The Roots of Arabic Sociologies of Religion in the Nahda

One of the primary motifs of the Arab Nahda with its thriving printing sector was the production and dissemination of “useful knowledge” —be it scientific, cultural, social, or political. Among the topics addressed in the numerous publications of the Nahda was religion—whether as a general category of social thought or specific religions. While one cannot speak of a scholarly field of the sociology of religion in the Arab world during this period (roughly 1850s – 1920), one can locate in the literature of the Nahda the earliest attempts at producing knowledge about religion in Arabic outside the domain of traditional religious disciplines (such as theology and heresiography). This article will analyze a number of articles and entries from periodicals (especially al-Jinan, al-Muqtataf, and Thamarat al-Funun) and al-Ma’arif Encyclopedia (the first modern Encyclopedia in Arabic) and a selection of books. The paper will argue that many of the writings of Nahda on religion were motivated by two main concerns: “otherness” in religion—both geographical “other” (in far-away countries) and the local “other” (heterodox minorities in Syria such as Alawites, Ismailis, Druze, and Yazidis)—and the relevance of religion for politics. The paper, additionally, will try to infer the resources of these preliminary investigations, locating them in traditional heresiographies, folk knowledge, and missionary sources.