Diffusion of Innovation According to the Holy Quran, a New Approach to Studying Religious Propagation

An important issue in the communication field is the diffusion of a certain new thought, value, fashion, etc. in societies. Innovation (especially in its intellectual and cultural senses) and the manner of its diffusion can be traced and discussed according to the Holy Quran under issues such as Prophet's propagation traditions and the Quranic method of convincing audiences. Here we have adopted Rogers's and Shoemaker's theory (diffusion of innovations) as the conceptual framework. The question is how the Quran qualify its divine message, i.e. Islam, so it could be accepted by people. What desirable qualities should the change factor have from the Islamic perspective? Which element would be more effective on accepting innovation, fear or reward? Is there any difference between the preliminary stage of introducing innovations and its relative stabilization? To answer these we have used quantity content analysis and topic-based interpretation of the Quran. The results refer to the desired features of innovation, namely correctness, truthfulness, conformity with needs and characteristics of target society, comprehensiveness and relative perfection, facility of use,… and those of the change factor, namely benevolence, compassion, expert orientation, reliability and acceptability, observance of ethical norms in convincing individuals,… Finally when it concerns the method of convincing people, Islam gives prominence to punishment, fear and mentioning the disadvantages of ignoring innovation rather than rewards.