Holy Time and Popular Invented Rituals in Islam: Structures and Symbolism

This paper tackles three popular invented rituals in the early centuries of Islam performed in the seventh and eighth months of the Islamic calendar; Rajab and Shacbān, namely the sacrifices of faraca and catīra, fasting and prayers. In the light of sociocultural and psycho-cultural perspectives, the paper discusses the cultural and spiritual perceptions of time and space in Islam, and the reasons that make specific settings fertile soils suitable for inventing new rituals. Then, it analyses the structures and symbolism of these rituals as a means of dialogical relationship with the self, the other, and the group. The paper also sheds light on the piety folk developed by Sufism as a response to spiritual void and psychological needs that lead Muslims to invent new forms of worship. The paper will, then, analyze the scholarly debate over the legitimacy of these invented rituals and the festivities associated with them, and tackle the interpretative strategies to approve them in a long dialectical process with ‘puritan’ Muslims. In the end, it discusses the relationship of invented rituals to the embedded structure of power and it sheds light on the reasons behind the escalation of practicing these invented rituals in recent decades in the Arab Islamic world.[Tulisan ini mengkaji tiga ritus ibadah di awal abad perkembangan Islam yaitu perayaan bulan Rajab dan Sha’ban, puasa dan shalat. Dengan pendekatan sosial budaya dan psikologi budaya, tulisan ini membahas persepsi budaya dan spiritual mengenai waktu dan ruang dalam Islam, serta menjelaskan setting khusus yang membuat reka cipta ritual baru. Disamping itu tulisan ini juga membahas struktur dan simbol ritual teresebut sebagai perangkat dialog dengan diri sendiri, pihak lain dan kelompok. Tulisan ini juga membahas pengembangan bentuk kesalehan kaum sufi sebagai respon kebutuhan psikologis dan pemenuhan spiritual yang menuntun umat muslim mereka cipta bentuk persembahan baru. Termasuk perdebatan para ulama mengenai legitimasi perayaan tersebut dan proses dialog dengan kelompok puritan. Di bagian akhir akan dijelaskan hubungan ritual tersebut dengan struktur kekuasaan yang melekat dan menguatnya praktik tersebut beberapa dekade terakhir terutama di dunia muslim Arab.]

This paper examines the pattern of Islamic religious communi ty in Sidondo I Village Sigi Biromaru District, Sigi Regeny. The results illustrates that the communication system at the village community is based on Islamic council command of Sidondo village, but for some other things some people follow their spiritual leaders or teachers as Karaeng and Old Master followers, although in recent times there have been a lot of Islamic social organizations which disseminate their understanding of the teachings of Islam to the villages. Several factors supporting the pattern of religious life in Sidondo I village are historical factors, and what is taught by history becomes parts inseparable from the ideology of religious lives of the community; such as the understanding of Karaeng or Old Master, the support of administrative elements of Sidondo I village, religious education facilities, and the presence of informal religious teaching including WIA. While the factors that hampers the religious life pattern of the community are first the excessive nationalism attitude. The lack of interest of the community to explore Islam, the economic factors that make people teluctant to fulfill thoroughly the demands and overall requirements of religious rituals and the lack of attention of social organizations, especially religious Islamic NGOs in Central Sulawesi particularly in Sigi. Keywords : Patterns of Religious Life , Sidondo I Village Community , Social History Analysis.

The aim of this study is to explore how religious beliefs, rituals and practices shape the personal growth of the leading female characters in three novels written by Muslim women authors writing in the Western diaspora. The novels are Randa Abdel-Fattah’s 'Does My Head Look Big in This?' (2005), Mohja Kahf’s 'The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf' (2006) and Leila Aboulela’s 'The Translator' (1999). These novels span the experiences of the protagonists in Australia, the USA and Scotland. I focused on authors who avoided the negative stereotypes typically associated with Muslim women. I found that these novels showed Islam to be an integrated and empowering part of the women’s lives. Such empowerment is only achieved after long struggles within the women themselves. Emerging at the end of that process are three women who have a firm idea of who they are, are strongly committed to Islam, are tolerant of differences within the Islamic and non-Islamic communities, and are also committed to participating in and enjoying the non-Muslim societies in which they live. In order to understand these aspects of the novels in question, I seek to build on Saba Mahmood’s (2005) study of Muslim women’s piety, which argues that, contrary to the general understanding of Islam as a restrictive religion, particularly for women, its rituals and practices can more properly be understood as tools for achieving self-actualization and self-improvement. At the core of Mahmood’s arguments is Talal Asad’s (1986) conceptualization of Islam as a discursive tradition which allows for varied understanding of its core doctrines and practices. Irfan Ahmad’s (2011) concept of “immanent critique in Islam” further shows how Islam is able to develop criticism within its own tradition. The concepts of discursive tradition and immanent critique together explain how the protagonists can actively engage with different understandings of Islam in order to extend and implement their own satisfactory position within the doctrines and practices of Islam. Finally, the thesis extends Mahmood’s arguments by arguing that the characters’ religiosity is also based on an individual consciousness of God at the centre of their lives. Driven by the recognition of a Higher Power, the protagonists work towards the improvement of their spirituality and morality through changes in their inner being as well as performing what might otherwise be perceived as influential external rituals and practices.

This study describes the culture in the tradition of antar ajong in Sambas Regency and also the meaning contained in both cultural preaching and the value of Islamic education. This research is about traditional ritual ceremonies of antar ajong as traditional media in preaching and associating Islamic values. This study uses a qualitative approach. The research aims to describe the antar ajong tradition and the value of Islamic education in antar ajong tradition related to (a) its process of carrying out traditional rituals of antar ajong , (b) the purpose of the antar ajong tradition, (c) the function of the antar ajong ritual as a form of da'wah and as value of Islamic education. The traditional ceremony of antar ajong was carried out by the Malay community, Sambas Regency had a social role in order to establish relations with human beings, as well as to have a religious role, namely to establish human relations with the Almighty God. Through the tradition of antar ajong , as a cornerstone for religious development in the community also will be created, and closer to a lifestyle that is opt to Islamic guidance, besides antar ajong tradition contains Islamic values. Therefore, Muslim community in its association reveals positive behavior, because it is directed to always do something good, right through ethics and morals in society.

Devotional and ritual observance by internal pilgrims to Hajj presents a constant journey towards fulfilling the fifth pillar of Islam. Although, internal pilgrims are within their geographical domain, the large number of pilgrims visiting Mina at a given time stimulates crowding perception. Internal pilgrims perform such rituals in Mina for a minimum of three days. The local authorities are constantly expected to provide adequate amenities which require constant assessment to enable internal pilgrims perform their rituals without the stress of feeling crowded. In the quest for sustainable best practices, this paper examines the effects of sustainable physical factors (coding and signage, disorientation cause, spatial anxiety, orientation strategies and routing strategies) on perceived crowding levels among internal group of pilgrims in Mina. Data was collected via self-Administered questionnaire from 473 internal pilgrims to Hajj. The data was analysed using SPSS for descriptive analysis and AMOS for Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Internal consistency of the developed research instrument, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy and exploratory factor analysis revealed that the research instrument was suitable. The internal pilgrim group measurement model revealed that orientation strategies and routing strategies had the highest correlation. Furthermore, disorientation cause (0.63), spatial anxiety (-0.59), orientation strategies (0.60) and routing strategies (-0.61) were all significantly affecting level of crowding perception except coding and signage (-0.52). In summary, the findings will aid in directing policies aimed at improving crowd control by authorities in Mina.

Religious authority is an extremely wide concept which may become manifest in an infinite variety of ways. It may be embodied in certain notions, in texts, in individual, in groups of persons, and in institutions in the widest sense of the word. For this reason, if a scholar wants to write an article about religious authority, it is essential to make a conceptual breakdown of the idea in order to write meaningfully on the subject. In the present contribution I would like to study the concept of religious authority in Indonesia through the vehicle of the Islamic institution of iftâ', delivering of a fatwa. In its classical form a fatwa consists of two parts: a question addressed to a scholar of Islam about a particular topic which has been addressed to him by one or more believers in order to obtain the scholar's opinion about this topic from the perspective of Islamic law. This part of the fatwa is called istiftâ' , while the person who raises the issue is called the mustafti. istiftâ ', The second part of the fatwa is the actual answer given by the scholar, called the mufti , “ fatwa -giver”. The language of the fatwa is very formal and formulaic. In the fatwa, the mufti pronounces about issues which are of topical interest to the believer, by sang mufti referring to the standard manuals of jurisprudence. These topics often deal with ritual issues, but in principle may deal with any conceivable topic, including social and political issues or problems arising from the application and use of modern technology. In the course of time, fatwa's issued by important mufti s have been collected and hese collections can be regarded as manuals of applied legal science. In short, it can be said that fatwa s constitute a meeting, and in many cases a compromise, between the ideals of the Holy Law, as expressed by the 'ulamâ', and the reality of daily life, as experienced by the believers. For a study of the working of religious authority the fatwa is useful, because the fatwa is an important instrument through which the 'ulamâ'

In every religion, there is a set of rituals and modes of worship. In Islamic World, Salah is the fundamental religious obligation of every Muslim to offer five times a day at set times and conditions, following a proper sequence. The Salah positions have corresponding Yoga positions, so the culminated purpose of the study was to analyze the paramount effect of Salah on psycho-physiological and physical efficiencies of people offering regular Salah as provided by Yoga. The paper also suggests in the unity of two great religions of the world i.e. Hinduism & Islam as the Yoga and Salah have many common points which may illuminate the lives of both the communities in positive manner.

Islamic pesantren or pesantren cottage can be termed as Aswaja Kiai which became an Islamic heritage of the wali have unique and extraordinary features in the history of Islamic da'wah in Indonesia known as moderate aswaja featuring Islamic features that are polite, peaceful, not pushy, not extreme right, no extreme left, by the scholars' or Kiai is very dominant coloring its role in the development of da'wah moderatisme system or learning through boarding school, as well as the development of the nature of religious rituals characterized by tasawwuf holiness that is not fatalistic let alone hedon matrial dried Aswaja teachings is very rooted and residing dihe along with the development of Islamic society of Indonesia a majmuk and multicultural. He seemed to be a form of moderate Islam that rahmatan lil alamin for the life of nation and community, so reasonable, if he to this day still exist and able to do self-actualization with the development of society. Keyword; moderatism, Islam, pesantren.

Ruqyah is commonly understood merely as an Islamic ritual used to expel demons or jinn that disturb the body of Muslims similar to Exorcism in Catholicism. However, there are a lot of things related to both which are inappropriately known and caused misunderstandings ended with shirk. This article will discuss the concept of ruqyah in Islam comparatively with exorcism in Catholicism, as ruqyah is not only a religious ritual used to repel demons or jinn but also a form of Islamic medicine inherited from the Prophet Muhammad. Ruqyah is also classified as the Thibbun Nabawi, making it considered as a part of Sunnah. As such, Exorcism is the teachings of Jesus to the 12 Apostles. Ruqyah is done using Qur’anic verses by every Muslim, as it can be an option for Muslims in dealing with disasters in the form of pain either physical or meta-physical injury derived from the interference of Satan or Jinn. While in Exorcism, the practice can only be done by a few who have obtained the legality of the local bishop, so that the authenticity of this practice can be justified. Even so, there are still many ordinary Muslims and Catholics who do not know and even look for other solutions to the problem and even do shirk.

Natural effects and social phenomena are not unchanging, but are the result of a combination of mental patterns, semantic structures, and ultimate approaches. Furthermore, they are constantly changing and are consistent with dialectical interactions, thus relating, limiting, and conditioning each other. Respect for the environment is a sign of the positive impact of citizenship rights on both managers and citizens. By considering the fact that the innovative performance of each country is determined by its national innovation system and due to the developments in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the conditions should be observed in such a way that the priorities of the national innovation management system guarantee sustainable ecosystems and determine, on a larger scale, complex structures. Structuring the priorities of the national innovation management system and the formation of substrates consistent with this structuring is inevitable. By considering the time requirements, capacities and public awareness of the process of growth, development, and progress of the country, the components of national innovation management models will improve by promoting the competitiveness in the country. Furthermore, enhancing the quality and standards of living, ensuring sustainable environment, human resource development, and social development will be reflected in the process cycle of sustainable development standards. The data were collected by a researcher-made questionnaire which was ordered based on the 5-point Likert scale, including 5 responses of very high, high, average, low and very low. The statistical population of the study included all individuals in sustainable ecosystems in the Islamic Republic of Iran. In this research, the target sample encompassing all individuals in sustainable ecosystems in Mazandaran province was estimated to be 384 individuals. The data of the research were analyzed and compared using statistical techniques of structural equation and artificial neural network modeling. The findings indicated that all dimensions, components, and variables of the conceptual model of the present research are explained in the prioritization of national innovation management models based on variables of sustainable ecosystems. Future researchers are recommended to use more sophisticated algorithms for the application of structural models to fit systematic models. Since national innovation management models have many complex variables, more advanced methods such as artificial neural networks should be employed to estimate these variables. Please cite this article as: Changizi R, Valiollahpur Muziraji M. Prioritizing the Components of National Innovation Management Models in the Process Cycle of Sustainable Development Standards by Structuring Sustainable Ecosystems. Bioethics Journal, Special Issue on Human Rights and Citizenship Rights 2019; 173-193.

Many studies have explored the phenomena of Islamic parties in Indonesia, the largest predominantly Muslim country in the world. However, little effort has been made to explore the organizational structures of Islamic parties in post-Suharto Indonesia. The existing studies have also paid little attention to the role of Islamic parties at the regional level in the implementation of the decentralized system in terms of the relationship between the central and regional governments. This study is an attempt to provide a more comprehensive analysis of the way the Islamic parties at the regional level in post-Suharto Indonesia organize. In doing so, the organization of the Islamic parties is examined in three different dimensions, i.e., the party organization on the ground (political linkage between the Islamic parties and their members or supporters), the party organization in central office (leadership of the Islamic parties), and the party organization in public office (the role of the Islamic parties in policy-making). As the units of analysis, this study selects six major Islamic parties, i.e., the National Mandate Party (Partai Amanat Nasional or PAN), National Awakening Party (Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa or PKB), Reform Star Party (Partai Bintang Reformasi or PBR), United Development Party (Partai Persatuan Pembangunan or PPP), Justice and Prosperity Party (Partai Keadilan Sejahtera or PKS) and Star and Crescent Party (Partai Bulan Bintang or PBB). Despite the fact that these parties experienced a significant decrease at the national level, most of them succeeded in maintaining or increasing their level of political support at the regional level. Meanwhile, this study focuses on the Tasikmalaya district as the locus of study because it has become one of the regional bases for these parties to maintain or increase their political achievement. The district also has a long historical root in the Islamic state movement in Indonesia. As a result, Muslims in the district have a strong Islamic sentiment. This study proposes two major findings. Firstly, the way the Islamic political actors organize the Islamic parties in Tasikmalaya district suggests that these parties contain some elements of the elite-based party, mass-based party, electoralist party, and cartel party models. In other words, the Islamic parties in post-Suharto Indonesia have hybrid features. Therefore, the organizational features of the Islamic parties in post-Suharto Indonesia are not completely exceptional or unique compared to the organizational features of party politics in other developing countries. Moreover, the organizational development of the contemporary Islamic parties in Indonesia takes different trajectories. In the case of the PAN and PPP, these parties are in a transitional stage from the mass-based party model to the electoralist party model. The organizational development of the PKS suggests that this party is experiencing a maturation process of the mass-based party model, while the organizational development of the PKB, PBR and PBB shows that these parties are experiencing a stagnation process in the stage of the elite-based party. Secondly, the case of the Tasikmalaya district also indicates that the Islamic political actors in Indonesia rely on rational calculations rather than ideological considerations when they manage their Islamic parties. In this sense, the PBB, PKS, PPP and PBR as the Indonesian Islamist parties have experienced a moderation process. The way these parties organize has not led to the Islamisation of the state, but it has led to the long term Islamisation of society.

Endowment is one of the Islamic institutions that has existed since the time of Prophet Muhammad SAW. It serves as a catalyst for economic growth and development of the Muslims. Endowment is not only a ritual matter to Allah SWT but is also considered as an economic institution which benefits the Muslims. The management and administration of the waqf property is an important issue to be resolved in Malaysia. This article includes the discussion of the powers of a trustee of an endowment property in Malaysia. A number of legal obstacles and constraints that impeded efforts to develop waqf property in Malaysia are identified. Thus, the implementation of a waqf management must be aligned with the waqf legislation so that there is a continuity of the reward to the waqf donor through good governance and systematic procedures. The trustee who manages the waqf property is responsible to look after, preserve and develop the land that is donated in order to collect income which can be distributed to the recipient. Although the Religious Council is appointed as the sole trustee on the management of waqf in Malaysia, nevertheless, from the practical aspect, these assets are still subjected to various acts made by Parliament.

This paper analyses the characteristics of religion belief in the Elbasan city during the Ottoman occupation at the end of XIXth Century and the beginning of the XXth Century. The analysis is based on a large historical literature and Ottoman original documents (Daimi and Jokllama registers). Besides the explanations of the historical materials, the paper also provides a comparative analysis of the Muslim population dynamics during the study period. The religion belief is considered from the anthroponomy point of view, which suggests that its majority is Turk. This fact is totally reliable because of the long occupation impact. About 72% of the population during that period practiced the Muslims religion and only 28% practiced the Orthodox one. All Muslims neighborhoods had mosques, which served not only for the religion rituals but also as centers for the Islam Religion propagation. This structure has remained almost the same even nowadays. The documents analysis suggests that the population with Muslim belief was increasing not only because of the natural growth but also because of the recently embracing the Islam religion. The Ottoman Empire respected all other religions and this was legally executed. Finally, it seems that Islam religion was already not only an interesting concern but also an aware belief. Keywords: belief, Islam, Ottoman Empire, anthroponomy.

This study with regard to the study of Islam and multiculturalism, the Tradition 'Ashura on Muslim Communities In Perspective Shiite city of Palu. The goal is to determine the origin of the entry, a procession of religious rituals, and revealed traditions' Ashura which is still done in some Muslim communities in the city of Palu and views Shiites against this tradition. This study is a qualitative study using a phenomenological approach. The population is Muslim society Palu with random sampling. While data collection techniques used were observation, interviews, and document research. The results showed that the tradition of 'Ashura in Palu City Muslim community still has a connection with the arrival of Islam in Central Sulawesi. Besides the tradition has also been influenced by immigrants coming into the city of Palu religious rituals practiced in the tradition of 'Ashura the resemblance to certain areas, in addition to differences in the implementation of the tradition of' Ashura, the Muslims due to the understanding of the history or events on the day of 'Ashura in the month of Muharram are different, so the day is commemorated with a variety of religious rituals and with different expressions. In this case the Shiites do not deny history or events of 'Ashura as understood by Muslim citizens Palu city in general, but in view of the Shi'i' Ashura is a day filled with grief and sorrow, because when that happens the event of Karbala'. Keyword: Tradition 'Ashura, Muslim Community Palu City , Perspective Shi'i'.

Gamelan gong luang is a rare and sacred music ensemble performed in Bali, Indonesia. Its origins are only speculative, but it is believed to have existed before the arrival of migrants from Hindu Majahapahit Java in the 14th century. Today few Balinese have interest in learning to perform this music, which is intimately intertwined with ritual practices. My research involves the study of two interrelated aspects of this complex musical tradition. First, I focus on gamelan gong luang’s history, instrumentation, social organization, and function within Balinese society. And second, I focus on gamelan gong luang’s musical structure using analytical perspectives. Additionally, and in consideration of the results of my research, I reflect on gamelan gong luang’s future. I have two goals in writing this dissertation. First, I want to challenge younger generations of Balinese musicians that often fail to recognize the value of this musical tradition. Today, more diverse and rapidly developing modern musics, like the exciting world of gamelan gong kebyar, capture the attention of young musicians. To these young people gamelan gong luang is old-fashioned and unexciting. This research elucidates many of the unique characteristics of gamelan gong luang, and highlights new potentialities for its appreciation and thus continuance. I will also show that musical characteristics of gamelan gong luang live on in their transformation at the hands of many Balinese composers. My conclusion is that the loss of this ensemble would seriously damage the continuity of social and religious life in some places that rely heavily on its use in ritual, and for all of Bali and the world at large, a loss of cultural heritage. I also want to challenge misleading representations of Balinese music produced by non-Balinese scholars. In earlier publications, Western scholars (Small 1977, Kramer 1988) have stated that Balinese music is non-linear, with cyclic structures that repeat seemingly without end. Utilizing research methods acquired throughout my graduate studies in the Western scholarly world, and my lifelong training as a Balinese musician, I have created an in-depth analysis of gamelan gong luang music that shows that such interpretations are mistaken.