Daily Life in Arab-Muslim World | Middle East And North Africa

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MUSLIM WAY OF LIFE AND TRADITIONS

Friday Prayers

John L. Esposito wrote in the “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices”: Many Muslims describe Islam as "a total way of life." They believe that religion cannot be separated from social and political life, since religion informs every action a person takes. The Qur’an provides many passages that emphasize the relationship of religion to the state and society. Muslims see themselves as God's representatives, with a divine mandate to establish his rule on earth in order to create a moral and just society. The Muslim community is thus seen as a political entity, as proclaimed in the Qur’an 49:13, which teaches that God "made you into nations and tribes." Like Jews and Christians before them, Muslims believe that they have been called into a covenant with God, making them a community of believers who must serve as an example to other nations (2:143): "You are the best community evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong" (3:110). [Source: John L. Esposito “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices”, 2000s, Encyclopedia.com]

There many traditions and ways of living that are outlined in the Qur’an and outside it. Circumcision, for example, is universally practiced among Muslims as a matter of religious observance, although the Qur’an does not mention it. In addition, both men and women are required to dress and to act modestly, and they are encouraged to marry and procreate. Thus, Islam provides a set of common beliefs, values, and practices that are to guide Muslim life. [Source: J. Kritzeck, C. Wilde, “New Catholic Encyclopedia”, 1990, Encyclopedia.com]

In addition to the Five Pillars of Islam, the Qur’an provides Muslims with other rules of conduct. Consuming pork and alcohol is forbidden. So, too, strictly speaking, are the making of images, the veneration of saints, and the use of devotional objects. Since the Qur’an envisions a close-knit community of true believers, it also contains many regulations concerning guardianship, dowries, divorce, and inheritance, as well as a complete punitive system against theft, fraud, perjury, and murder. There are strict prohibitions against gambling, prostitution, adultery, murder, and other criminal offenses. A host of regulations about the just treatment of debtors, widows, the poor, and orphans emphasizes the key importance of social justice. Those who practice usury are strongly rebuked. .

Websites and Resources: Islam IslamOnline islamonline.net ; Institute for Social Policy and Understanding ispu.org; Islam.com islam.com ; Islamic City islamicity.com ; BBC article bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam ; University of Southern California Compendium of Muslim Texts web.archive.org ; Encyclopædia Britannica article on Islam britannica.com ; Islam at Project Gutenberg gutenberg.org ; Muslims: PBS Frontline documentary pbs.org frontline

Arabs: Wikipedia article Wikipedia ; Who Is an Arab? africa.upenn.edu ; Encyclopædia Britannica article britannica.com ; Arab Cultural Awareness fas.org/irp/agency/army ; Arab Cultural Center arabculturalcenter.org ; 'Face' Among the Arabs, CIA cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence ; Arab American Institute aaiusa.org/arts-and-culture ;

Haram (Forbidden) Versus Halal (Allowed)

According to Encyclopedia.com: Daily activities in Islam are classified according to whether they are sinful or not. The term halal is used to refer to activities that are allowed, while haram is used to refer to activities that are not allowed. All actions are evaluated according the Islamic halal and haram. All intoxicants, for example, including all forms of alcohol and mind-altering drugs, are strictly haram. [Source: Encyclopedia.com]

Islam forbids gambling and games of chance. They are regarded as temptations from Shaytan that distract people from their religious faith. Any winnings are regarded as unfairly received. Games of skill that offer prizes, however, are allowed. Certain forms of music, too, are regarded as causing temptation. Women are not allowed to sing alone, but group singing is allowed. The rule in Islam is that any music or singing that is sexually suggestive is haram.

Muslims adhere to a number of restrictions in monetary practices. Any kind of interest-based lending or borrowing is forbidden. People can buy or sell stocks in companies that do not produce forbidden items. However, futures contracts (that is, purchasing the right to own a quantity of a commodity, such as wheat or oil, in the hope that the price will rise and the ownership right can be sold at a profit) are forbidden, for only Allah can know the future. Muslims are expected to conduct business through written contracts, and they are expected to be honest in their business dealings.

Work Week in the Islamic World

Many places in the Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia — and to a lesser degree in other parts of the Arab-Muslim world — observe a Muslim Saturday-through-Wednesday work week. Friday is the Muslim equivalent of Sunday. Since the Muslim Sabbath is on Friday, in some Muslim countries, the work week starts on Saturday and the weekend is Thursday and Friday, but this is not the case in secular Turkey and many other places in the Muslim world. On Fridays, the Muslim day of prayer, mosques are often filled with people. Businesses and shops are often closed on Friday. Some open on Thursday afternoon.

Life revolves around the five daily prayer. Employers allow workers to take the time to visit a local mosque or at least break for five or ten minutes at the work place to allow for prayers.. Saudis are required by law to pray during the five daily prayer times: 1) dawn (4:30-5:00am); 2) noon; 3) afternoon (between 2:00amd and 4:00pm); 4) sunset; and 5) one hour after sunset. Prayers time vary according to the time of the year and geographical location. Everything stops during prayer time. Vehicles—whether be buses, service taxis or private cars—often pull to the side of the road during prayer time so people can pray.

Shops are closed during noontime and afternoon prayer times, which last anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. Many are closed from the beginning of noon prayer time to the end of the afternoon prayer time, which is the equivalent of taking a siesta-style break around lunchtime and reopen in the afternoon. In the summer when it is really hot many businesses open and close early or take a longer afternoon break.

Islamic Calendar and Muslim Year and Months

Many places in the Middle East use the Muslim lunar calendar, which is quite different from one used in Europe and the United States, at least side by side with Western Gregorian calendar. Muslim holidays are set in accordance with the Muslim lunar calendar and are 11 days earlier every year. During Ramadan, the Muslim month-long fast, many places open and close before sunrise and reopen after sunset.

The Muslim year has only 354 or 355 days, which means that all Muslim holidays are 10 or 11 days earlier each year. The Muslim lunar calendar consists of 12 lunar months, alternating between 29 and 30 days. To keep the months in sync with the phases of the moon the length of the twelfth month varies: during a thirty year cycle, 19 of the final months have 29 days and 11 of them have 30 days. In the 30 year cycle, the 2nd, 5th, 7th, 19th, 13th, 16th, 18th, 21st, 24th, 26th, and 29th years are leap years

The Islamic lunar months are: 1) Muharram, 2) Safar, 3) Rabi al-Awwal, 4) Rabi al-Thani, 5) Jumadi al-Awwal, 6) Jumadi al-Thani, 7) Rajab, 8) Sha'ban, 9) Ramadan (the fasting month), 10) Shawwal, 11) Dhul Oi'dah and 12) Dhul Hijjah.

Mosque Worship

Although it is permissible to pray almost anywhere, men pray in congregation at mosques whenever possible, especially on Fridays. Each week on Friday, the Muslim Sabbath, the noon prayer is a congregational prayer (juma) at a mosque or Islamic center. Women are not required to pray in public but may attend worship at mosques, which maintain separate sections for women. Prayers can be performed in public or in private. Although not required, it is considered preferable and more meritorious to pray with others, thus demonstrating and reinforcing Muslim brotherhood, equality, and solidarity. The only prayer which must always be performed in public is the noon prayer on Friday (jumʿa).

According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Public worship for the average Muslim consists of going to a mosque (masjid ) — normally on Fridays, although mosques are well attended throughout the week — for congregational prayers led by a local imam, following the public call to prayer, which may be intoned from the top of a minaret (minar ) at the mosque. After leaving their footwear at the door, men and women separate; men usually sit in front, women in back, either inside the mosque or in an open courtyard. The prayer leader gives a sermon in the local regional language, perhaps interspersed with Arabic or Farsi (sometimes called Persian or Parsi) quotations, depending on his learning and the sophistication of the audience. Announcements of events of interest that may include political commentary are often included. Then follow common prayers that involve responses from the worshipers who stand, bow, and kneel in unison during devotions. [Source:Metropolitan Museum of Art \^/]

Often only men pray in the mosques. Women, who are sometimes not allowed in mosques, pray mostly at home and sometimes attend ceremonies conducted in a home by female religious leaders. When entering the mosque, some of the faithful discard their canes in hope that the prayers will heal them and make them young again. The act of writing prayers is consider important. The idea behind it is similar to Buddhist concept of earning merit. Sometimes Muslims sway and bob their heads when they pray or recite passages from the Qur’an. This is not all that different from what Jews do when they recite passages from the Torah and what some shaman do before they go into a trance.

Clothes in the Muslim World

Dress styles for Muslims varies widely depending on ethnic group, culture and nationality. The Qurʾan dictates that the body should be covered adequately. Muslim men are required to avoid tight clothing, cover the area between the knees and the navel, and grow a beard, if possible. In Muslim countries you rarely see men wearing short pants. Many wear a loose gown and a turban or some other head covering, which signifies submission to Allah during prayer. Since prayer takes place so frequently in daily life, head coverings are worn most of the time. [Source: Encyclopedia.com]

Women are required to wear loose-fitting clothes and to cover themselves to their ankles and wrists. A head-covering is worn to cover their hair. Excessive makeup and perfume are frowned upon. The ways these rules are interpreted varies greatly. In some countries women wear a burqa, which covers not only their entire body but also the entire head and face, with maybe a small opening for their eyes. In other countries, a head covering called a hijab, suffices along with loose clothes that don’t reveal any skin except for the hands and face.

John L. Esposito wrote in the “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices”: Islamic dress for men and women reflects a focus on modesty in public and private spaces as defined in the hadith (the reports of Muhammad's sayings and deeds) and in popular tradition. Historically dress in the Muslim world was also strongly influenced by hot and arid climates with wind- and sandstorms, where long and flowing garments ensured comfort and head coverings served as protection. In the Muslim world today dress varies greatly, depending on geographic location, diverse customs and Qur’anic interpretations, marital status, and differing ages, tastes, identities, occupations, or political orientations. [Source: John L. Esposito “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices”, 2000s, Encyclopedia.com]

Nonetheless, there is a particular style of Islamic dress for men and women that was adopted in the twentieth century by Muslim communities throughout the world. Female dress consists of an ankle-length skirt and long-sleeved top or a long robe, unfitted at the waist, along with a head covering, low on the forehead and draped over the neck and sometimes the shoulders. Austere colors (black, white, dark blue, beige, or gray) and opaque materials are the most common. This outfit, called the hijab and voluntarily chosen by many Muslim women, is distinctly modern, bought ready-made in shops or sewn by hand.

Male dress, less popular than the female version, includes a traditional long-sleeved tunic and baggy pants or a robe, along with a prayer cap or other traditional head wrap. A beard, either untrimmed or trimmed but covering areas of the cheek, is also sometimes worn. Islamic dress is less popular among men because it often leads officials to identify them as activists subject to identification and arrest.

This Islamic dress represents a new public morality. It strengthens Islamic identity and is a sign of protest and liberation that distances the believer from Western values and its emphasis on materialism and commercialism. Some women believe that Islamic dress makes them better able to function as active, self-directed subjects, commanding respect and valued for who they are rather than what they look like. This dress code has also developed political overtones, becoming a source of national pride, desire for participatory politics, and resistance to authoritarianism and Western cultural and political dominance. Special dress is worn on a pilgrimage. For women this includes an outer covering and a headscarf. Men on pilgrimage wear two seamless pieces of white cloth and a waistband, an outfit that symbolizes the equality of all believers.

Halal Cosmetics

Halal cosmetics are increasingly becoming common in the Arab-Muslim world. Martina Fuchs of Reuters wrote: “The word halal, Arabic for permissible, is often used to describe meat slaughtered and prepared in line with Islamic law. Halal beauty products, which comprise $500 million of the $2 trillion global halal market, are made using plant extracts and minerals rather than the alcohol and pork ingredients that are banned in Islam but often found in cosmetics. [Source: Martina Fuchs, Reuters, October 6, 2010]

“The appeal of halal cosmetics mirrors a global trend for ethical beauty products that are not tested on animals and do not use animal derivatives, as well as booming demand for ranges based on natural ingredients that are kind to hair and skin. It is a trend that could appeal strongly to Muslims living in Europe, where a buzz already surrounds all things green. “It is part of the permissibility of cosmetics that they be safe. So substances that have heavy metal and other carcinogenic or otherwise harmful substances would be impermissible,” New-York based Islamic scholar Taha Abdul-Basser said. “Substances that are tested on animals in such a way as to cause unnecessary pain or that pollute the environment would be avoided by religious educated and conscientious consumers... There are significant overlaps between the halal consumer and the ethical and environmentally-conscious consumer.”

“Beauty World Middle East, a beauty trade exhibition, found in a survey that cosmetics, perfumes and personal care products account for a growing share of the $150 million annual market for sharia-compliant products in the United Arab Emirates alone. “Islam itself is a lifestyle and so the sharia-compliant lifestyle market represents massive potential in the next few years,” Paul Temporal, Director for Islamic Branding and Marketing at Oxford University’s Said Business School, said. “There will be many more new and existing brands that will focus on women’s cosmetics and beauty products.”“

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: Internet Islamic History Sourcebook: sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Arab News, Jeddah; “Islam, a Short History” by Karen Armstrong; “A History of the Arab Peoples” by Albert Hourani (Faber and Faber, 1991); “World Religions” edited by Geoffrey Parrinder (Facts on File Publications, New York); “Encyclopedia of the World’s Religions” edited by R.C. Zaehner (Barnes & Noble Books, 1959); Metropolitan Museum of Art, Encyclopedia.com, National Geographic, BBC, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Library of Congress and various books and other publications.

Last updated April 2024