The sects, which can be described as the schools of thought in the political, theological, and practical fields of Islam, are human formations that emerged as a result of the institutionalization of differences in understanding the religion. There are many reasons for the differentiation in religious understanding. Political, social, economic, historical, cultural, geographical, and similar reasons are some of them. The phenomenon of sects comes into existence with the institutionalization of these differentiations within a certain process, the beginning of idea production, and the dissemination of these views to the socio-cultural base by gaining systematic qualities. The History of Islamic Sects is a branch of science that examines these human formations, which are the schools of thought of Islam that have come into existence with political and theological aims, using scientific methods.
The History of Islamic Sects considers each sect according to its sources, taking into account the time-space and idea-event connection, and introduces them. In this context, while examining the "what" of the sect, it adopts a descriptive method and presents an objective approach. The History of Islamic Sects tries to reveal how the sects that existed in the past or the sects and contemporary Islamic movements that exist today understand Islam and reveals the historical, political, and social foundations of the ideas defended by the sects in a process-centered manner. By starting from the fact that religion is divine and sects are human in the context of the religion-sect relationship, it contributes to the understanding of the points of disagreement in religious understanding and their reasons, thus helping to preserve the unifying structure of religion.
Dr. Öğr. Üyesi Ebru KOÇAK
Head of the Department of History of Islamic Sects