University of Religions and Denominations

The university is also a member of the Islamic Seminary.

• Name — University of Religions and Denominations • Native Name — دانشگاه اديان و مذاهب Dāneshgāh-e Adyān va Mazāheb • Established — 2005 • Type — Private • Chancellor — Dr. Mostafa Jafartayyari • Academic Staff — 1556 • Students — 14117 • City — Qom • Country — Iran • Campus — Urban • Colors — Blue • Website — https: urd.ac.ir/en/ • Affiliations — Shi'a Islam

In 1995 a group of scholars from Hawza of Qom interested in and concerned with religious and cultural matters decided to pioneer a movement towards the study of various religions and other Islamic sects and denominations. This resulted in the establishment of a research institute that became the University of Religions and Denominations.

• Illustration — A view of the campus of the University of Religions and Denominations • Illustration — University of Religions and Denominations - Faculty of Religions The university currently has twelve faculties with various departments under them: • Faculty of History • Department of History of Iran • Faculty of Islamic Denominations • Department of Comparative Jurisprudention and Law • Department of Islamic Denominations • Faculty of Law • Department of Law • Faculty of Media and Communications • Department of Media Management • Faculty of Mysticism • Department of Religions and Mysticism • Department of Islamic Mysticism • Faculty of Nations, Cultures, and Languages • Department of Arabic Language • Faculty of Philosophy • Department of Contemporary Philosophy • Department of Islamic Philosophy and Kalām • Faculty of Quranic Studies • Department of Quranic Studies • Faculty of Religion and Art • Department of Art • Faculty of Religions • Department of Abrahamic Religions • Department of Non-Abrahamic Religions • Department of Iranian Religions • Department of the Study of Religion • Faculty of Shi'i Studies • Department of Shi'i kalam • Department of Shi'i Denominations • Faculty of Woman and Family • Department of Studies of Women

• Name — University of Religions and Denominations • Rur W — 705 • Rur W Year — 2023 According to the 2023 rankings of the best universities given by the Round University Ranking (RUR), University of Religions and Denominations has gained a country rank of 14 among 24 universities in Iran and a world rank of 705 among 1217 universities from a wide range of geographical locations, representing more than 80 nations

The group is engaged in researching the Philosophy, Psychology, and Sociology of Religion.

The university has a dedicated research centre which has five research groups and corresponding work-groups. All research undertaken by the members is carried out under the supervision of this centre. These groups include: • Abrahamic Religions: this group carries out research on history and theories, philosophy and theology, ethics and spirituality, sacred scriptures and the laws and rituals of Christian and Jewish religions. • Non-Abrahamic Religions: this group is concerned with the study of Eastern, The Far East and Persian Religions. • Sufism and Islamic Spirituality: This group works on the history of Sufism, theoretical spirituality, Sufi sects and the comparative study of the mysticism of different religions. Islamic Sects: This group carries out research on Shia, Sunni and Jurisprudential Sects

The Office of International Relations and Co-operation of the university is active in establishing dialogues between followers of various religions and denominations as well as development of relations with universities abroad.

• Illustration — Library of the University of Religions and Denominations The university contains a specialized library of religions and denominations. The library contains a large supply of books and periodicals in Persian, Arabic and English. Resources are mainly on Islamic denominations, Christianity, eastern religions and interdisciplinary studies. The library has around 56,000 titles in Persian and Arabic languages and about 16,000 in Latin and English.

The office was established in order to examine the meeting points of universally accepted moral values of human rights and religions, to discover the positions of different religions, and to promote the religious approach to Human Rights.

This Institute was created as a response to Iranian society's need for scientific knowledge of women and families and the need to make families efficient in Islamic society.

The Open Education Center was established in 2016 with the aim of short-term education through workshops, skills, lectures, and scientific travel.