Ritual Purity Research Articles

Women and Ritual Purity in Islam

Purity is a beautiful word that is pleasing to the eye, and a quality that everyone wishes to maintain. From an Islamic perspective, purity has a general meaning. Thus it may mean, on one hand, physical cleanliness which is the purity (of the body) from perceptible filth or ritual purification. On the other hand, it may mean spiritual purity which is the purity of the self from vices, sins and abandoning disobedience, and getting used to good deeds and words. Purity (Arabic: طهارة‎, ṭahāra is an essential aspect of Islam. It is the opposite of najāsa, the state of being ritually impure. It is achieved by first removing physical impurities (for example, urine) from the body, and then removing ritual impurity by means of wudu (usually) or ghusl. Rules which regulate the cleanliness rituals are placed both by Quranic requirements, and the rituals to acquire a new level of social status in everyday Muslim life. Physically, spiritually, ethically, and psychologically every Muslim must value cleanliness and purity. In this work, I investigate the concept of “purity” from the Islamic perspective. I argue that cleanliness and purity form an essential ideal in Muslim piety and consciousness. The Qur'an frequently refers to it.

When the Bible becomes weaponized: Detecting and disarming Jew-hatred

Christian preaching and teaching often presents Jews and Judaism as legalistic, obsessed with ritual purity, elitist, money-loving, militaristic, misogynist, and xenophobic. In much popular Christian imagination, Jesus emerges as the only Jew who proclaims the spirit over the letter of the Law, who finds the heart of Torah in compassion rather than in ritual, who demonstrates solidarity with the poor, who counsels peace, who shows respect for women, and who proclaims that God loves all people and not just Jews. Such caricatures of both Jesus and his context are not simply the purview of neo-Nazis and their ilk; they appear in the sermons and teachings of well-motivated Christians who would be appalled to think of themselves as purveying tropes that can inculcate or reinforce Jew-hatred. The problem with such bigoted views can often be traced to biblical passages: Matthew’s invectives against scribes and Pharisees, John’s “Jews” who are children of the devil, Paul’s reference to the Jews “who killed the Lord Jesus,” the “synagogue of Satan” in Revelation, etc. This paper briefly notes ongoing Jew-hatred, explains why Christian teachers and clergy are ill-equipped to address it, details why major approaches to problematic texts are not, and cannot be, fully successful, and then suggests ways for Christian preaching and teaching to move forward in preventing anti-Jewish messages.

تجلیات التقدم العلمی والصناعی وأثره فی فقه النوازل (النوازل المتعلقة بطهارة المرأة أنموذجاً)

مما لا شک فيه أن الرعيل الأول من الفقهاء الأجلاء عنوا بالمسائل التي عرفتها مجتمعاتهم الإسلامية، فقدموا لها حلولا مرتبطة ارتباطا وثيقا بظروفهم ومستويات معيشتهم التي عاشوا فيها خلال تلک الحقبة، ومع تقدم الزمن فقد تجددت الحوادث الاجتماعية الناتجة عن طروء التقدم العلمي والصناعي المعاصر، والتي کان لها تأثير فعال في أحکام کثير من المسائل الفقهية، مما دعت الحاجة الملحة إلى النظر في أحکامها والاجتهاد في وضع حلول لها بما يتوافق مع التطورات التکنولوجية المعاصرة في شتى المجالات، ونظرا لأن الشريعة الإسلامية صالحة لکل زمان ومکان؛ فإنه بالرجوع إلى نصوصها يمکن تکييف ما استجد من مسائل فقهية في عالم التطور والتقدم العلمي والصناعي المعاصر وإخضاعها للضوابط الشرعية الأصيلة؛ لذا هدف هذا البحث المتواضع إلى الکشف عن تجليات التقدم العلمي والصناعي المعاصر وأثره في نوازل الفقه الإسلامي ودوره في بيان مقصد الشارع من التشريع فيما يتعلق بطهارة المرأة على وجه الخصوص کأنموذج، وقد اقتضت طبيعة البحث أن تسلک الباحثة فيه عدة مناهج تتمثل في المنهج الاستقرائي، والمنهج التحليلي المقارن، للتوصل من خلال هذه المناهج إلى عدة نتائج لعل أهمها: أن للتقدم العلمي والصناعي الحديث علاقة وثيقة بفقه النوازل وإيجاد الحلول المناسبة بما يحقق مقاصد الشريعة الإسلامية التي شرعت الأحکام لمراعاتها، وأن للتطور العلمي والمعرفي أثر کبير في تجلية وجوه الحکمة من تشريع الطهارة واکتشاف فوائد الوضوء والغسل وخاصة في زمن انتشار الوباء (کوفيد 19) المستجد، وأن لتغير الأوضاع تأثيرا کبيرا في کثير من الأحکام الشرعية المبنية على الواقع العرفي والعادة بحسب اقتضاء المصلحة له زمانا ومکانا وحالا، ثم زيلت البحث بفارس عامة. The earlier generation of the venerable Muslim jurists took considerable interest in the issues occurring to their Muslims societies, investigating new occurrences and introducing solutions closely in line with the conditions and living standards of the society in which they lived. So, with contemporary scientific and industrial progress, there emerged social conditions that affect the rulings issued on many jurisprudential issues. This has resulted in an urgent need for considering respective rulings and related Ijtihad towards bringing solutions that go in line with contemporary technological developments in various fields. Given that Islamic Shari’ah is valid for all times and places, it can be invoked in adapting the jurisprudential rulings that have arisen in the world of contemporary scientific and industrial progress. Such new rulings can be subjected to essential legal regulations. Therefore, this study aims to illustrate the manifestations of contemporary scientific and industrial progress and its impact on the Nawazil (new occurrences that require new legal rulings), as well as the rule of jurisprudence in clarifying the objective of certain legislations regarding the purification rituals for women in particular. It was necessary then that the research methodology involve induction and comparative analysis of the study. Among the findings of the study is that modern scientific and industrial progress has a close relationship to the jurisprudence of Nawazil, that require appropriate solutions in a way materializing the objectives of Islamic Shari’ah meant to help the Muslim adapt to new occurrences. Besides, scientific and epistemological development has largely contributed in revealing the wisdom behind legislations about ritual purification and the benefits of ablution and washing, especially in the time of pandemic outbreak (Covid-19). Indeed, the changing conditions bear considerable impact on many of the Shari’ah rulings that are based on people’s customs and habits, given that these changes require new legal rulings towards bringing about public interest.

Incense burners and altar dishes of the Sargatka Culture

The paper concerns the so-called incense burners and small altar dishes found in the burial complexes of the Sargatka Culture in the forest-steppe region of the Western Siberia, as well as in the burials of the Cis-Urals nomads of the 4th–2nd c. BC, which were used for burning and incensing of various substances. Compilation of materials allows forming a clearer view on the possible function of these objects, which is debatable amongst the researchers. The incense burners are small cylindrical stone or pottery vessels with considerable amount of tal-cum in the pottery clay. The altar dishes represent round, oval or subrectangular objects made of stone and clay with or without legs. The cylinder-shaped incense burners and altar dishes are, apparently, similar in function to each other. The absence of a high rim on the latter is compensated by a large area of the dish itself. The volume of the incensed substance would be nearly the same in both types of the burners, while sustaining burning on the altar-dishes would not require special means, such as wall penetrations alike those in the cylindrical incense burners. Few preserved burials contain incense burners alongside other, in our opinion related, objects — flat-bottom vessels, sometimes with stone bases, which allows econstruction of the implement in its assembled form and suggestion of a method of its application. The main item was an incense burner — a container of a cylindrical or conical shape, usually with through-holes in the wall to allow air intake inside the ware, sometimes having nip-ple-shaped protrusions on the inner surface of the bottom increasing the surface area of contact with the incense substance. The incense burner would have been placed in a flat-bottom jar filled with smoldering embers and installed on a fire-resistant base. The studied objects and their handling resemble the ceremonial described by Herodotus as a ritual purification amongst the Scythians. However, in our opinion, it cannot be ruled out that they could have been used in the rituals involving hallucinogenic substances, performed with the aim of prophesizing, divination, to communicate with gods and spirits, which were practised by people of the Sarmatian and Sargatian (at least in the western part of the area) Cultures and administered, most likely, by special, elected persons. When those persons die, the implements would be placed into their burials as a grave goods.

تحقيق رسالة: (في أقسام المستحاضة بالشرع) تأليف مصطفى الديربي الشافعي ت. 1155ه

تحقيق رسالة: (في أقسام المستحاضة بالشرع) تأليف مصطفى الديربي الشافعي ت. 1155ه إيمان بنت سلامه الطويرش قسم الفقه، کلية الشريعة، جامعة الإمام محمد بن سعود الإسلامية، الرياض، المملکة العربية السعودية. البريد الالکتروني: estwairesh@imamu.edu.sa الملخص: يعنى هذا البحث بدراسة وتحقيق رسالة للشيخ مصطفى الديربي الشافعي (ت 1155ه)، تناول فيها أحکام المستحاضة بإسهاب وتفصيل، وهي من المسائل المهمة التي تمس الحاجة إلى المصنفات المستقلة فيها، ولما کان الأمر کذلک رأيت من المناسب المشارکة في إخراج وتحقيق شيء من التراث الفقهي المتعلق بهذه المسألة، وذلک بتحقيق هذه الرسالة القيمة التي تناولت الموضوع وأحاطت به من جميع جوانبه، وهي بعنوان: أقسام المستحاضة بالشرع، وهدفت الرسالة إلى بيان أحکام المستحاضة وبيان أنواع النساء من حيث العادة والتمييز وحکم کل واحدة. وقد سلکت في هذا البحث المنهج المعتبر في دراسة وتحقيق المخطوطات فقمت بدراسة حياة المؤلف، ثم ضبطت النص المحقق، وأخرجته، وعلقت عليه بما يزيده بيانا ووضوحا، وخلصت في هذا البحث إلى نتائج أهمها: الرجوع في حکم المستحاضة للعادة تارة والتمييز تارة أخرى، وأن التمييز يرجع إليه في حالة المتحيرة التي ليست لها عادة، وذلک بملاحظة تباين صفات الدم، قوة وضعفا، وکذلک بيان ما تمسک عنه المستحاضة، وما تشترک به مع الحائض، وما تختلف به عنها، وصفة الطهارة في حقها، وصفة قضاء الصوم والصلوات، ويوصي الباحث بالعناية بالمشروعات العلمية التي تهدف إلى تحقيق المخطوطات المعنية بالتراث الفقهي، وإخراجها على الوجه الذي کتبها عليه أصحابها لتکون بين أيدي الباحثين لا سيما ما يتعلق بالمسائل الفقهية المؤلفة على وجه الانفراد – کهذه الرسالة-. الکلمات المفتاحية: المستحاضة، مصطفى الديربي، الفقه الشافعي. Types of Mustahaadah in the Shari’ah Written by: Mustafa Al-Derby Al-Shaafi’i (1155 AH) Eman Bint Salama Al-Tuwairesh Feqh department, college of shariah, Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Islamic University, Riyadh, Kingdome of Saudi Arabia. e-mail: estwairesh@imamu.edu.sa Abstract: This research is related to the publication and study of the detailed writing of Sheikh Mustafa Al-Derby Al-Shaafi’i (d.1155 AH) on the topic of continuous vaginal bleeding (Istihaadhah), which is an important topic in need of independent research. For this reason, I considered it appropriate to participate in the research and study of the writings on this topic from our classical jurisprudential works, choosing as a path for this study the publication and annotation of a dedicated writing on the topic titled: “Types of Mustahaadah in the Sahriah”, in which the author holistically covers the topic explaining the categories of women in relation to this topic, their unique differences between each category, and its related rulings.In this research, I followed the approved approach when studying and verifying manuscripts. As a result, I dedicated a segment to the life of the author, then finalised the text of the manuscript, referenced it, and added annotations in order to provide clarity on the intended meanings of the text. Accordingly, I concluded from this research many results, the most important of which are: The need for a ‘Mustahaadhah’ to consider the characteristics of her bleeding and to differentiate between the characteristics of her bleeding during and after her menstrual cycle, in order to conclude her ‘ritually pure’ days from her ‘ritually impure days’. This is done by noting the difference in the characteristics of blood, its strength and weakness, and concluding which characteristics apply to her, what she shares of these characteristics with a female experiencing her monthly cycle, and what is unique to her. In addition, she should determine the characteristics that constitute a state of ‘ritual purity’ with regards to her, and the modality for making up missed fasts and prayers. Keywords: Al-Mustahda, Mustafa Al-Derby, Shafi’i jurisprudence.

The Origins of Emancipation and Feminism in 19th Century India: Bengalese Experience

The development of feminism and women’s emancipation in colonial India shows various trajectories and inner sources of the process within the regions occupied by a ‘larger society’ going through modernization. The first variant appeared in colonial Bengal — a peripheral region relative to the center of Brahminical order and a place where Indian and Western culture conjoined back in the 18–19th centuries. A system of rigid constraints of women’s freedom and rights emerged within the local patriarchal society, especially in the high strata, coming from a perspective of ritual purity and men’s ‘safety’. Women themselves were bearers of traditional consciousness with stereotypes and prejudices, and they were deprived the possibility to take part in their destinies as well as social life outside of a family. Based on the works of social reformers and intellectuals, the author describes the Bengalese variant of the origins of feminism and emancipation. The primary social actor of the process was the male feminist, who publicly proclaimed ideas of women’s rights and tried to improve the lives of women through reforms. The reformatory movements led by leaders from Rammohun Roy to Keshubchandra Sen turned out to be the first wave of the emancipation process; their activity promoted the circumstances for family and social emancipatory practices. The second wave was associated with women finally becoming active and starting to speak for themselves. The main factors that stimulated their activeness were literacy and education, along with support of their aspirations of behalf of men.

Ritual Lamentation in the Irish Penitentials

Some of the earliest references to ritual lamentation or keening in the early Irish sources are found in the penitential handbooks dated to around the seventh and eighth centuries. In previous scholarship, these passages have commonly been interpreted as evidence of the continuous attempts of the Church to curb pagan practices among the ‘nominally Christian’ populace, thus assuming that such regulations were primarily used as a means of social control. This article examines the wider theological and intellectual context of these texts, by focusing in particular on the influence of the Old Testament on early Irish ecclesiastical writing. It will be argued that the demonstrable preoccupation of these sources with issues such as ritual purity and proper religious observance suggests that the stipulations pertaining to lamentation were not solely intended to regulate lay behavior.

African Reading of Psalm 24:3-6: The Implications for the Enforcement of Morality among Christians in Africa.

This paper deals with the African reading of Psalm 24:3-6: The implications for the enforcement of morality among Christians in Africa. The book of Psalms is subdivided into five books comparable to the Pentateuch. Psalm 24 falls into the first book which is used as a liturgy of entrance into the Israelite temple. In Psalm 24:3-6 a worshipper asks for entry requirements to be met which are clean hands and pure hearts, not lifting up the soul to what is false, and not swearing deceitfully. The methodology used is the African perspective of readers’ response. Pastors and Christian leaders must lead the people with integrity befitting the sacredness of the hill of the Lord. Christians are the temple of God and are expected to observe ritual purity everywhere every time in order to receive blessings from God, (Onyame). Keywords: Morality, Shrine, clean hands, pure hearts, ritual purity.

Animal Suffering and the Darwinian Problem of Evil

Animal Suffering and the Darwinian Problem of Evil

Exclusion de la synagogue et construction de l’identité croyante dans les communautés johanniques

Même si son déroulement historique exact demeure une énigme, l’exclusion des communautés johanniques de la synagogue a été un accélérateur décisif dans la construction de leur identité croyante. Ce processus peut être décrit d’un double point de vue. Premièrement, il s’effectue à travers une transformation du rapport à la tradition juive. Si l’autorité de la Bible hébraïque n’est pas mise en question, en revanche, les marqueurs identitaires du judaïsme synagogal (le Temple, les prescriptions de pureté rituelle, l’observance du sabbat, la circoncision) sont l’objet d’une profonde réinterprétation, voire d’une abrogation. Deuxièmement, cette redéfinition du rapport à la tradition vétérotestamentaire-juive s’accompagne de l’apparition de nouveaux marqueurs identitaires que sont, par exemple, le baptême et l’eucharistie. À quoi il faut ajouter la naissance d’une école théologique et d’un corpus d’écrits ayant rang d’Écriture, d’une nouvelle définition de l’apostolat, de la création de nouvelles formes d’organisation ecclésiales.

The Meaning of Water in Javanese Padusan and Japanese Misogi-Harai Rituals

Indonesia and Japan are two countries known for their high regard for culture and tradition, with no exception for those associated with religious rituals. In Japan, the Shinto religion is highly renowned for being the existing and believed ancestor religion. Meanwhile, in Indonesia, Islam is the largest religion that has indirectly influenced the cultures and traditions developed in society. Both Islam and the Shinto have a purification ritual with water as their medium, Padusan and Misogi-Harai, respectively. This study focuses on three things, i.e., the history, time of performance, and ritual procedure, to examine the corresponding meaning of the water as the media in both rituals. The method used to collect data is the literature study, and the data is then analyzed using the qualitative content analysis method. As a result of the three aspects studied, two similar meanings of water to the ritualistic purpose were discovered, i.e., purifying the soul from impurities/sin and returning the spirit to devotion to God.

CONCEPT OF PRACTICES OF JEWISH AND EARLY CHRISTIAN MEDICINE

The article examines the theological and philosophical origins of Jewish and early Christian medicine. We have shown that the basis of the medical practice of the ancient Jews and early Christians were the books of the Old Testament. The principles of nutrition, sanitation and hygiene have been considered in detail in the context of the topic. We also have analyzed the rules of care for sick people and the means used by the Jewish people in the treatment of infectious diseases. It has been shown that in order to prevent the spread of an infectious disease, Jews isolated an infected person from close contact with other people, thus avoiding the spread of various diseases and epidemics. Some Jewish works of the post-biblical period contain a description of the development of philosophy and ethics in medicine; the main ones are the Midrash, the Mishnah and the Talmud. In the article we also have analyzed conceptual medical foundations set forth in the Pentateuch of the Moses and the Talmud. It has been shown that the main attention of Jewish treatment practitioners was focused on disease prevention, as they attached great importance to the principles of ritual purity, which in turn was directly related to public hygiene. We also have studied a number of works of the early church fathers, who initiated the practice of caring for the physically ill. As a result, it was found that in the writings of the church fathers there are many mentions of surgery and treatment of mental illness.

Ritual Purity in Daily Life after 70 CE: The Chalk Vessel Assemblage from Shuʿafat as a Test Case

Abstract Chalk vessels became common at Jewish sites throughout the Southern Levant beginning in the late first century BCE, apparently because Jews considered stone to be impervious to ritual impurity. It is commonly thought that a drastic decline in the phenomenon occurred after 70 CE as a direct result of the temple’s destruction—on the assumption that the central motivation for Jews’ observance of the purity regulations was the temple cult. These notions are reconsidered here in light of an impressive assemblage of chalk vessels recently unearthed at Shuʿafat, occupied during the brief 70–132 CE interwar period. The character of this assemblage, presented here preliminarily, suggests that both use and production of chalk vessels continued unabated for decades after 70 CE, contradicting the notion that the chalk vessel industry was reliant on a functioning temple and that observance of the purity laws was inexorably linked with the Jerusalem cult.

The Woman with the Flow of Blood in the Homily of Pseudo-Chrysostom and the Kontakion of Romanos the Melodist

The piece considers the story of the woman with the flow of blood (haimorrhoousa) in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke as it is represented in two works: the homily of Pseudo-Chrysostom (PG 59,575-578) and Kontakion 12 (in the Oxford edition) of Romanos the Melodist. Interpretations of this episode from the gospels touch upon the issue of ritual purity in the Jewish law as well as the attitude of Christian authors toward female menstruation. The texts mentioned above are examined, along with statements from the Fathers of the Church on menstruation, in an attempt to answer the question of whether Christian authors embraced the idea that menstruating women should be excluded from social and religious life. The article shows that the attitude of Christian authors towards menstruating women was in fact generally positive.

Law and Lawlessness in Early Judaism and Early Christianity

Law and Lawlessness in Early Judaism and Early Christianity

Blood and Bodies

Blood, in relation to Jewish and Christian belief, is a multivalent symbol. At once an aspect of purification following ritual impurities, an aspect of impurity in relation to the Temple, and an indicator of kinship and lineage, its complexity renders its particular situational meanings all the more significant. Blood also signifies covenant with God: the blood of circumcision, the blood of the lamb, and the blood of Christ. Menstrual blood carries a very specific weight with regard to Jewish ritual purity both prior to and following the destruction of the Second Temple; women’s bodies and blood became monitored sites of inclusion and exclusion. In this paper, I engage discussions of blood in relation to female bodies and purity in Jewish and Christian history. I aim to counter historical interpretations of menstrual blood as repugnant and unclean with a feminist reading of the general Levitical understanding of blood as life.

The Ritual of Sacrifice within the Cultural Boundaries in Wole Soyinka's “The Strong Breed”

Fiziksel coğrafi sınırların dışında, bir kültürün bireyi gelenek ve kültürel uygulamalarla şekillenmiş olan toplumdaki kültürel sınırlamalarla karşılaşır. Bu uygulamalar arasında bulunan kurban verme, insanlığın var oluşu ve tarih kadar eskidir. Kurban verme yoluyla, toplumun canlanması ve arınması hedeflenir. Bu türden bir arınma töreni Soyinka'nın oyununda temsil ettiği Yoruba insanlarının gelenekleri arasında da mevcuttur. Kurban ritüeli ile ilişkili olarak rolünü algılayan Eman' in etrafında oyundaki dramatik eylem gelişir. Bu makale, ilk olarak, Yoruba kültürü içinde bireyin özgürlüğünü sınırlayan kültürel kısıtlamaları inceler, ikinci olaraksa, kültürel aynileştirme ve kişisel bütünleşmişlik durumlarını The Strong Breed (1963) adlı oyun özelinde analiz etmeyi hedeflemektedir. Bu bağlamda, The Strong Breed oyununun temsil ettiği sonuç şudur: kültürel sınırların gücü altında hür irade ve kader şekillenebilir ve de kurban sunumu bireyin kimlik ve aidiyetini şekillendirebilir.

Health and the Origins of the Miqveh

Abstract Use of rock-cut stepped pools for immersion in harvested rainwater is first attested in Judean source material of the second century BCE and on archaeological record shortly thereafter. As argued here, the practice became widespread due to the impact of Greco-Roman ideas about health and well-being. Immersion of the body in water was seen in the Greek medical tradition as a beneficial activity; it balanced the humors, opened harmful blockages in the skin membrane, and helped facilitate unction. Once these ideas became widespread in Judea, local purification rituals followed, and began incorporating immersion in water. The rabbinic dichotomy between purification and cleansing was likely irrelevant for most Judeans in the late Second Temple period, who probably also saw immersion as beneficial for personal hygiene. For this reason, stepped pools nearly disappear from archaeological record with the rise of public bathhouses, which offered the convenience of large and well-maintained immersion pools in exchange for a fee.

Islam and urostoma: a modern view through the prism of a religiously traditional legal system

Patients who practice Islam often refuse the proposed type of treatment for malignant neoplasms, citing religious reasons. Most fear that complete or partial non-retention of urine, the presence of a urostoma (ileal conduit) will violate their ritual purity and, as a result, their religious duties. The consequence of such refusal of treatment may be a lower quality of life, compared with patients of other faiths. Unfortunately, a low awareness of religious responsibilities among surgeons performing pelvic exentesis, cystectomy, prostatectomy, may prevent a full-fledged discussion of these issues before surgery. The presented review of the literature examined studies, legal aspects, and religious arguments that assist doctors in choosing treatment tactics for patients.

My Grandmother’s Bones

This article examines the materiality of death in the funerary rites of a Vaidiki brahmin family in Telugu-speaking South India. In this self-reflexive piece, I explore the concepts of madi (ritual purity) and maila (ritual impurity) in relation to my grandmother’s life and death, respectively. I also consider the materiality of my grandmother’s bones in the funerary rites, including the final cremation and post-cremation rituals conducted by my father and uncles in Hyderabad, Telangana in August 2013. The article concludes by reflecting on the resilience of my grandmother, a brahmin widow for more than thirty years of her life.