation are identified in terms of islamic religion. The first is called "Modern Salafi Individualisation" in this study. This type, which can be described as a kind of "weak individualisation"; rejects the sectarian loyalties, hierarchical production of science and all the traditional elements produced by them and foresees directly linked to religious texts and early examples of islamic society. It suggests realising all these with an individual effort. The "weakness" of this type is that it carries individualisation in its form, not in its essence. The second is called "modernist individualisation". In this type of individualisation, all the elements rejected by the "Modern Salafists" are rejected, but the first term practices are added to it, and the text of the Qur'an is left alone with the mind of the individual. In this approach, all religious knowledge is produced in today's conditions with the human mind based on the text of the Qur'an. The third is the "postmodernist individualisation" form in which the truth is positioned horizontally. This form allows for an unlimited production of "multiple" truths in religion and accepts everyone's religion and religious view without making a distinction right or wrong. This thesis consists of four chapters. The first chapter is devoted to literature review and concept definitions. The second chapter deals with the nature of collective religion and tries to determine the origin of individual religious understanding. In this context, the study examines the nature of hierarchical structures and identifies three types of hierarchical structures material, spiritual and chronological (traditional). The phenomenon of individualisation is dealt with through the dissolution of these hierarchical structures. This study argues that individualisation increases as the hierarchical structure (mediated) on the individual decreases. These findings also determine the theoretical point of view of the thesis. The third chapter is the most comprehensive and deals with individualization in Islam. And the fourth chapter is devoted to the application phase. The typologies of individualisation defined in this research were applied with an original questionnaire form and the Faculty of Theology students and the Faculty of Arts and Science students were compared. According to this, it was found out that the Arts and Science students tend to postmodernist individualization and that the Faculty of Theology students are positioned between the traditional and Modern Salafist categories. In the study, in the religion of Islam, it was concluded that the formal religious education received was quite effective on individualisation in religion. Key Words: Islam, Individualization, Religion, Hierarchical Structures, Religious Education