Ma`rifat Farhangi Ejtemaei

As one of the structural elements and fundamental foundation of social system institution covers a considerable part of sociological literature. Although this socio-historical entity has been dissected from different angles and examined symantically and ontologically, no serious study based on intra-religion approach has been made in this regard. After reviewing the sociological literature of this field, the present paper scrutinizes minutely the concept of institution, the course of its development and its components, its distinctive features, the structural and functional prerequisites, typology, the effects and outcomes, the concrete manifestations, and the manifold relations of the institutions with one another and with other environmental elements. Furthermore, it sheds light on the main outlines of Islamic thought in this respect and on the corresponding concepts which have conceptual and symantic affinity with this concept, by referring to the holy Quran.