Religious groups in the sociology of Ünver Günay

Known for his great contributions to the formation of Turkish religious sociology, Professor. Dr. Ünver Günay was born in the town of Söğüt in Bilecik in 1942. After completing his primary, secondary and high school education, he studied the Theology Department at Ankara University. Günay, who received his graduate education abroad, worked in various institutions of our country. The methodological perspective that Günay has developed in the framework of his sociological approach and his knowledge of both religious and social sciences makes him different from other sociologists. Günay, as in other subjects in his sociology, was very meticulous while examining the subject of religious groups. He says that the birth, development and collapse of religious groups concern religious sociologists as well as historians of religions. According to him, while the historian examines the course of the history of a religion horizontally; The sociologist deals with the vertical cross-section of development, discussing the nature and types of the religious group, its structure and establishment, and the changes it has undergone. Günay emphasizes the importance of knowing social groups when examining religious groups. In this context, he says that religious groups are related to social groups. Examining religious groups under the names of "Natural" and "Sheer" religious groups, Günay also includes more information on the subject by dividing them into sub-categories. Günay stated that it is wrong to consider the conceptualization of religious traditions and traditions of the religious traditions of western countries, which are trained by western countries in their sociology, in the context of their work, as a general method or a way to spread the conceptualization of religious groups. Günay does not accept a memorizing approach and criticizes those who are trying to find solutions to the problems of the Turkish society as if they were accepted by the sociologists grown in the West and applied them as if they were the right method. While he is seeking a solution to the problems of the Turkish society, he emphasizes the wrongness of following in the footsteps of the foreigners, and at the same time, he says that those who want to adapt the brilliant experiences of the past Islamic communities to the present and to achieve the result in this way, by examining the religious-based social events of the people with a historical perspective. Considering the social, economic and cultural needs and changes of today, Günay draws attention to a dynamic religious perception in interaction with the social environment instead of a static religious perception by opposing the scientific and memorizing thoughts and patterns. Keywords: Turk, Unver Gunay, Religion, Sociology, Religious Groups, Social, Group, Historian