ҚИРҚ олтинчи илмий-амалий конференцияси материаллари

Anthropology of religion
is the study of religion in relation to other social 
institutions, and the comparison of religious beliefs and practices across cultures 
In the early 12th century Abū Rayhān Bīrūnī (973–1048), wrote detailed 
comparative studies on the anthropology of religions and cultures across 
the Mediterranean Basin (including the so-called "Middle East") and the Indian 
subcontinent.
He discussed the peoples, customs, and religions of the Indian 
subcontinent. 
One major problem in the anthropology of religion is the definition of religion 
itself. At one time
 
anthropologists believed that certain religious practices and beliefs 
were more or less universal to all cultures at some point in their development, such 
as a belief in spirits or ghosts, the use of magic as a means of controlling the 
supernatural, the use of divination as a means of discovering occult knowledge, and 
the performance of rituals such as prayer and sacrifice as a means of influencing the 
69
Westbrook, David A. Navigators of the Contemporary: Why Ethnography Matters. (2008). Chicago: University of 
Chicago Press.
70
Asad, T. (1986). “The Idea of an Anthropology of Islam”. Occasional Papers Series, Center for Contemporary Arab 
Studies, Georgetown University 

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outcome of various events through a supernatural agency, sometimes taking the form 
of shamanism or ancestor worship. 
REFERENCES 
 
1.
 
Agar, Michael (1996) 
The Professional Stranger: An Informal Introduction to 
Ethnography
. Academic Press.
 
2.
 
Fetterman, D. (2009) 
Ethnography: Step by Step
, Third edition, Thousand Oaks 
CA, Sage.
 
3.
Westbrook, David A. Navigators of the Contemporary: Why Ethnography 
Matters. (2008). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 
4.
Asad, T. (1986). “The Idea of an Anthropology of Islam”. Occasional Papers 
Series, Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Georgetown University.