The Muslim Culture

Cultures vary from one community or group to another according to the community’s set up. Cultures combine religious practices, the day to day activities, and the beliefs that people hold in their interactions. Ceremonies that are held in different communities also bring into focus the cultures of a certain community. There are practices that define the cultures of the communities, for example how women should act in the presence of the men. Also the roles that different people have in the society are determined by the cultures of the communities and groups. In my research, I concentrated on the culture of the Muslims and the Islamic religion. In the essay I will discuss in details the findings of the practices of the Islamic religion or the Muslims.

The Muslims do not allow premarital sex according to their culture and beliefs. It is unlikely to find the unmarried engaging in premarital sex (Amjad, Par 9). The same case applies to the married couples where it is unlikely for the couples to report extramarital sex. The Muslims unlike the Christians have a sacred belief on sexual intercourse where many of them are married still virgins. It is usually against their customs that unmarried man or woman to engage in any sexual activities. Women are married at an early age but that is not the cause of the lack of premarital sex or the extramarital sex. After looking at the restrictions to mobility that the women had, was still not the reason for lack of extramarital sex. It all lied on the ethics that they follow in their cultural and religious practices and beliefs (Amjad, Par 9)

In the Islamic world, there are culture customs that are fixed into the religion. There is the prayer customs and rules followed while praying; whether at home, travelling, or in the mosques. Religious belief and activities are created by the culture of a specific community or group. Muslims are expected to pray five times a day. In praying, there are the practices and rules that govern the way men and women pray. Men are encouraged to always visit mosques whenever they want to pray to strengthen the bond that holds the community together (Cornille & Corigliano, P 184).

Women are allowed to pray at home if they cannot make to the mosques since they have family responsibilities and duties that they have to follow. Depending on the schedules and responsibilities that the Muslims have, they mostly hold their prayers anywhere. During the research, some Muslims prayed by the roadsides, workplaces, on trains and any other place depending on where you are when the times to pray comes. It is not a surprise to see the Muslims carry their prayer mats with them in their cars. They stop anywhere, walk out of the cars, spread the mats on the ground and pray as long as the time to pray has come (Cornille & Corigliano, P184).

While praying, one can notice them facing towards one direction, a direction they refer to as Mecca. They take their religion and prayers very serious as they put their full concentration in meditating as they pray. They are not permitted to pay attention to the surroundings or talk whenever they are in the prayer mood, unless in the case of emergency. The ageing Islamic group or those who are sick are allowed to pray while sitting or lying on the bed. Everybody else is required to be on their knees and bowed with their heads on the ground (Cornille & Corigliano, P184).

The Muslims have their special day of prayers which is on Friday. On this day, most people prefer to go and offer their prayers in the mosques. It is obviously wrong and against the rules of their holy book to step inside the mosque on shoes. The mosque is regarded as the holy place of God which should always be kept clean. Whenever guests are invited for the inter-faith prayers a mart is spread over the prayer mat so that the guests can not remove their shoes (Cornille & Corigliano, P185).

The Muslim religious culture demands that there must be a prayer leader known as the Imam. The prayer leader has his roles in the community during their prayers and other religious matters. The Imam leads the Muslims in worshipping services, marriages where they join couples together and in the funeral services. Whenever a Muslim believer is troubled spiritually, they seek spiritual guidance and support from these prayer leaders. The Muslims have no leaders of their community, where an Imam is a member of any Muslim group (Silverman & Ruggles, P12). For one to be selected as an Imam has to be faithful, respectable and a stint follower of the religion. Muslims believe in being connected in spirit directly with God. In the absence of an Imam, any person present for the prayers can represent him since the Imam is not considered an intercessor between the faithful and God.

Keeping of animals as pets, has a great relationship and impact with the Muslim prayer protocol. Cleanliness is very important to the Muslims when it comes to dealing with prayers. A believer is required to be clean physically and spiritually whenever going to pray. The mosque is also required to be always clean (Silverman & Ruggles, P12). This is where the relationship between pets and prayers comes. An animal’s saliva is considered unclean and one must wash before going to pray if there was any contact with an animal. To avoid unnecessary washing, the Muslims prefer not keeping pets at their homes.

The Muslims avoid as much as they can to keep their cleanliness since they believe the virtue of cleanliness being next to holiness. In relation to the animals is the issue of restrictions in the diets that they take. Muslims do not eat pork and in the case of eating meat, it must be slaughtered by a fellow Muslim. They believe that meat slaughtered by a Muslim is blessed in the name of God. Alcoholic drinks are also prohibited not unless when used for medicinal purposes.

Muslims are always against idol worshipping and it has been considered a crime to draw a representation of a prophet that is visual. Muslims respect the status and the words in the religious books such as the Bible, Torah and the Quran. They acknowledge them as scriptures and messages to the people that are holy and direct from God. They recognize Jesus as a prophet of the same level and class with Moses. They accord and respect all prophets of God as they do respect Prophet Mohammed (Cornille & Corigliano, P 185)

The Islamic calendar is usually eleven days shorter than that of the solar meaning that Islamic holiday changes every year. They believe that the Quran was handed over to Prophet Mohammed in the month of Ramadan. Ramadan is usually the ninth moth of Muslims in the Islamic calendar. This is the month that the Muslims fast, with no eating in the period between sunrise and sunset (Cornille & Corigliano, P185). The Muslims practice reflection and doing charity work during this period and also continue for the remaining part of the year. The period of fasting ended with a celebration day, which is usually a holiday known as Eid-ul-Fitri. The type of greetings changes on this day and the Muslims greet each other using the Eid Mubarak type of greetings.

Another sacred and religious period known as Eid al-Adha begins on the tenth day of the twelfth month in the Islamic calendar. It is a period to remember how Abraham obeyed Allah who is God as referred by the Muslims. This period lasts for three days and occurs at the end of the month of Haj. After this period, then the Islamic calendar takes a new beginning with a month known as Muharram. It is usually twenty days after the period of Haj. The Muslims welcome the beginning of a New Year with prayers unlike other religions where the New Year is welcomed with celebrations and holidays. Muslims consider being holy than anything else on earth and always believe in doing the right every time in their lives (Cornille & Corigliano, P 185).

There is the culture and the tradition that is in the Islamic community of dressing. That is, wearing the Hijab. Muslims encourages its followers to always dress decently and in a religious and respectable manner. Women from different backgrounds observe their mode of wearing and modesty. It explains the difference in the modes of dressing across different Islamic groups (Cornille & Corigliano, P185). The Muslim women cover their heads to show how devoted they are and how committed they are in their faith. There are Islamic countries and communities where wearing the Hijab is compulsory while in the others it is a matter of choice. It is considered to be disrespectful when people criticize the women wearing the Hijab.

The Islamic culture calls for Politeness and respect to the elders of the community. Muslims are very specific when it comes to respecting their elders. Some gestures that the youths use in communicating are considered rude when they use the gestures in the presence of the elders. When small children use the gestures they cannot be blamed by anybody since they are not usually offensive. The gestures depend on who is using them and to who they are directed. It is considered rude to call an elder by the first name without using a title to refer to them. It is advisable to start addressing the elderly with formality and leave the clarification to them on how they should be addressed (Cornille & Corigliano, P 185).

There are many other ways of showing respect to the elders in the Islamic community. For example, one should stand when greeting guests, opening the doors for them and listening to them carefully without interrupting them while they talk (Cornille &Corigliano, P184). It is observable in the Islamic community for the young ones to stand and leave the seats for the elders to seat in ceremonies and meetings. It is usually an insult to opposing the decisions of the elders or even voicing against them. One should politely insert views whenever talking to the elders, which is appreciated.

According to the Islamic culture, it is necessary to observe the ways of treatment. It is only acceptable for a person to be treated by a person of the same gender. It is mostly preferred in the case of women for the purpose of showing respect and self discipline. Though, it is allowed to be treated by an opposite gender when there is an emergency like when saving life or preventing injuries (Silverman & Ruggles, P12). In treatments it is advisable and allowed for a family member to be present when an individual is undergoing an emergency treatment. Shaking hands is another cultural practice that has been taken with a lot of weight. Western societies shake hands as a form of greetings regardless the gender, anytime and anywhere.

To avoid hard feelings or being hurt while greeting the Muslims, it is advisable to wait for them first and see how they will want to be greeted. It is hard for the female Muslims to greet men by shaking hands. Mostly the female or the Muslim women only stare at someone and follow by smiling, and that is all to them. Social distance should be maintained whenever communicating and interacting with the Muslims according to their cultural demands. When conversing with, for example, a woman, it is advisable to respect her when she shows that there need to be a distance between the two. A woman may be interested with the conversation but take a step behind which is a sign that she is not comfortable with the space between them (Silverman & Ruggles, P 13).

As the study on the Islamic culture continued, I realized that the Muslim women and the elders felt so uncomfortable whenever an eye contact was maintained. The right way and that is respectable and in accordance with the culture is having a brief stare. It is also good to tilt or shake the head while conversing to show the other person that you are interested with the conversation. Islamic children grow up being taught that they should never look direct into the eyes of the elders or any authority figure. When compared to other cultures of the West, this sign of respect to then it signifies guilt. In order to show someone that one is saying the truth then an eye contact is maintained.

The Islamic culture also has some of its myths. For example it is not good to seat down while the bottom of one’s legs or shoes are facing another person. They believe that this is usually a sign of impoliteness or rudeness. Also, if one touched the feet of another person even if it is unwillingly or accidentally, it is concluded to be lack of respect to the person. One must apologize for such an action if it happened to show that it was not intentional. The act of removing shoes while entering Muslim houses is also seen as a cultural value (Silverman & Ruggles, P13). By removing the shoes, cleanliness is observed mostly when someone has passed through muddy places and the shoes are muddy. It is common in the Muslim communities that the Muslims keep different shoes for wearing in different occasions and places.

The Islam believes that bowing is for only God while other cultures like that of the Japanese, bowing is a form of greetings. It would be very unpleasant to bow for a Muslim as a sign way of greetings because to them it is usually an offense. It is also lack of etiquette or rudeness passing an item to another person using the left hand. This is also a myth to the traditions since it may signify bad luck and a rude gesture. The same right hand should be used when eating (Amjad, Par 6). The purpose of using the right hand always when doing things is usually seen as a reminder to the Muslims. They must have the desire to be among those who will be the right hand people of God during the judgment day.

The Muslims believe that sneezing comes with some blessings. They believe that when one sneezes he or she has been relieved from a temporary disorder. This makes them mention some words after sneezing to mean that they are thankful to Allah. After saying the specific word, those around the person answers with another word asking Allah to have mercy on the person and continue blessing him (Amjad, Par 3).

The other cultural belief that the Muslims have is that of maintaining physical cleanliness through taking care of the physical features in one’s body. The Muslims argue that Prophet Mohammed advised them to always cut their pubic hair, trim their moustaches and also cut the hair that appears under the armpits (Amjad, Par 5). The culture also calls for circumcision of the boys and cutting of the nails as symbols of the Muslims being clean. Large an unkempt hair around the mouth signifies arrogance and a character of criminal to the Muslims. The mouth the nose and the teeth are the other feature that the Islamic culture looks at for the physical cleansing (Amjad, par 7). They take the cleaning of the mouth, the teeth and their noses very serious that they keep cleaning them now and then.

In conclusion, the Muslim cultural ways have made them humble and religious people that they are known to be. They do not take anything that their culture calls them to do for granted. Though, these cultural values vary from one Islamic community or country to another according to how they are brought up. Islamic religion and culture is all over the world with the Muslims being in almost all the countries in the world.

Works Cited

Amjad, Moiz: General Muslim Customs and Traditions. 2009, July 4.Web

Cornille, C; Corigliano, S: Interreligious Dialogue and Cultural Change. 2012. Print

Silverman, H; Ruggles, F: Cultural Competence in Caring for Muslim Patients. 2008. Print

CLICK BUTTON TO ORDER NOW