Comparative religion

thumb|Various [[religious symbols representing the world's largest religions (from left to right): ]]

Comparative religion is the branch of religious studies that systematically compares the doctrines, practices, themes and impacts (including migration) of the world's religions. In general, the comparative study of religion yields a deeper understanding of the fundamental philosophical concerns of religion such as ethics, metaphysics and the nature and forms of salvation. It also considers and compares the origins and similarities shared between the various religions of the world. Studying such material facilitates a broadened and more sophisticated understanding of human beliefs and practices regarding the sacred, numinous, spiritual and divine.

In the field of comparative religion, a common geographical classification

There also exist various sociological classifications of religious movements.

History

thumb|right|A statue of [[Ibn Hazm, father of modern comparative religious studies, in Córdoba Spain.]]

Al-Biruni (973 – ) and Ibn Hazm (994 – 1064), both of the Islamic Golden Age and considered the "fathers of comparative religion", compared the study of religious pluralism, and their works have been significant in the fields of theology and philosophy. Al-Biruni discussed his idea of history in The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries ( AD) which was translated by Eduard Sachau in the 19th century. It is a comparative study of calendars of different cultures and civilizations, interlaced with mathematical, astronomical, and historical information, exploring the customs and religions of different peoples.

In the seventeenth century, antiquarians such as Athanasius Kircher along with Sir Thomas Browne were pioneering scholars of comparative religion. In 1655, Dara Shikoh authored the Majma-ul-Bahrain a Sufi, text on comparative religion.

Social scientists in the 19th century took a strong interest in comparative and "primitive" religion through the work of Max Müller, Edward Burnett Tylor, William Robertson Smith, James George Frazer, Émile Durkheim, Max Weber, and Rudolf Otto.

Nicholas de Lange, Professor of Hebrew and Jewish Studies at Cambridge University, says that

Examples that demonstrate this point are Buddhism and Chinese Folk Religions. These belief systems have not historically been seen as mutually exclusive and have blended over time into different beliefs such as Pure Land Buddhism. This shows a marked difference from Western conceptions of religions, which see adherence to one religion as precluding membership of another faith.

Hinduism and Buddhism provide another insight in the form of soteriology. Comparative study of religions may approach religions with a base idea of salvation with eternal life after death, but religions like Hinduism or Buddhism don't necessarily share this view. Instead, Hinduism and Theravada Buddhism both speak of a falling back into nonexistence and escaping the cycle of reincarnation, rather than eternal life after death.

Geographical classification

According to Charles Joseph Adams, in the field of comparative religion, a common geographical classification discerns

The original belief in the God of Abraham eventually became strictly monotheistic present-day Rabbinic Judaism. Religious Jews regard Judaism as the expression of the covenant that God established with the Children of Israel. Jews hold that the Torah forms part of the larger text known as the Tanakh or the Hebrew Bible. They also look to a supplemental oral tradition represented by later texts such as the Midrash and the Talmud.

Christians believe that Christianity represents the fulfillment and continuation of the Jewish Old Testament. Christians believe that Jesus (Hebrew Yeshua יֵשׁוּעַ) is the awaited Messiah (Christ) foretold in the Old Testament prophecies, and also honor the subsequently produced New Testament scriptures. Generally, Christians believe that Jesus is both the incarnation of God and the Son of God. Their creeds generally hold in common that the incarnation, ministry, suffering, death on the cross, and resurrection of Jesus took place for the salvation of mankind.

Islam teaches that the present Christian and Jewish scriptures have been corrupted over time and are no longer the original divine revelations as given to the Jewish people and to Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. For Muslims, the Quran is the final, complete revelation from God (Arabic الله Allah); they believe it to have been revealed to Muhammad alone, whom they characterise as the final prophet of Islam and as the Khatam an-Nabiyyin, meaning the last of the prophets ever sent by Allah ("seal of the prophets").

Based on the Muslim figure of the Mahdī, the ultimate savior of humankind and the final Imām of the Twelve Imams, Ali Muhammad Shirazi, later known as "the Báb", created the Bábí movement out of the belief that he was the gate to the Twelfth Imām. This signaled a break with Islam and started a new religious system, Bábism. However, in the 1860s a split occurred, after which the vast majority of Bábís who considered Mirza Husayn `Ali or Bahá'u'lláh to be the Báb's spiritual successor founded the Baháʼí Movement, while the minority who followed Subh-i-Azal came to be called Azalis. The Baháʼí division eventually became a full-fledged religion in its own right, the Baháʼí Faith. In comparison to the other Abrahamic religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - the number of adherents for Baháʼí faith and other minor Abrahamic religions are not very numerous.

Out of the three major Abrahamic faiths, Christianity and Judaism are the two religions that diverge the most in theology and practice.

The historical interaction between Islam and Judaism started in the 7th century CE with the origin and spread of Islam. There are many common aspects between Islam and Judaism, and as Islam developed, it gradually became the major religion closest to Judaism. In contrast to Christianity, which originated from interaction between ancient Greek, Roman, and Hebrew cultures, Judaism is very similar to Islam in its fundamental religious outlook, structure, jurisprudence and practice. There are many traditions within Islam that originate from traditions which are recorded in the Hebrew Bible or which stem from post-biblical Jewish traditions. These practices are known collectively as the Isra'iliyat.

The historical interaction between Christianity and Islam connects fundamental ideas in Christianity with similar ones in Islam. Islam accepts many aspects of Christianity as part of its faithwith some differences in interpretationand rejects other aspects; for example, it simplifies complex Christian Christological teaching and completely avoids the potential pitfalls of Trinitarianism. Islam holds that the Quran is the final revelation from God and a completion of all previous revelations, including the Bible.

Mandaeism, sometimes also known as Sabianism (after the mysterious Sabians mentioned in the Quran, a name historically claimed by several religious groups), is a Gnostic and monotheistic religion. John the Baptist is their chief prophet, and frequent baptism is part of their core practices. According to most scholars, Mandaeism originated sometime in the first three centuries CE, either in southwestern Mesopotamia or in the Syro-Palestinian area. However, some scholars take the view that Mandaeism is older and dates from pre-Christian times. Mandaeans assert that their religion predates Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as a monotheistic faith. Mandaeans believe that they descend directly from Shem, Noah's son, and also from John the Baptist's original disciples.

Iranian religions

Several important religions and religious movements originated in Greater Iran, that is, among speakers of various Iranian languages. They include Ætsæg Din, Manichaeism, Mazdakism, Mithraism, Ahl-e Haqq, Yazdanism, Zoroastrianism, and Zurvanism.

thumb|Depiction of the [[Faravahar, a popular symbol for Zoroastrianism]]

Perhaps one of the most important religions that originated in Iran was Zoroastrianism. While not, properly speaking, a world religion, it became widespread in the Iranian cultural sphere, especially through the Achaemenid and Sasanian Empires. It went into decline alongside many Iranian religions with the rise of Islam and the establishment of Caliphates. The religion still survives today in small numbers, with a particularly notable example being the Parsis in India and Pakistan.

Scholars have often noted the similarities between Zoroastrianism and the Abrahamic religions, especially Christianity. They've particularly noted this due to the historic relationship between the Jews and the Zoroastrian Persian Empires, as well as the relationship between Greek philosophy, Persia, and Christianity. They've debated whether Zoroastrianism played an influential role in shaping these religions.

Key areas of concern include a shared sense of duality between the forces of good and evil, or light and darkness. In addition to this, there is a shared belief in the resurrection of the dead as well as an emphasis on free will and the moral responsibility of mankind. These are seen by some as having influenced the three major Abrahamic faiths as well as Gnosticism and the Baháʼí Faith. Furthermore, Manichaeism and Mandaeism also share a common belief in many of the figures and stories of the Abrahamic faiths, which has raised questions of influences and origins.

Indian religions

thumb|right|150px|The [[Rig Veda is one of the oldest Vedic texts. Shown here is a Rig Veda manuscript in Devanagari, early nineteenth century.]]

In comparative religion, Indian religions refer to all the faiths that originated in South Asia. It is believed that "the kinship of the religions of India stems from the fact that Jains, Buddhists, and Sikhs look back to Hinduism as their common mother." who consolidated the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta.