Document Type : Original Article

Author

• seyyed Javad Miri

Associate Professor, Institute of Humanities and Cultural Studies

Abstract

In this article, the author has attempted to inquire about the relevance of Ali Shariati's critique of Durkheim's sociology of religion. There are innumerable studies on Durkheim and the Durkheimian sociology of religion but we have almost no comprehensive research on the Shariatian reading of the Durkheimian sociology of religion. Here, the author has worked on the notion of elementary form of religion as understood by Durkheim within the Shariatian frame of reference. Shariati argues that Durkheim has misunderstood the question of elementariness by equating the 'collective soul' and 'religious emotion' as in Shariati's view these two are fundamentally different in kind and substance. In other words, here the author is attempting to legitimize the Shariatian frame of reference while engaging the Durkheim's sociology of religion.

Keywords

• Ali Shariati
• critique of Durkheim
• sociology of religion