ORIGINS

The School of Religion & Philosophy [SRP] was set up by Prof. Dr. Hussain Mohi-ud-Din Qadri in February 2016 within the Faculty of Social Sciences at Minhaj University Lahore, Pakistan. The Higher Education Commission of the Government of Pakistan gave official approval to the establishment of SRP in 2018. Since that time, SRP has been offering the degree of MPhil in Theology and Religious Studies. In the near future, SRP will prepare graduates for the degree: PhD in Theology and Religious Studies.

AIMS & OPPORTUNITIES

The aim of SRP is to provide an opportunity for students from minority sections of the community (Christian, Hindu, Sikh) to do research in their own religious tradition and thereby to obtain a degree recognized by the Government.

The Head of SRP is Prof. Herman Roborgh, an Australian citizen who graduated with a PhD in Islamic Studies from Aligarh Muslim University in India. Prof. Shanthi Hettiarachchi comes from Colombo, Sri Lanka, to give courses on world religions. Prof. Ali Raza Tahir is another permanent professor who joined us from the University of the Punjab. Besides his courses to MPhil students, Prof. Ali Raza also gives an elective course called The Wisdom of World Religions to Bachelor of Arts students enrolled in various departments at Minhaj University Lahore.
In addition, several professors give courses on their own particular religious traditions. For instance, a Hindu professor, Prof. Sabir Nas, gives a course on Hinduism; a Sikh professor, Prof. Kalyan Singh, gives a course on Sikhism and a Christian professor, Prof. Naseer John, gives a course on Christianity.

PROGRAMS

MPhil PROGRAM

The MPhil program consists of 2 semesters [1 year] of course work and another 2 semesters [1 year] of research work. Core courses offered at the MPhil level are as follows: Introduction to the Study of Religion; Major Themes in Muslim Philosophy; Christianity; Hinduism, Sikhism; Research Methodology. Examples of elective courses at the MPhil level are: The Scriptures of World Religions; Humanism & Atheism; The History of Interfaith Relations.

PhD PROGRAM

The PhD program will be introduced next year. PhD candidates will complete six courses spread over two semesters [1 year] and write a dissertation. Examples of core courses available for PhD candidates are the following: Reading the Bible and the Qur’an; Perceptions of the Absolute in Various Religious Traditions; Origins of Religion and of the Religions; A Survey of Abrahamic, Indic and Sinic Religious Traditions.

CERTIFICATE COURSE

Each year, SRP offers a Certificate Course to any interested person with a basic education from outside the university. Participants come to the university for 3 hours once a week for 12 weeks (3 months). Themes for Certificate Courses in recent years have been: Religious Pluralism and Peacemaking; Social Responsibility of the Religions; Religions and Civilization.

JOURNAL

In 2018, SRP started a bi-annual journal called: South Asian Journal of Religion & Philosophy [SAJRP]. Dr. Herman Roborgh is the Editor-in-Chief and Dr. Shanthi Hettiarachchi is the co-editor of SAJRP. Each edition of SAJRP contains five articles and each article consists of about 5.000 words. The most recent edition was Number 2 of Volume 3.

READ SAJRP