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Importance of religion in our personal lives
Importance of religion in our daily lives
Importance of religion in our daily lives
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Every religion embodies a plethora of recognized rituals that are significant to its teachings. Customs exclusive to each religion can include acts such as: attending a weekly mass, praying five times a day at specified hours, celebrating the transition from childhood to manhood, along with endless others. The similarity shared amongst all religious rituals is that the follower of faith must believe whole-heartedly in what he/she is doing or saying. Dhikr, or the remembrance of God, is a ritual based in Islam that does not receive the attention it deserves from mainstream Muslims, and is highly under appreciated for its value (Robson 238). Its myriad versions allow it to be very personal, whereas other rituals are more structured, which is …show more content…
While spending the day with Reem, a friend of mine, I was able to physically hear her recite specific phrases within the mosque as well as witness her utilize hand gestures to accompany her silent dhikr when she was practicing in public. I attended the Friday Jumu’ah prayer in which the phrases mentioned previously were quietly whispered under her breath, following the obligatory prayers. I noticed that people of all ages were in attendance at the sermon, and even the children were following along with their parents while reading the Qur’an. Reading directly from the Qur’an is arguably one of the simplest ways of practicing dhikr that is recognized by Allah. Having said that, everyone in attendance at the prayer that was actively engaging with a clear and conscious mind, was considered to be practicing their dhikr. However, practicing by attending the Friday prayer and reading from the Qur’an will not suffice as enough dhikr being practiced in one day. Something I failed to notice in my research was the amount of times it is practiced each day. It seemed as though Reem was practicing the ritual every couple of hours, whereas in my religion, I am more accustomed to praying upon awakening and before bedtime. In accordance with my research, implementing dhikr into life’s daily activities is a fairly reasonable responsibility asked by Allah. Reem, although occupied with schoolwork and other activities, succeeded in practicing her dhikr several times throughout the day. This made me realize that dhikr, the remembrance of God’s name, is a lot easier to incorporate into one’s day than I had expected (Knysh 217). Overall, practicing dhikr daily is an exceptional way to strengthen one’s relationship with Allah, and requires minimal
By educating the masses and deepening the spiritual concerns of the Muslims, Sufism has played a critical part in the arrangement of the Muslim society. The Sufi movement consists of rituals and practices include writing and reciting poetry and hymns. For example, Sufis participate in an assortment of custom practices planned to offer them some assistance with realizing union with God, for example, particular types of custom supplication to God include the recitation of God 's names, and substantial ceremonies, for example, "Whirling Dervishes," a Turkish Sufi arrange that practices reflection and thought of God through turning. (Religion and Ethics
the deities and attempt to explain the psychological necessity of these rituals. An examination will be made of the typical forms of rituals, and cite their effects,
1.) Intro: I decided to focus my Religious Ethnography on a friend whom I recently have become close with. Adhita Sahai is my friend’s name, which she later told me her first name meant “scholar.” I choose to observe and interview Adhita, after she invited me to her home after hearing about my assignment. I was very humbled that she was open to this, because not only was it a great opportunity for this paper, but it also helped me get to know Adhita better. I took a rather general approach to the religious questions that I proposed to the Sahai family because I didn’t want to push to deep, I could tell Hinduism is extremely important to this family. Because this family does not attend a religious site where they worship, I instead listened to how they do this at home as a family instead.
Prayer is an important connection to Allah. I never realized how hard it must be in a non-Muslim country to find the ability to pray during the day. Khadra struggles with this aspect of religion. At one point, she’s stopped praying but keeps count of those that she misses for later. It isn’t until later when she encounters the poet that she is confronted with her belief of God He tells her that “God is what you think of God.” For her this is blasphemy. But through her experiences in Syria she realizes that her connection with God is personal to her. She can prayer the five daily prayers or prayers, but she can also choose to prayer as she feels. She no longer feels as if she has to follow the stricter version of Islam. Although her parents feel like she is turning from Islam, I find that she’s turning to her Islam. She no longer needs the Dawah center to teach her the ways of Islam. She instead finds comfort her newfound friends and old acquaintances. She finds the love that she was missing in her
These metaphorical “pillars,” are what Muslims base their life decisions and actions around. To clearly understand Islam’s core philosophy of life, one must first know what these five pillars entail. The first pillar is called Shahada, which is the Muslim’s declaration of faith and belief. The declaration is a short phrase, which translates from its native language of Arabic to English as, “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger.” Then the second pillar is the Salat, which is the pillar of worship. In Islam, daily prayers are greatly important. A Muslim is required by their religion to pray five times a day; at dawn, noon, midafternoon, sunset, and then lastly in the evening. Devout Muslims also wash their hands and feet as a religious practice to purify themselves symbolically before prayers. (University of Calgary,
The Church of Latter-Day Saints (also known as the Mormon Church) was founded by Joseph Smith. God commanded him to translate the Book of Mormon to rebuild the true church. Joseph Smith also wrote the Doctrine of Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price which contained the revelations and additional commandments of God. The Mormons believe in the enteral life and that we will all be resurrected. I will describe more on what I have learned through my observations and interviews. I have learned a great amount in regards to the Mormon’s views on life after death, the process in getting baptized, and their views on the men and women’s different roles.
Different religions, different ways, and one aim of maintaining religious identity. Hinduism and Judaism, two of the world’s biggest religions, are seemingly completely unalike. With differences such as their views of afterlife, death and birth Hindus believing in rebirth and “oneness” with Brahman, and Jews believing in a world to come, focusing more on God’s image, never really mentioning what happens after death. Yet when you take a closer look into both religions you find some similarities. Both religions’ rituals focus on the same things, they may be celebrated differently but the meaning behind the celebrations and the meaning behind some of their symbols are the same, and their purposes help people maintain their identity and keep the traditions of their cultures strong.
As I reflect on spiritual disciplines it is easy for me to look at them and weed out the ones that I do not think apply to me and the ones that I am drawn towards. But as I press into God and ask him what he sees fit and what I need more of, the picture begins to looks different than what I thought I saw before. Since I am so obviously human, I would rather see my life through a different more accurate lens than one that is tainted and imperfect like those of my human eyes. When I look at my life spiritually it is easy for me to see the spiritual disciplines that just come naturally to me such as worship and service. Since I know that those are areas of my faith that I thrive in, I tend to gravitate towards those to try and satisfy my spiritual life but I leave other parts to suffer. I want to gain better understanding of my faith and ultimately cultivate a deeper relationship with the Father.
I decided to visit a Hindu temple because the Hindu religion was the religion that I knew the least about and was interested in. This assignment gave me an opportunity to learn more about this religion and what their worship services and rituals were like. The temple that I went to was called BAPS Shri Swaminaryan Mandir and it was located in Lilburn. As soon as I walked in, I was amazed by the beautiful architectural design of this Temple. It seemed like it took a lot of hard work and dedication to make the place what it is now. While I was at the temple, I watched the Hindus perform an ancient Vedic ritual called the Abhishek, a ritual bathing to honor the murti of their God.
Culture is what gives one pride in themselves and their religion. “The riches of Islamic culture is that it is a ‘super culture’ (Bouhdiba).” Everyone has a way of living their lives whether it is because of culture, values, and principles or only because that is how it was taught. “Muslims base their laws in their countries according to their holy book the Qur’an” (BBC “Islam”). When the Muslim people start their day’s off they are expected to do 5 formal prayers a day and however many informal prayers they would like. Formal prayers are in which each person washes themselves like their hands up to their elbow, their feet to their ankles, their heads, and their faces. In this prayer time “they erase all worldly and impure thoughts” solely to concentrate on God (Gulevich 142). Many mosques and praying areas have designated places where followers can wash themselves prior to praying. In the home and at mosque Muslims have special instructions as to have a special rug that...
As a student at the University of Portland, who has now spent a semester living amidst the Catholic culture, I have started to think about religion fundamentally different than prior to this year. Theology class has been enlightening. In class, a new external lens of how one can view faith while learning to think critically in the search of truth has been presented. The inquisitiveness in me has led me to ask hard questions regarding myself, my perceptions, my misconceptions, and even some heartfelt convictions while contemplating my faith. I have experienced legitimate struggles. I acknowledge I have ignorant barriers keeping me from totally living a life with God and for God due to the confusion of exactly what that means. “All truths are
Just a few days ago, I found a quiz that helped me determine if I showed any bias towards African Americans. Surprisingly, the results concluded that I viewed African Americans and European Americans in an equal manner, but if I was to take this quiz when I was eight years old the results would have been radically different. Ever since I was a little girl, I always had the impression that African Americans were very dangerous people due to the color of their skin. I came to this theory because when I was in second grade, there was a boy in my neighborhood that didn’t have any respect for his peers or elders. He would tease me, harass me, and he even trespassed on another neighbor’s property. I was scarred by this event in my life, and I rarely viewed African Americans in a positive way. However, this past summer changed my whole entire perspective.
Science and the study of religion have existed in society for hundreds of years and have agreed and disagreed on many of the same topics. When it comes to solving problems and figuring out complex phenomena we can use both science and the study religion to get answers. While religious studies are not intended to solve problems it can be used and is used just like science to solve problems we have in society. Science is based more on reason and evidence while religion is based more on philosophical ideas and faith. Science is meant to answer problems that require reason and evidence while religion is not.
World Religions 110 has been such an amazing class to me. It will be hard to put into words how much I loved taking this class and learning about the different religions. Not only did we learn about religions, but also I feel we also learned about character, compassion, and actualization. Out of all the different topics to discuss, I feel the most important to me are: Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity.
According to Hutchison (2015), “religion is symbolic patterns that consists of values, beliefs, behaviors and experiences” (p. 184). I personal conceptualize spirituality as a vital role in my life that helps me during a time of sickness, forgiveness, and needed guidance. Spirituality helps guide me throughout life during the difficult times I have encountered. Spirituality impacts my life in positive ways that influence and regulate my behavior and health. Health is very important to me; I believe the spirit can heal a person from their sickness. It seems that the spirit heals me every time I pray to be healed from sickness. The spirit gives me strength at a time of weakness. When I feel at my lowest point in life I call on the spirit to pick