scholarly journals “I Get Peace:” Gender and Religious Life in a Delhi Gurdwara

Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 135
Author(s):  
Kamal Arora

In October and November of 1984, after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards, approximately 3500 Sikh men were killed in Delhi, India. Many of the survivors—Sikh widows and their kin—were relocated thereafter to the “Widow Colony”, also known as Tilak Vihar, within the boundary of Tilak Nagar in West Delhi, as a means of rehabilitation and compensation. Within this colony lies the Shaheedganj Gurdwara, frequented by widows and their families. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, I explore the intersections between violence, widowhood, and gendered religious practice in this place of worship. Memories of violence and experiences of widowhood inform and intersect with embodied religious practices in this place. I argue that the gurdwara is primarily a female place; although male-administered, it is a place that, through women’s practices, becomes a gendered counterpublic, allowing women a place to socialize and heal in an area where there is little public space for women to gather. The gurdwara has been re-appropriated away from formal religious practice by these widows, functioning as a place that enables the subversive exchange of local knowledges and viewpoints and a repository of shared experiences that reifies and reclaims gendered loss.

2016 ◽  
pp. 6-10
Author(s):  
Yuri Boreyko

The article analyzes the structure and manifestations of everyday life as the sphere of the empirical life of the individual believer and the religious community. Patterns of everyday life are not confined to certain  universal conceptual or value systems, as there is no ready-made standards and rules of their formation. Everyday life is intersubjective space of social relations in which religious individuals, communities, institutions self-identified based on form of reproduction of sociality. Religious everyday life determined by ordinary consciousness, practices, social aspects of life in the religious community, which are constituted by communication. The main religious structures of everyday life is mental cut ordinary religious consciousness, religious practice, religious experience, religious communication, religious stereotypes. Everyday life is the sphere of interaction between the social and the transcendental worlds, in which religious practices are an integral social relationships and the objectification of religious experience through the prism of individual membership to a specific religion, a means of inclusion of transcendence in the context of everyday life. Religious practices reflect understanding of a religious individual objects of the supernatural world, which is achieved through social experience, intersubjective interaction, experience of transcendental reality. The everyday life of the believing personality is formed in the dynamics of tradition and innovation, the mechanism of interaction of which affects the space of social existence. It exists within the private and public space and time, differing openness within the life-world. Continuous modification of everyday life, change its fundamental structures is determined by the process of modern social and technical transformation of society


Author(s):  
Abdul Hadi

Development of Sufism in the archipelago is one icon in view of the problems connected with the Sufi. Sufism is the diversity of colour patterns of thought of religious life, while religious practice to be a representation of the diversity of religious thought to be highly variable and often decorated with the interview "controversial" a very sharp. In the context of religious institutions belonging to the tarekat also have a variety of variants, so that a diverse group of tarekat scattered every where and have the characteristics of each in accordance with religious discourse and the "religious experience" developer congregation. In fact there are some "differences" between the executive tarekat in an area with other regions, although with the same tarekat. Sheikh Muhammad Arsyad Al-Banjary as a prolific writer in various fields of Islamic sciences, such as Tawheed, Fiqh and Sufism. Among his works is the Kanz al-patterned ma'rifah Sufism, but in some discussion related to religious practices and traditions of the congregation are very close, but the Sammaniyah tarekat who had been brought closer to the Al-Banjary Arsyad not so visible in Kanz al-Ma 'rifah but Syaziliyah tarekat who are more visible.


Author(s):  
Clare Carlisle

Traditional philosophy of religion is shaped by its focus on the cognitive aspects of religious life—beliefs and doctrines—which can easily be articulated in propositional form. But “lived religion” encompasses more than belief, and if philosophers of religion are to do justice to our subject-matter, we need to learn to think philosophically about practice in general, and about religious practices in particular. This chapter considers some of the methodological questions and challenges that come with this task, and looks at two recent attempts to develop a philosophy of religious practice. It then outlines a concept of practice which tries to take account of two features of religious practice: how practice uses repetition to generate change, or even transformation; and how practice gives form to desire.


2018 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 534-546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Odgers Ortiz ◽  
Frida Calderón Bony ◽  
Mahamet Timera

By observing the presence of what we consider a ‘religious tool’ – a set of expressions convened to stimulate a territorialization of religious practices – we present religious practices identified as a base of spatial production in public space, in migratory contexts. By comparing the Mexico–United States migratory field (with Catholic migrants in Los Angeles) and that of Senegal–France (with Muslim migrants of Soninké origin in Paris), we show the similarities and differences that religious practice produce in terms of spatial anchoring in the public space. We conclude that dissimilarities are mainly a consequence of a differential management of religion – in its relation to ethnicity – in the public space within host societies, and are scarcely related to the specificities of Catholicism and Islam.


Author(s):  
Gedong Maulana Kabir

This article tends to revisiting Javanese Islamic studies. This study began from the European travelers’ period who noted some aspects of society such as the religious life. Those notes show the negative label that is addressed to the Javanese religious practices. These negative labels are often reproduced in Javanese Islam studies to this day. This article argues that the negative labels in Javanese Islamic studies tend to be misrepresentative. These kinds of results cannot be separated from certain paradigms in religious studies. There are two paradigms in the study of religion which are discussed in this article. First, the world religion paradigm. This paradigm, consciously or not, is often used in Javanese Islamic studies. The implication is Javanese religious practices are often portrayed as animist, syncretic, and so on. Second, the indigenous religion paradigm. This article elaborates this paradigm because of its potential in understanding Javanese Islamic religious practice more properly. The basis of this paradigm is intersubjective relation with ethical commitment, responsibility, and reciprocity.


2000 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 473-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
GARY DICKSON

Perhaps because the classification of religious behaviour in the Middle Ages has not received much attention, there seems to be no scholarly consensus concerning the number or nature of its genres. This means that at present we tend to have either inadequately differentiated, broad categories of medieval religious acts, or somewhat incoherent lists of highly specific religious practices. That a good number of these religious forms pre-existed and continued long after the Christian Middle Ages is not in doubt; nor is the fact that such religious behaviours are not necessarily confined to the Christian tradition. The present discussion, however, will focus exclusively upon the Latin Christian tradition, c. 1000–c. 1500.Surveying the expressive modes of medieval religion presents less difficulty than grouping such behaviours within larger intelligible categories. Current scholarly literature makes it clear that certain varieties of medieval religious practice are almost universally acknowledged: veneration of the saints; attendance at sermons; private prayer; participation in public, collective liturgies (for example, processions on diverse occasions); acting under the influence of prophecy; setting off on pilgrimage, whether penitential or devotional; taking the Cross; performing formal or informal acts of devotion or piety (‘devotion’ is one aspect of the medieval religious life urgently in need of sharp definition); and attempting, often through ascetic exercises, to experience God (mysticism). By no means is this an exhaustive list. The titular subject of this essay, as the reader will have noticed, does not appear in it.


2020 ◽  
pp. 108705472097280
Author(s):  
Rachel E. Dew ◽  
Scott H. Kollins ◽  
Harold G. Koenig

Objective: Religiosity has been repeatedly proposed as protective in the development of depression, sociopathy and addictions. ADHD frequently co-occurs with these same conditions. Although ADHD symptoms may affect religious practice, religiosity in ADHD remains unexplored. Method: Analyses examined data from >8000 subjects aged 12 to 34 in four waves of the Add Health Study. Relationships of religious variables with childhood ADHD symptoms were statistically evaluated. Observed correlations of ADHD symptoms to depression, delinquency, and substance use were tested for mediation and moderation by religiosity. Results: ADHD symptoms correlated with lower levels of all religious variables at nearly all waves. In some analyses at Wave IV, prayer and attendance interacted with ADHD to predict worsened psychopathology. Conclusion: ADHD symptoms predicted lower engagement in religious life. In adulthood, some aspects of religiosity interacted with ADHD symptoms to predict worse outcomes. Further research should explore whether lower religiosity partially explains prevalent comorbidities in ADHD.


Author(s):  
Aldona Maria Piwko

AbstractThis paper concerns a problem, the global pandemic COVID-19, which has influenced religious practices with respect to health protection across the Muslim world. Rapid transmission of the virus between people has become a serious challenge and a threat to the health protection of many countries. The increase in the incidence of COVID-19 in the Muslim community took place during and after the pilgrimages to Iran's Qom and as a result of the Jamaat Tabligh movement meetings. However, restrictions on religious practices have become a platform for political discussions, especially among Muslim clergy. This paper is an analysis of the religious and political situation in Muslim countries, showing the use of Islam to achieve specific goals by the authorities, even at the price of the health and life of citizens.


1971 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 621-637 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adolf Holl ◽  
Hyacinthe Crépin

Following Vatican II changes are rapidly taking place within Dutch Catholicism — the bishops no longer make decisions in an authoritarian way: religious practice is de clining ; priests and religious are decreasing in numbers and many religious and pastoral experiments have come into being. KASKI has the responsibility of keeping pace with the Church during this process of change. In order to do this it makes use of several modes of work — the production of statistics relating to the position of religion in Society, the planning of religious and pastoral institutions and the study of new forms of the religious life in orders and congregations. For the first task it has used the same instruments for twenty- five years and the censuses thus produced yield valuable infor mation. As far as pastoral planning is concerned, it works in the field, playing the role of catalyst for those who have to make decisions and the people who have to carry out these decisions. This was the case, for instance, in the pastoral planning of the town of Eindhoven. Finally, when dealing with the new forms of communal religious life it adopts the method of studying through participation so that two of its researchers working in this sector are themselves members of religious groups. Applied research poses important problems, both from the methodological and from the political points of view. Amongst them may be noted the difficulty of determining precisely what constitutes rapid change in religious life, and the political choice of the persons for whom the research is being con ducted; the latter inevitably imposes a certain degree of conformity upon the perspectives of the work. (For example, the choice of the Dutch hierarchy which was to follow the general lines given by a large majority of Catholic opinion when it was tested particularly on questions like the liturgical and parochial changes). The fact, also, that the director of KASKI himself has a personal commitment to what may be described as the « right of centre » position in Dutch Catho licism poses problems for the work of the Institute. Political and religious radicalism is not a strong characteristic of the more senior research workers. KASKI is a rare example of a centre which brings socio logists together and uses their professional competence to accompany change in religious institutions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 78-93
Author(s):  
Nazneen Ismail ◽  
Norul Huda Bakar ◽  
Mariam Abd. Majid ◽  
Hasnan Kasan

Religious life, which also refers to piety, is the highest level as a Muslim. It is achieved through the practice of religious devotion and appreciation based on true understanding. As students of Islamic Institutes of Higher Education (IPTI), they have a reputation as a group that understands and practices Islam in everyday life. This includes faith, worship, and morals. Various studies have been conducted to evaluate the religious life of university students. However, studies on students of Islamic Institutes of Higher Education (IPTI) have received inadequate attention. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the level of religious practice among students of Islamic Institutes of Higher Education (IPTI) in Malaysia. This quantitative study used a cross-sectional survey approach by distributing the Muslim Religiosity Personality Inventory questionnaire or the MRPI (2011) to students from four selected Islamic Institutes of Higher Education (IPTI). The selection was conducted using zone-based methods, namely, UIAM (West), USIM (South), UniSHAMS (North), and KUIPSAS (East). A total of 400 sets of questionnaires was distributed randomly to students from the selected universities. Data were analyzed descriptively using frequency and mean. The findings show that students possess a high level knowledge of Islamic values and a high religiosity personality. Thus, this study is a basis to the requirement for establishing a specific model in the development of religious life so that empowerment can be done from time to time with the supervision of the university. ABSTRAK Hidup beragama juga disebut sebagai takwa merupakan tingkatan tertinggi sebagai Muslim. Ia dicapai melalui pengamalan dan penghayatan agama yang tinggi berasaskan kepada kefahaman yang benar. Sebagai mahasiswa Institut Pengajian Tinggi Islam (IPTI) mereka mempunyai imej sebagai golongan yang memahami dan mengamalkan Islam dalam kehidupan seharian. Ini meliputi akidah, ibadah dan akhlak. Pelbagai kajian telah dijalankan untuk menilai tahap hidup beragama mahasiswa universiti. Namun, kajian terhadap mahasiswa IPTI didapati kurang diberikan tumpuan. Justeru, kajian ini bertujuan mengenalpasti tahap pengamalan hidup beragama dalam kalangan mahasiswa Institut Pengajian Tinggi Islam (IPTI) di Malaysia. Kajian ini bersifat kuantitatif menggunakan pendekatan tinjauan keratan rentas dengan mengedarkan borang soal selidik Muslim Religiositi Personality Inventory atau singkatannya MRPI (2011) kepada mahasiswa daripada empat buah IPTI terpilih. Pemilihan IPTI dilakukan melalui kaedah penentuan zon iaitu UIAM (Barat), USIM (Selatan), UniSHAMS (Utara) dan KUIPSAS (Timur). Sebanyak 400 set soal selidik diedarkan kepada mahasiswa universiti secara rawak bebas. Data dianalisis secara deskriptif melibatkan frekuensi dan min. Dapatan menunjukkan mahasiswa mempunyai tahap pengetahuan sarwajagat Islam dan personaliti religiositi yang tinggi. Justeru, kajian ini menjadi asas kepada keperluan pembinaan model khusus bagi pembangunan hidup beragama supaya pemerkasaan dapat dilakukan dari masa ke masa dengan pemantauan daripada pihak universiti.


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