The Totemism Hypothesis in the Origin of Religion: A Critical Study in the Light of the Islamic Faith

Abstract

This study discussed the totemic hypothesis in the origin of religion using a descriptive critical approach. It included an analysis of the fundamental concepts it used, the methodology followed, and its most notable results, presenting a methodological scientific critique of them. The study revealed that Durkheim's hypothesis is based on the concept of religion in its social dimension, which is based on the existence of the sacred in society, and on the concepts of collective conscience and social phenomena. He relied on his studies about ethnographic information related to certain Australian tribes dominated by a totemic social system. After analyzing that system, he concluded that totemism is the first form on which religion was established and that religion is a social phenomenon, i.e., created by society. In the context of discussing and evaluating the hypothesis, the study showed numerous methodological errors, the most important of which are: not accurately defining the concept of religion and relying on relative ethnographic observations, accurate or not, then generalizing the results without scientific evidence. In addition, the results obtained by the totemic hypothesis, the most important of which is that religion is of human origin, are rejected in the Islamic perception. This is due to it colliding with the grand faith facts in the Islamic belief, and that religion is of divine origin.