Sosyoloji 19. yüzyılın ikinci yarısından sonra Batı Avrupa'da gözlemlenen sosyal yapı ile ilgili değişimi açıklamak üzere bir dizi teori ve kavramlardan meydana gelen sosyal bilim dalıdır. Sosyolojinin klasiklerinin birçoğunun toplum çözümlemelerinde evrensel bir kurum olan dinin oldukça önemli bir konumda olduğu görülmüştür. Bu yüzden sosyolojinin alt disiplinlerinden biri olan ve dini fenomenlerle ilgilenen din sosyolojisi de sosyoloji ile birlikte gelişmiştir. Tarihsel olarak dinin sosyolojik analizlerinde Weber ve Durkheim gibi klasik sosyologların katkılarıyla bu bilim dalı gelişmeye başlamıştır. Bu iki teorisyenden biri olan Durkheim, dinin toplumsal bütünleşmeye katkısı üzerine yoğunlaşırken din ve toplum arasındaki ilişkiyi açıklamaya yönelik olarak Weber de analizlerinde bir dizi tarihi veriden yararlanarak Protestanlığın kapitalizmi meydana getirdiğini ortaya koymuştur. Bu çalışmada din sosyolojisi alanında bir ya da birden fazla yazarlı din sosyolojisi kitaplarıyla ile el kitabı formatındaki editörlü kitaplara başvurularak din sosyolojisinin konuları hakkında genel bilgi verilmiştir. Tarama metoduyla sosyolojinin alt disiplininde din ve toplum ilişkileri dine sosyolojik yaklaşım başlığı altında teoriler ve kavramlar çerçevesinde din ve sosyal hayatın birbirlerine nasıl etki ettikleri hususu üzerinde durulmuştur. Din sosyolojisinin gelişim seyrine neredeyse tek başına damga vuran sekülerleşme tezi etrafındaki tartışmalara Davie’nin “inanma ve ait olma” tipolojisi ve dini piyasa modeliyle dâhil olunmuştur. Din sosyolojisinin gelişmesi akademik kurumsallaşma süreçlerinin ve çeşitli dernekleşme bünyesinde araştırma kuruluşların yaygınlaşması ve uluslararası dizeyde periyodiklerin çıkarılması, konferans, sempozyum ve panel gibi çeşitli bilimsel faaliyetlerin düzenlenmesi Collins’in “etkileşim ritüeli” ve “entelektüel ağlar” zinciri tezi etrafında incelenmiştir. Sosyoloji içerisinde önemli bir yerde olan dinin sosyal bilimsel araştırmasının, gelecekte de sosyal bilimciler tarafından sürdürüleceği, din ve modernite arasındaki ilişkilerin birbirlerini dışlamadan ziyade bir arada varlığını sürdüreceği tespitiyle din sosyolojisinin gelecekteki statüsünde bir düşüşün olmayacağı sonucuna ulaşılmıştır.

The sociology of religion as a sub-discipline of sociology has emerged in western European historical context at the time of scientific, industrial and French revolutions. First, the Comtean Principles were adopted by some positivistic intellectuals. Political - ideological context has been influential on the developments of sociology of religion, at the same time it is affected by it. In the first stage of development of sociology of religion there is a struggle between dominant ideological views of that are and the scientific understanding of this sub-discipline. In an environment with upheavals in Europe sociology emerged to explain social change and social order. Auguste Comte is considered to be founder of sociology, especially as a name father. In contrast to the general idea related to the origin of sociology and within this the sociology of religion, the real founder of it is sociologist, historian, social scientist and philosopher Tunisian  Ibn Khaldun who lived at the time of 14th century. In his Muqaddimah he laid out the principles for a new discipline called ilm al-umran al-bashari (the science of human organization) or al-ijtima al-insani (the science of human society) (Spickart 2017:149-55). Ibn Khaldun aims to discover the patterns of social living associated with religion based on historical data. Comparing Ibn Khaldun and Durkheim both of them thought that religion plays an important role on social life. But there are differences on their views. Ibn Khaldun's approach about religion is close to substantive to society definition. He gives priority to the supernatural domain as an explanation to society. But Durkheim's priority is on the functional definition of religion, so as a product of society religion's role in creating social solidarity tribal units. Ibn Khaldun's approach shows that his thesis was explanative of the relationship between religion and social structure than Durkheim's views at the same time, Ibn Khaldun's analysis about the religion and economics, he is the precursor of Marx and Weber.The centrality of religion in theories of the founding fathers like Marx, Weber and Durkheim ways very clear. Durkheim as an architect of functionalist theory of religion was mainly concerned with the role of religion as a force for social integration in society. Weber based on historical data examined the interaction between Protestantism and the rise of capitalism. Prior to the work of weber and Durkheim, the leading sociologist like Comte and Marx had viewed religion as a relic of past so declared the obituary of religion. According to Marx, as an economic determinant and the father of modern conflict theory, religion operate to justify the self-interests of various groups. So, Marx declared the demise of religion as a result of classless society. Inspired by the enlightenment's principles of rationality, positivistic ideologies as well as the rise of industrial state, sociology since its inception in Europe was conceived as a secular enterprise (Pelayo, 2013:5). So, the sociology of religion has concentrated its attention on the process of secularization taking place in western societies. In fact, positivistic ideas are left aside the ideological weight of it is steal alive sociology of religion. This paper titled the state of "sociology of religion in the world" is divided into three parts. In the first part the developments in the sociology of religion were examined by reference to textbooks written in this sub-discipline with in the sociology. At the same time the topics of sociology of religion can we traced by following the great socio-political and economic changes. For example, in the 1960s-1970s the sociology of religion began to focus more on new religious movements and the social study of religion has been present in the world scene in these years. Second part of this paper is related on the debates of secularization theories. Beginning in the mid-1970s and continuing there after major world events and movements related religion like liberation theology in Latin America the Religious Right in the United States. Catholic Solidarity in Poland etc. force the social scientists to thing about these socio-political and religion events. Either by rejecting the classical secularization theory entirely or condemning some aspects of it. According to Berger who is previously supporting the classical secularization theory now this agrees with it, religion was clearly an important force in social political and cultural life (Berger, 1999). Studies about the religious phenomena carried out on sociology departments and institutionalization or institutional development of the sociology of religion, have increase the interest in the sub-discipline. Especially during 1990s and the first decades of the 2000s the social study of religion began to develop rapidly and became noteworthy on the global scale. Secularization theories are grouped under three headings: These are; a) Classical secularization theory, b) The "modified" version of the classical secularization thesis, c) de-secularization or refuting this entirely. In addition to these discussions on secularization theory, the religious market model or economics of religion and Davie's "believing and belonging" typology are examined. The third one of this paper is related to stages of institutionalization like research centers and academic departments publications, dissertation, in addition to these establishment of journals on sub-discipline and foundation and societies commitment to this field, scientific actives as conferences have contributed to the development of sociology of religion in the world (Kasselstrand, 2013: 57-89).