A groundbreaking anthropological analysis of Islam as experienced by Muslims, "By Noon Prayer" builds a conceptual model of Islam as a whole, while traveling along a comparative path of biblical, Egyptological, ethnographic, poetic, scriptural, and visual materials. Grounded in long-term observation of Arabo-Islamic culture and society, this study captures the rhythm of Islam weaving through the lives of Muslim women and men. Examples of the rhythmic nature of Islam can be seen in all aspects of Muslims' everyday lives. Muslims break their Ramadan fast upon the sun setting, and they receive Ramadan by sighting the new moon. Prayer for their dead is by noon and burial is before sunset. This is space and time in Islam--moon, sun, dawn and sunset are all part of a unique and unified rhythm, interweaving the sacred and the ordinary, nature and culture in a pattern that is characteristically Islamic.

How, in this age of belief, can we make sense of the act of Christian worship? Convinced that people shape their meanings from those available to them, Graham Hughes inquires into liturgical constructions of meaning, within the larger context of late twentieth-century meaning theory. Drawing particularly upon the work of Charles Peirce, Hughes employs semiotic theory to analyze the construction, transmission and apprehension of meaning within an actual worship service. This book will appeal to teachers and students of theology, clergy and informed lay Christians.

Everything the engaged couple needs to know about the Jewish marriage ceremony. Welcome new couples into Jewish life and your congregation. Selecting a date and location for the wedding What is a ketubah? A huppah? A step-by-step guide to a Jewish wedding Life as Jewish newlyweds The perfect gift for the soon-to-be-wed couple.

Cries from the Heart answers a specific hunger millions share - a longing for a personal connection to the divine. In times of crisis, all of us reach for someone,or something, greater than ourselves. Some call it prayer. Others just do it. For many, it's often like talking to a wall. People are looking for assurance that someone hears them when they cry out in their despair, loneliness, or frustration. The last thing they need is another book telling them how to pray or what to say, holding out religion like a good-luck charm. So instead of theorizing or preaching, Johann Christoph Arnold tells stories about real men and real women dealing with adversity. Their difficulties - which range from extreme to quite ordinary and universal - resonate with readers, offering a challenge, but also comfort and encouragement. People will see themselves in these glimpses of anguish, triumph, and peace.

Preaching has been central to Muslim communities throughout the centuries. The liturgical Friday sermon is a prime example, although other genres that are less commonly known also serve important functions. This book addresses the ways in which Muslims relate various forms of religious oratory to authoritative tradition in 21st-century Islamic practice, while striving to adapt to local contexts and the changing circumstances of politics, media and society. This is the first book of its kind to look at homiletics beyond a specific country focus. Taking into consideration the historical developments of Muslim preaching, it offers a collection of thoroughly contextualised case studies of oratory in Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bosnia, Sweden and the USA. The analyses presented here show shared emphasis on struggles for legitimacy, efforts to speak authoritatively, as well as discursive opportunities and constraints.

The challenges of Late Modernism form the shared horizon of Christian and Buddhist religious-hermeneutic efforts to demonstrate the relevance to everyday life of their respective transmitted doctrines. This work applies an interreligious comparison based on the implicit homiletics of Paul Tillich to examine how a particular understanding of faith and reality affects religious communication. This approach reveals that Buddhism has been a kerygmatic religion from the start, as is especially clear in the tradition of Japanese Shin Buddhism.

The only comprehensive, single-volume survey of magic available, this compelling book traces the history of magic, witchcraft, and superstitious practices such as popular spells or charms from antiquity to the present day. Focusing especially on Europe in the medieval and early modern eras, Michael Bailey also explores the ancient Near East, classical Greece and Rome, and the spread of magical systems_particularly modern witchcraft or Wicca_from Europe to the United States. He examines how magic and superstition have been defined in various historical eras and how these constructions have changed over time. He considers the ways in which specific categories of magic have been condemned, and how those identified as magicians or witches have been persecuted and prosecuted in various societies. Although conceptions of magic have changed over time, the author shows how magic has almost always served as a boundary marker separating socially acceptable actions from illicit ones, and more generally the known and understood from the unknown and occult.

Objects of worship are an aspect of the material dimension of lived religion in South Asia. The omnipresence of these objects and their use is a theme which cuts across the religious traditions in the pluralistic religious culture of the region. Divine power becomes manifest in the objects and for the devotees they may represent power regardless of religious identity. This book looks at how objects of worship dominate the religious landscape of South Asia, and in what ways they are of significance not just from religious perspectives but also for the social life of the region. The contributions to the book show how these objects are shaped by traditions of religious aesthetics and have become conceptual devices woven into webs of religious and social meaning. They demonstrate how the objects have a social relationship with those who use them, sometimes even treated as being alive. The book discusses how devotees relate to such objects in a number of ways, and even if the objects belong to various traditions they may attract people from different communities and can also be contested in various ways. By analysing the specific qualities that make objects eligible for a status and identity as living objects of worship, the book contributes to an understanding of the central significance of these objects in the religious and social life of South Asia. It will be of interest to students and scholars of Religious Studies and South Asian Religion, Culture and Society.

In Jews, Judaism, and Success, Robert Eisen attempts to solve a long-standing mystery that has fascinated many: How did Jews become such a remarkably successful minority in the modern western world? Eisen argues that Jews achieved such success because they were unusually well-prepared for it by their religion - in particular, Rabbinic Judaism, or the Judaism of the rabbis. Rooted in the Talmud, this form of Judaism instilled in Jews key values that paved the way for success in modern western society: autonomy, freedom of thought, worldliness, and education. The book carefully analyses the evolution of these four values over the past two thousand years in order to demonstrate that they had a longer and richer history in Jewish culture than in western culture. The book thus disputes the common assumption that Rabbinic Judaism was always an obstacle to Jews becoming modern. It demonstrates that while modern Jews rejected aspects of Rabbinic Judaism, they also retained some of its values, and these values in particular led to Jewish success. Written for a broad range of readers, Jews, Judaism, and Success provides unique insights on the meaning of success and how it is achieved in the modern world.

E. M. Bounds, one of the most prolific and powerful writers on prayer said, "Men and women are needed whose prayers will give to the world the utmost power of God; who will make His promises to blossom with rich and full results. God is waiting to hear us and challenges us to bring Him to do this thing by our praying." A Treasury of Prayer is the best of seven books on prayer by E. M. Bounds in a single volume. Pursue prayer "with an energy that never tires, a persistency which will not be denied, and a courage that never fails."

Jerusalem has long been one of the most sought-after destinations for the followers of three world faiths and for secularists alike. For Jews, it has the Western (Wailing) Wall; for Christians, it is where Christ suffered and triumphed; for Muslims, it offers the Dome of the Rock; and for secularists, it is an archeological challenge and a place of tragedy and beauty. This work concentrates on Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and secular pilgrimages to Jerusalem over the last three millennia, drawing from over 165 accounts of travels to the ancient city. Chapters are devoted to ghostly and other pilgrims, the significance of Jerusalem, the beginnings of the pilgrimage in the time of kings David and Solomon, pilgrimages under Roman and Byzantine rule, Christian and Muslim pilgrimages in the early Islamic period, pilgrimages in the First Crusade and its aftermath, more crusades and pilgrims during the Ayyubid and Mamluk dynasties, pilgrimages under Ottoman rule, pilgrimages under the British and Israelis, and the unity among pilgrims and the symbolism of the journey.

The Mahabodhi temple at Bodhgaya in eastern India has long been recognised as the place where the Buddha sat in meditation and attained enlightenment. The site, soon identified as the 'Diamond Throne' or vajrasana, became a destination for pilgrims and a focus of religious attention for more than two thousand years. This volume presents new research on Bodhgaya and assesses the important archaeological, artistic and literary evidence that bears witness to the Buddha's enlightenment and to the enduring significance of Bodhgaya in the history of Buddhism. The book brings together a team of international scholars to look at the history and perception of the site across the Buddhist world and its position in the networks of patronage and complex religious landscape of northern India. The volume assesses the site's decline in the thirteenth century, as well as its subsequent revival as a result of archaeological excavations in the nineteenth century. Using the British Museum's collections as a base, the authors discuss the rich material culture excavated from the site that highlights Bodhgaya's importance in the field of Buddhist studies.

Readings for Weddings is an inspirational collection of Bible quotations, poems, hymns and prose for secular weddings, church ceremonies and services of blessing. Mark Oakley includes such 'wedding classics' as 1 Corinthians 13 and Khalil Gibran's The Prophet, the poetry of Shelley and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, verse by Wendy Cope and other witty, contemporary poets.

Profound insight and wisdom from the world's great cultures, and religious traditions ""Through the use of a story, you can understand even the deepest truths."" These words, taken from a Jewish parable, underscore the power of Candles in the Dark. This exquisite collection of profound and enlightening parables contains the wisdom and insight of the world's great religions, philosophies, and cultural traditions. In these stories, you'll find spiritual inspiration and practical guidance to help you cope with life's many problems and conflicts. Christian and Buddhist, Jewish and Islamic, African and Native American, ancient and modern parables: these wonderfully diverse and entertaining stories address every aspect of life, from family issues to personal freedom, from money problems to the power of friendship. They will help you discover truth, beauty, and satisfaction within yourself and in the world around you. The lessons they teach will deepen your understanding of basic human and spiritual truths and increase your ability to: * Live a life of faith, hope, and love * Appreciate the beauty that surrounds you * Embrace the freedom to live your life * Seek and find guidance * Discover strength in a virtuous life * Encourage others who are in need

This book offers a fresh perspective on religious culture in the medieval Middle East. It investigates how Muslims thought about and practised at sacred spaces and in sacred times through two detailed case studies: the shrines in honour of the head of al-Husayn (the martyred grandson of the Prophet); and the (arguably) holy month of Rajab. Author Daniella Talmon-Heller explores the diverse expressions of the veneration of the shrine and the month from the formative period of Islam until the late Mamluk period. She pays particular attention to changing political and sectarian affiliations and to the development of new genres of religious literature. And she juxtaposes the sanctification of space and time in individual and communal Sunni, Ithna'ashari and Isma'ili piety.

Experience the Transformational Power of Buddhism's Psychology of the Heart with Bestselling Author Jack Kornfield
You have within you unlimited capacities for extraordinary love, for joy, for communion with life, and for unshakable freedom--and here is how to awaken them. In The Wise Heart," " celebrated author and psychologist Jack Kornfield offers the most accessible, comprehensive, and illuminating guide to Buddhist psychology ever published in the West. For meditators and mental health professionals, Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike, here is a vision of radiant human dignity, a journey to the highest expression of human possibility--and a practical path for realizing it in our own lives.

The Essential Message of the Qur'an captures the spiritual significance of the sacred text of Islam and how it inspired countless millions across the ages. Shaykh Haeri invites the reader into a deeper understanding of the major themes of the Qur'an that can offer insight into our present challenges. With brevity and insightful intelligence, our relationship with God, the sacred unity in all creation, the path of the heart and earthly life and the hereafter, all addressed with brevity and insightful intelligence, linked with a selection of Qur'anic revelations illustrating these themes. Muslim or not, the reader will appreciate the accessibility of this illuminating text. This is truly a book for our time.

Reviewing peace and reconciliation, secular pilgrimages, and international perspectives on sacred journeys, this book offers the reader an opportunity to encounter multiple voices and viewpoints on one of the most ancient practices of humankind. With an estimated third of all international travellers now undertaking journeys anticipating an aspect of transformation (the hallmark of pilgrimage), this book includes both spiritual and non-spiritual voyages, such as journeys of self-therapy, mindfulness and personal growth. It also: - Provides a multidisciplinary perspective, covering themes such as gender, human rights, equality, the environment, peace, history, literature, and politics - Reflects the rich diversity and multiple meanings of pilgrimage through an international writer team spanning four continents - Includes case studies of pilgrimage in action from around the world An innovative and engaging addition to the pilgrimage literature, this book provides an important resource for researchers of religious tourism and related subjects.

Beautifully rendered, this guide presents Yogananda's insights on how people can experience God's presence directly in their lives, and clearly sets forth principles of effective prayer for receiving God's response. A remarkable blending of East and West, the teachings offered here embrace universal spiritual laws that will inspire people of all faiths to deepen their spiritual practice. The brief reflections and accessible formats make this an ideal devotional guide.

This book explores two influential intellectual and religious leaders in Christianity and Buddhism, Bonaventure (c. 1217-74) and Chinul (1158-1210), a Franciscan theologian and a Korean Zen master respectively, with respect to their lifelong endeavors to integrate the intellectual and spiritual life so as to achieve the religious aims of their respective religious traditions. It also investigates an associated tension between different modes of discourse relating to the divine or the ultimate-positive (cataphatic) discourse and negative (apophatic) discourse. Both of these modes of discourse are closely related to different ways of understanding the immanence and transcendence of the divine or the ultimate. Through close studies of Bonaventure and Chinul, the book presents a unique dialogue between Christianity and Buddhism and between West and East. In the examination of these two figures, religious traditions are explored not only from social, political, cultural, philosophical, and doctrinal perspectives, but also from a perspective that integrates both intellectual and spiritual aspects of religious life. Furthermore, the book presents unexplored models of integrating these two aspects of religious life.