Rituals assignment

Rituals Assignment

1.       What are the purposes of specific rituals?

Explore the relationship between the Five Pillars of Islam and the key concepts.

Iman- faith in God

Islam- submission to the will of Allah
Tawhid- oneness of Allah

Jihad- Suffering

Umma- Community

Hajj- Journey to Mecca

Iman , Islam and Tawhid all relate to the first pillar of Islam, Shahadah which is confirming ones belief in God as one and all powerful. The second pillar, prayer, relates to the key concept of Ibadah, which is worship. Lastly, Jihad is struggle, and relates to the pillar of alms giving, in which Muslims help those in need in their community.

 

2.       How does ritual shape daily life?

      Rituals are very important to the life of a Muslim. Prayer is a daily action in a Muslims life that occurs around five times a day; This helps to submit to the will of Allah (Islam). Daily prayer allows you to ask for hope and forgiveness and help to get through your struggles in life (jihad). Prayer can be related to anything in relation to Islam, for example people can pray to Allah to get help in getting a job or having a child or getting married. Prayer is considered to be a major way of connecting oneself with Allah

3.       To what extent do rituals shape communal identity?

The pilgrimage to Mecca brings the Muslim community (umma) together. This being one of the pillars of Islam shows that there is major importance in interacting and surrounding yourself with Muslims throughout life. The Hajj seeks to bring Muslims from all around the world together to allow them to have interactions with the global community of Islam. In the past the road to Mecca was dangerous and there was safety  from the dangerous if you traveled in numbers. This strengthened the relationships within the Muslim community as well. In addition to this, the Hajj has become so fundamentally important that it is a journey that is required to be done throughout one’s lifetime. In order to be a Muslim you must partake in the Hajj, this shoes how significant it is in showing your identity.

4.       To what extent are rituals affected by social, cultural, and political contexts?

Sharia is Islamic law, which dictates legal and moral code. Sharia is the moral code that tells people whether something is socially acceptable or not. This provides restrictions within social, political, and cultural contexts. 

Sharia is the main source of legislation Sudan. Sudan continues to use the criminal, civil and personal legal codes, and punishments derived from Sharia.

This law takes effect in Zanzibar as well. It gives power to the court to apply Islamic law to matters of succession. What is unique in Zanzibar is that Sharia is specific to the court

5.       What gender issues might be raised by the way rituals are preformed?

The roles of the different genders in rituals were seen as unchangeable. The problem with this is as time changes so does the social normality. For example, not along ago it was acceptable to treat women differently from men and that can be seen by their participation in Islamic prayers. Now a days, it is not acceptable to treat women as lesser, at least in the United States. This brings up the issue on whether the way rituals are performed should be changed in order to fit the contemporary social norms or whether they should be performed in their original fashion. Based on the world’s progression, as the world continues to become more aware that the unequal mistreatment of women is wrong, steps will continue to be made to allow women more opportunity to participate in these rituals.