This thesis is a study of Wilfred Cantwell Smith's contribution to the field of religious studies, with special reference to his study of Islam. Smith's views as a historian of religion, as an ...Islamicist and as the pioneer of a new approach to the study of other men's faith are of great significance.
This thesis studies his work on Islam in the light of the development of his ideas with regard to the concept of religion and the approaches to studying it. The evolution of Smith's understanding of Islam is classified here into three phases. During the first phase, Smith's approach was socialistic; he was essentially concerned with the social role of religion, in this case Islam, in modern society. In the second phase of his work as an Islamicist, it was the concern to acquire a more adequate knowledge of Islam and to create a sympathetic understanding of the Muslim culture and religion.
The third phase was marked by the publication of his seminal work, The Meaning and End of Religion (1962). His work on Islam in this phase is in the nature of explorations into his own theories regarding the study of religion in general. During this phase, Smith devoted much attention to such concepts as "religion", "faith", and "cumulative tradition", as well as to a new approach in the comparative history of religion. This indicates that Smith in this phase was not only a specialist of Islam, but a historian of religion and a comparative religionist.
