Religion: Introductory research for the study of the history of religions

Author's name: Muhammad Abdullah Daraz

The term "history of religions" is an Arabicized form of the Frankish language, and its use as such is relatively recent, unknown in Europe until the dawn of the nineteenth century. However, the study of human beliefs is fundamentally an ancient matter, contemporary to the diversity of people's faiths and doctrines. Its scope expands and contracts depending on the degree of interaction between adherents of different religions and their understanding of each other's doctrines. Similarly, its character and direction vary according to the diverse inclinations and objectives of researchers.