«IZVESTIYA IRKUTSKOGO GOSUDARSTVENNOGO UNIVERSITETA». SERIYA «POLITOLOGIYA. RELIGIOVEDENIE»
«THE BULLETIN OF IRKUTSK STATE UNIVERSITY». SERIES «POLITICAL SCIENCE AND RELIGION STUDIES»
ISSN 2073-3380 (Print)

List of issues > Series «Political Science and Religion Studies». 2025. Vol 54

Comparative Analysis of the Specifics of Religious Identification in Abrahamic Religions

Author(s)

M. Z. Magomedova

Dagestan Federal Research Center of Russian Academy of Sciences, Makhachkala, Russian Federation

Abstract
The article is devoted to a comparative analysis of the specifics of the formation and manifestation of religious identity within the three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The study reveals a deep kinship of these religions, expressed in their monotheism, the concept of the Covenant, the central role of the Scripture, the importance of community and ritual norms. However, the unique identity of each tradition paradoxically consists of fundamental differences on key issues: in the differences in the divine incarnation in the Trinity or absolute unity, in the role of Jesus Christ, in the nature of Revelation, in the mechanisms of salvation, in the scope of religious legislation, in the structure of religious institutions and in the relationship between religious and ethnic affiliation. These differences serve simultaneously as a source of mutual recognition and a basis for theological discussions. Based on a comparative approach, the key factors structuring religious identification are studied. Both common features arising from a common theistic foundation and the idea of revelation and fundamental differences caused by the unique theological and historical development of each religious tradition are revealed. The results of the study indicate that religious identity has a complex structure determined by the interaction of doctrinal, ritual and socio-cultural factors. This work makes a significant contribution to the field of comparative religious studies, deepening the understanding of the mechanisms of formation and transformation of religious identification.
About the Authors
Magomedova Madina Zaynudinovna, Candidate of Sciences (Philosophy), Leading Research Scientist, Regional Center of Ethnopolitical Sciences Dagestan Federal Research Center RAS 45, M. Gadzhiev st., Makhachkala, 367025, Russian Federation e-mail: spirow@mail.ru
For citation
Magomedova M.Z. Comparative Analysis of the Specifics of Religious Identification in Abrahamic Religions. The Bulletin of Irkutsk State University. Series Political Science and Religion Studies, 2025, vol. 54, pp. 172-183. https://doi.org/10.26516/2073-3380.2025.54.172 (in Russian)
Keywords
religious identification, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, religious studies, theology, ethnoconfessionalism.
UDC
2:28
DOI
https://doi.org/10.26516/2073-3380.2025.54.172
References
  1.  Gadzhimuradova G.I. Obshchee, osobennoe i edinichnoe v sisteme vzglyadov na zhenshchinu v avraamaticheskih religiyah [General, special and unique in the system of views on women in Abrahamic religions]. Cand. sci. dis. abstr. Mahachkala, Publ., 2005, 28 p. (in Russian) 
  2. Kac Ya. Tradiciya i krizis: Evrejskoe obshchestvo na iskhode Srednih vekov [Tradition and Crisis: Jewish Society at the End of the Middle Ages]. Transl. by Ya. Edelshtejna. Ed. D. Raskinoj. Moscow, Mosty kultury, Gesharim Publ., 2010, 368 p. (in Russian) 
  3. Magomedova M.Z. Musulmanskij obraz zhizni: istoki i sovremennost [Muslim Lifestyle: Origins and Modernity]. Cand. sci. dis. abstr. Mahachkala, Publ., 2002, 22 p. (in Russian) 
  4. Nizaev M.A. Ponyatie “svobody voli” v hristianstve i islame [The concept of “free will” in Christianity and Islam]. Cand. sci. dis. abstr. Moscow, Publ., 2009. 25 p. (in Russian) 
  5. Osipova N.G., Elishev S.O. Religiya: sociologicheskij analiz [Religion: Sociological Analysis]. Moscow, Perspektiva Publ., 2022, 436 p. (in Russian) 
  6. Slovar religij: iudaizm, hristianstvo i islam [Dictionary of religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam]. Eds. V. Zyuber, Zh. Poten. Saint Petersburg, Piter Publ., 2008, 656 p. (in Russian) 
  7. Barton J. A History of the Bible: The Book and Its Faiths. London, Allen Lane, 2019, 613 p. 
  8. Esposito J.L. Islam: The Straight Path. 5th ed. Oxford University Press, 2016, 352 p. 
  9. Peters F.E. The Monotheists: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Conflict and Competition, vols. 1, 2. Princeton University Press, 2018, 808 p. 
  10. Tajfel H., Turner J. The social identity theory of intergroup behaviour. Psychology of Intergroup Relations. Eds. Wochel S., Austin W. G. Chicago, Nelson, 1986, pp. 7-24.

Full text (russian)