worldviewthat is built on a square base representing the earth, and it is covered by
a round thatched roof that symbolizes heaven. As the year progresses, the
emperor follows the flow of nature and moves from one part of the pal-
ace to another in order to place himself at the quarter of the palace dom-
inated by the calendar. Thus the emperor successively inaugurates the
seasons and the months, and he incarnates the center of the world, serving
as the connection between heaven and earth.
The classical worldview of China involves a triad of heaven, earth, and
human beings implying that humans are called to imitate the behavior of
heaven and earth. The cosmos teaches three lessons: (1) heaven and earth
are life-giving, nurture and sustain life, and bring it to completion; (2)
everything in life is relational because nothing comes into being in isola-
tion and nothing survives in isolation within a hierarchical structure in
which the context of heaven is superior and creative and earth is inferior
and receptive; and (3) the cosmos operates orderly and with harmony,
with each part acting for the good of the whole and observing a deference
for each other, such as the sun dominating the daytime and yielding its
place to the moon at night. This cosmic order is the primary source for a
divine revelation and serves as a model of human society.
Classical Islam divides the world into two parts: unseen and visible,
with God reigning over both and humans over the latter. The Qur’anic
world is also divided into present and after world with humans living in
the present, lower world, whereas the after world, which stands in sharp
contrast to the first world, is that location to come in the future. Both of
these worlds are connected by the Last Day or Day of Judgment.
Moreover, the after world is divided into two entities: the Garden and
Hell Fire. This structure allows one to notice that the Qur’anic world-
view is based on a conceptual opposition.
This structure of opposition can be witnessed with other aspects of the
Islamic worldview. Although there is an ontological relation between God
and humans, humans owe their existence to God, which implies that humans
are infinitely inferior to God. It is God that stands at the center of this world
of being with humans serving as God’s creatures. Therefore, the ontological
world is theocentric in its structure. The relational aspects of the Islamic
worldview are also evident in the two kinds of communicative relations:
verbal and non-verbal. The communication of God to humans assumes the
form of revelation, whereas prayer is the means of communication of
humans to God. The non-verbal form of communication from God to
humans takes the form of signs, while humans communicate with God by
means of ritual worship. There is also the Lord–servant relationship that
emphasizes God’s majesty, sovereignty and absolute power, which stands
in sharp contrast to the status of the servant, who is humble, modest, and