Keys to al‐Ghaib: A Cross‐Cultural Study

Abstract

AbstractThe significance of religion and concepts of al‐ghaib (the invisible and unknowable) and sanctity in a materialistically oriented and globally dominant and changing world has been a nexus of current debates in Orthodox Islam. The concept of al‐ghaib is a fundamental principle in Islamic theology; however, it has a profound impact on Muslim’s daily lives. Thenceforth, this study focuses on the concepts of al‐ghaib, or invisibility, sanctity, and imagination, as reflected in ordinary Muslims’ views and key practices aimed at disclosing the unknown and unseen. This article presents an anthropological holistic insight incorporating objective description and subjective interpretation and as such comprises a phenomenological hermeneutic inquiry. Drawing on ethnographic studies conducted in communities belonging to Bahrain (predominantly Shi‘a) and Egypt (predominantly Sunni), this inquiry aims at exploring the relationships between the Islamic sacred conviction of al‐ghaib and everyday practices of Muslim communities. These ethnographic accounts are examined and compared with scholarly literature and cross‐cultural materials.