Participant Observation the Ritual Activity

Participant Observation

The ritual activity that I have experienced is a visit to a mosque for prayer. This experience entailed going with a Muslim person who could ensure that I did not violate any of the codes of conduct during my visit. Other than that guidance, I was left to observe the activities. The entire process is ritualized. There are ritual ablutions before the prayer, and then the prayer itself is ritualized. Beyond that, there is a ritual element to the socialization that occurs before and after prayer as well. People see their friends and discuss the matters of the day. Even Muslim speech is guided by ritual, for example if somebody refers to the Prophet they always follow it with "peace be upon him" and many proclamations are suffixed with "inshallah" or "God willing." This high level of ritualistic behavior in turn helps to define Muslim culture.

Grazian

Grazian notes that there are four elements to comprise popular culture. These are the aesthetic, explicitly political, new media and ritual analysis. The basic function of this ritual is to reinforce the societal norms. The prayer itself might serve a higher purpose, but the collective ritualization of the prayer process serves to define who is in the society and who is an outsider. The socialization process that occurs before and after prayer highlights the "us vs. them" aspect because interaction with one's fellow Muslims is expected, and this interaction reinforces one's in-group status. The communication that occurs as part of these rituals also allows for the sharing of views that are part of the collective mindset.

This view fits with Durkheim's understanding of religion as a set of rituals that govern society. For example, prayer times are set out in advance -- not just by the local mosque but by a central authority in Mecca, and from there the prayer schedules are disseminated around the world. The prayer times define the schedule of life in Muslim communities, since the pious are expected to pray. The prayer times define when one is awake and when one eats, for example, with wake-up in time for dawn prayer and eating conducted after the dusk prayer. These prayer times fit with the natural rhythm of life in the Middle East, but even if these times are less convenient for Muslims in the West it does not matter because now they are part of the culture.

Likewise, the Muslim emphasis on cleanliness rituals reflects the societal needs of the Middle Ages, given the importance of cleanliness to staying alive, but the norms have entered Muslim society permanently through their ritual reinforcement as part of prayer. Ablutions are conducted before every prayer. Mosques are also built in areas where there is access to fresh water, and are one of the primary places for Muslims to clean themselves.

The gender segregation of Muslim society is also enforced at the mosque as well, another example of how the religious rules serve as a framework for society's rules in general. When Islam is compared with other Abrahamic religions, all those with gender segregation in prayer have a higher degree of gender segregation in society overall. Those that have prayer with both genders have become over time societies where women play a greater role. Non-religious societies have the least segregation, again supporting Durkheim's view about the structural role that religion plays in society. Being a Muslim is an overriding cultural feature that cuts across a large number of races and nationalities, but many have the same common traits of gender segregation, emphasis on cleanliness and the same schedule of life.

My Interpretation

During the ritual I observed at the mosque, I was able to notice how the ritual impacts society. The first distinction is that there was a clear line created between those who are members of the in-group and those who are not. While I was welcome to be there, I was clearly in the latter group. I was welcome to observe, but not to participate in, the rituals. The performance of the rituals allows on to become a member of the society.

It was interesting to see that elements of modern life have crept into the rituals, however. One example is that I observed younger members of the mosque texting outside of the prayer, during the socializing that goes on before and after the prayer sessions. Older men were less likely to do this. The younger men, however, were setting their own interpretation of the ritual. For them, it was reasonable that using technology as a tool was not a material alteration of the ritual. The use of phones and texting was simply an extension of the ritual, allowing it to take a different form. While there are ways in which the religious rituals encroach on modern life, this might represent a way in which modern life encroaches on the ritual. The phones went away, presumably turned off, during the actual prayer ritual. This to me highlights a separation between the strict religious ritual function and the social ritual function of the prayer.

The value of the ritual has not changed entirely, even if there are modern elements to its performance. It is not hard to imagine, however, that continued evolution of this practice could challenge in a material way the ritual itself is challenged. Communication by different means is still communication, and the use of technology does not change the fact that the prayer still governs the timing of the communication ritual. However, if technology evolved so that the mosque itself was not necessary, all of the rituals that govern this society could crumble. It is not a huge leap from remote virtual communication with friends to remote virtual prayer.