Role of Pakistani Universities in Interfaith Dialogue, Harmony and Relations An Index and Bibliometric of Produced Academic Dissertations

• Published in: Library philosophy and practice 2021-01, p.1-27
• Main Authors: Saeed, Raiz Ahmed, Saeed-ur-Rahaman, Ahmed, Rauf, Hussain, Abid
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic libraries; Bibliographic literature; Bibliometrics; Christian Islamic relations; Dissertations & theses; Human rights; Interfaith dialogue; Islamic studies; Library and information science; Muslims; Religion; Scholarly communication; Society; Trends
• ISSN: 1522-0222

Interfaith dialogue has become one of the most significant and interesting activities in contemporary socio-political and socio-religious global scenario due to its crucial role in the peace process and peaceful interfaith relations. Many groups of scholars, institutes, organizations, and even governments are promoting the activities regarding interfaith relations. Meanwhile, it is also assumed that Pakistan is one of the countries where interfaith dialogue activities are arranged officially on the state level. In this study, efforts are made to review statistically and to index the literature produced by Pakistani scholars and universities. A mixed-method research methodology is adopted for this study with a bibliometric approach to find out results. Almost 136 theses & dissertations have been produced by scholars in a wide range of Pakistani Universities on interfaith Dialogue, religious debates, harmony, and relations. The research produced by male scholars was 71 (52.21 %) and most 49 (36%) productive era was from 2011 to 2015. The majority of the research was for Master (38%) and MS/M.Phil (34%) level degrees and about one-fifth of the theses were on the theme of "Interfaith Dialogue in Pakistani context". Therefore, it is suggested that the course on interfaith dialogue, harmony, and relations should be taught at M. Phil and Ph.D. Level in the discipline of Islamic studies and social sciences.