Tahara
Tahāra ( Arabic طهارة, DMG ṭahāra ) means the concept of " ritual purity " in Islam . It is grammatically the verbal noun ofطُهْر.
The meaning is generally "cleanliness" or "absence of disgusting" ( nadschis ) . The term is also used in connection with male circumcision and in Egypt and Sudan to denote practices of female genital circumcision . In Iran and the areas linguistically influenced by Persian (e.g. India ), the term is also synonymous with the ritual washing of wudu .
The many traditions after the Prophet Mohammed , the long chapters in the works of Islamic jurisprudence and the manifold controversies among legal scholars down to the finest details underline the importance of the subject of "purity" in Islam.
From the point of view of Islam, Tahāra can be achieved with pure water, that is, its color, smell and taste are unchanged. A fundamental distinction is made between two forms of purity:
- Material purity
This refers to items to be avoided or removed, such as pork, feces, blood, carcasses, etc., and how to remove them.
The persistence of material purity can be determined from the preservation of taste, smell and color of the object in question.
- Formal religious purity
It relates generally to the preconditions for performing ritual acts and duties. So you can distinguish between two forms:
- The "small impurity" that arises from bowel movements, urination, leakage of intestinal gases, sleep, etc. It can be eliminated through wudoo.
- The “great impurity” that arises from menstruation , weekly flow , sexual intercourse , etc. and is removed with the ghusl .
The Tayammum exists as a special form , with which both ghusl and wudu 'can be replaced under special conditions.
In contrast to material purity, formal religious purity is not about cleanliness in the sense of hygiene, but rather about ritual aspects.
Another peculiarity is that for formal religious purity it is compulsory to make an intention, but not for material purity. The Islamic schools of law differ significantly in some aspects of the Tahāra.
literature
- The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition. Brill, suffering. Vol. 10, p. 99 (Tahara).
- Richard Gauvain: Ritual Rewards. A Consideration of Three Recent Approaches to Sunni Ritual Purity Law. In: Islamic Law and Society. 12, 2005, pp. 333-393.
- Marion Holmes Katz: Body of Text. The Emergence of the Sunni Law of Ritual Purity . State University of New York Press, 2002.
- Ze'ev Maghen: Virtues of the Flesh. Purity and Passion in early Islamic Jurisprudence. Brill, Leiden / Boston 2004.
- Kevin Reinhart: Impurity / No Danger. In: History of Religions. 30, 1990-1991, pp. 1-24.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Anna Kölling: Female genital mutilation in discourse: exemplary analyzes of manifestations, patterns of justification and control strategies. 1st edition. LIT Verlag, Münster 2008, ISBN 9783825818210 , p. 8 In Google books ; Regarding Sudan, see also Ellen Gruenbaum: The female circumcisión controversy: an anthropological perspective. University of Pennsylvania Press 2001, ISBN 9780812217469 , p. 4 In Google books