Abstract

The Sixteenth century’s religious reformation movement in West has grand and fundamental differences with reformative movements in Islamic world, despite their similarities and identities. No doubt, these differences are sometimes considered merits of a social trend and sometimes its demerits based on a comparative analysis. Their most important differences are as follows: Reformation Movement had strong philosophical and theological supports but these supports do not exist in Islamic world or they are weak; Islamic world enjoys a kind of theological attitude which is immune against some demerits of Christian theology; West valued empirical thinking while Islamic world ignores it; there is a basic difference between West and Islamic world in terms of worldview and anthropology; contrary to Islamic world, religious reforms were widespread and massive in West; Islamic world pays attention to social dimensions and its related components such as law, constitutionalism, freedom, separation of powers, justice and this world as the introduction to hereafter versus pure Protestant hereafter-orientation; there were civil and social power centers as influential factors to control authoritarian governments in West. The present paper investigates these differences.