al-Adyan wal-Madhahib - Jamiat al-Madina
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- Jāmiʻat al-Madīnah al-ʻĀlamīyah
al-Adyan wal-Madhahib (Religions and Sects) is an Islamic academic curriculum textbook prepared and published by Al-Madinah International University (Jāmi‘at al-Madīnah al-‘Ālamiyyah) for postgraduate students at the master's degree level, designated under course code GUSU5053.
Scope and Objectives
The textbook is structured in a single volume composed of educational lessons that provide an analytical overview of the history of religions, the meaning of religion, revealed faiths, and man-made doctrines. It frames the study of religions (‘ilm al-adyān) as an essential scholarly obligation for Islamic students and preachers (du‘āt), aimed at understanding theological history, safeguarding Islamic belief, countering missionary efforts (khatar al-munasirin), and engaging adherents of other traditions through reasoned argumentation and textual evidence.
Content and Structure
The work encompasses conceptual terminology, historical developments, and specific religious traditions:
- Conceptual Foundations: The early lessons define religion both linguistically and terminologically, distinguish between divinely revealed religions (al-adyān al-samāwiyyah) and man-made religions (al-adyān al-wad‘iyyah), clarify distinctions between related terms such as creed (milla), sect (nihla), religious law (sharī‘ah), and spiritual methodology (minhāj), and outline the Islamic stance toward various belief systems.
- Historical Overview: The book surveys the chronological documentation of religious ideas from ancient civilizations up to the European Renaissance. It examines the religious records of ancient Egypt inscribed on papyri and temple walls, the philosophical and mythological developments of ancient Greece—referencing figures like Pythagoras, Plato, and Homer alongside their pantheon atop Mount Olympus—and Roman religious adaptations, citing writers such as Cicero and Varro.
- World Traditions and Doctrines: It explores major Eastern and ancient belief systems, including Buddhism as a historical reform movement emerging within the Indian subcontinent against the rigid caste authority of the Brahmins, as well as Greco-Roman religious systems.
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