المستخلص: |
This essay introduces some basic concepts associated with the study of religion from the perspective of social sciences as a basic need unique to humans (Adamites’). Theories and speculation about when, why and how man became endowed with religion are outlined; these include perceiving the religious urge in "evolutionary" or "devolutionary" anthropological terms on the one hand and in "psychoanalytical" (Freudian) or "Analytical Psychological" (Jungian) terms on the other. The evolutionary link between "magic" and "religion" as rituals addressing the supernatural is highlighted. The system Anthony F. Wallace introduced in the late 1960s is outlined, along with its potential applicability to the study of how formal monotheistic belief systems are perceived and exercised on daily bases by laymen. In this respect, his concept of the "cult institution" as a tool for analyzing the religious institution is found to be of practical relevance for the study of "Islam among the folk,” and identifying beliefs and practices that folk groups may perceive as part of formal religion where as they actually are not. The cult institutions designated as "individualistic" "Shamanistic" and "communal" are of immediate practical relevance in this respect.
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