Baraka (power of blessing)
Baraka ( Arabic بركة, DMG baraka ) is a kind of blessing power in Islam . It is tied to a specific person or to specific things in one place, from which it can be transferred to other people.
In Islamic popular belief , objects can be “charged” with baraka, for example by placing cloths on the graves of saints. After a while, they are picked up again and carried. Sometimes objects are attached to the bars of holy places with padlocks in order to be picked up later.
Baraka can be passed on from one person to their offspring. In Sufism and dervishhood Baraka gets a very central role. The admission of an adept ( Murīd ) into a Sufi order takes place by handing over a Chirqa . This is a woolen cloak that illustrates the transfer of the baraka from the founder of the respective order to the incumbent sheikh . Baraka also contains the water of the source of Zamzam in the forecourt of the Kaaba .
literature
- Dietrich von Denffer: Baraka as Basic Concept of Muslim Popular Belief. In: Islamic Studies 15 (1976) 166-186.
- Rudolf Kriss , Hubert Kriss-Heinrich: Popular belief in the area of Islam. Volume 1: Pilgrimage and Adoration of Saints. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1960.
- Annemarie Schimmel : The signs of God. The religious world of Islam. 3. unchang. Edition CH Beck, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-406-39754-9 .