The Emergence of Religion in Light of the Social Interpretive Approach: An Analytical Critical Study
2026-04-21 16:30Hussein Al-Haji
Abstract
This study offers a critical examination of the "Social Interpretive Approach," which conceptualizes religion as a human social construct that emerged to interpret natural and existential phenomena, thereby rejecting both divine revelation and innate disposition (fitrah). The research adopts a comparative critical analytical methodology to examine the philosophical foundations of this approach as articulated by Comte, Taylor, and Frazer, thereby demonstrating the inadequacy of its materialist interpretation. The study concludes that this perspective fails to provide an objective explanation for the emergence of religion, owing to its reductionist tendency to confine religion within its social dimension, its methodological conflation of the "origin of religion" with its "function," and its unjustified generalization that equates established religions with primitive practices. The study concludes by affirming the Islamic perspective, which maintains that religion originates from divine revelation, and that innate disposition (fiṭrah) serves as the internal intuitive evidence thereof.
Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
