[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Obviously the social world of the era was regulated by custom in which Islamic incantations and prayers were assigned a sanctifying role.Throughout their lives Muslim peoples in the zone lived in a world of spirits, in which only correct behavior verified by custom and accompanying Islamic injunctions and pronouncements made it possible to survive and to die safely.It was not so much that Islam verified these local customs as that Muslims used Islam as an additional assurance in the performance of these customary acts.Muslim CelebrationsThe holidays noted in the nineteenth century were fully described by observers of the time.The following celebrations were performed in Aceh during the latter part of the nineteenth century and provide a solid example of how important these holidays were to the societies of the wider Muslim Zone.36The tenth day of Muharam was intended among Sunni Muslims to be a supplementary day of fasting and was considered “meritorious” but not“required.” Hence it passed almost unnoticed in many Sunni communities of Aceh.In the small ShiΩite communities and among many Indian Muslims, the day celebrated the death of Imam Husayn (d.680), one of the chief figures of early ShiΩism.Among these groups there were bonfires, repetitions of the “remembrance,” and reenactments of the massacre of the mar-3Fed_89-158 10/29/06 10:21 AM Page 146146New Muslim Institutions (1800–1945)tyr Husayn, along with much emotional wailing and self-mortification with sharp instruments.Sunnis observed this rite as a curious spectacle, but did not participate or feel particularly connected with it.The last Wednesday of Safar was a day of ablution in which believers bathed in the sea, a river, or some bathing site, using water that had been consecrated by touch with certain verses of the QurΩan.Some of the water might be drunk as a means of amplifying the blessing.In some places there were voluntary worship services, but these were not countenanced by some religious authorities as having justification in religious sources.Beforehand religious specialists prepared slips of paper with the seven verses from the QurΩan in which God addressed humans with the word “peace,” and these were cast into the sea, river, or well where the rite was taking place.In Rabiulawwal the birthday of the prophet Muhammad was celebrated with a recitation from long poems prepared by al-Bukhari (d.870) or by JaΩfar al-Barzanji (b.1765).Trained specialists took turns reading, using a variety of styles that were regarded as fashionable.Some people knotted black thread during the reading to use as amulets, since the reading was believed to radiate a blessing.At the conclusion of the reading a long prayer was given.Afterwards there was a feast to which the entire community contributed and all men, women, and children attended.Such celebrations rotated among villages or city quarters during the month so that people could participate in more than one.On the anniversary date itself a large feast was held at the tomb of a popular saint, Teungku Anjung (d.unknown), where several carabao were slaughtered for the festivities.The night of the fifteenth day of Syakban was believed to be the time when God set the fortunes of mortals for the coming year.According to popular legend, there was a celestial tree of life the leaves of which represented all humans, and on the fifteenth of Syakban the tree was shaken and the leaves that fell represented those people who would die during the coming year.Obviously such an occurrence agitated the general population.Accordingly, in the evening the men gathered in the mosques and the women in private homes to pray, after which a special meal was held in each place.The prayers were designed for the occasion, and often the “gloria”(tasbih) was recited as well.Fasting was observed during the entire month of Ramadan.According to Islamic law, no food, liquid, or other substance was to be ingested during daylight hours, although there were frequent departures from fasting by users of drugs, smokers, and those unable to bear the strain of going without food all day
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]