1. Understanding World Religions
Chapter Twenty-Five
Muslim Piety
© 2011 Irving Hexham
The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalme. Photo by Caleb Nienkirken used with permission. © 2011 Irving Hexham

2. Muslim Piety
Source: Muslims performing their prayers. Thomson, W. M., The Land and the Book, New York, Harper and Brothers, In the public domain. © 2011 Irving Hexham
Nineteenth century Christian travellers in the Holy Land were impressed by the sincerity of Muslim piety as this print from W.M Thompson’s popular The Land and the Book (1859) illustrates.

3. Muslim Piety
Source: Gestures for standing prayer. Wright, John, A History of all Nations, Philadelphia, New York, Lea Brothers & company, In the public domain. © 2011 Irving Hexham
Pious Muslims prepare to pray. This nineteenth century print illustrates the correct gestures to be used.

4. Muslim Piety
Source: gestures kneeling in prayer Wright, John, A History of all Nations, Philadelphia, New York, Lea Brothers & company, In the public domain. © 2011 Irving Hexham
In Islam careful attention is paid to the correct form and behaviour used in worship. Here the example of Muhammad is the key to understanding why Muslims pray in such carefully regulated ways.

5. Muslim Piety
Ritual purity is very important in Islam. Therefore, prayer mats like the one seen above are not simply beautiful examples of weaving. They play an important role in worship by separating the worshiper from the impurity of the surrounding world. This a profound sacred-profane distinction lies at the heart of Muslim worship.
Photo by Irving Hexham. © 2011 Irving Hexham

6. Muslim Piety
Photo by Irving Hexham © 2011 Irving Hexham
For Muslims ritual purity before worship involves physical cleansing. The photo above is of the ritual bath in a modern mosque.

7. Muslim Piety
Photo by Irving Hexham © 2011 Irving Hexham
The impressive Grey Street Mosque in Durban, South Africa, which for many years was the largest mosque in the Southern hemisphere.

8. Muslim Piety
Photo by Irving Hexham © 2011 Irving Hexham
Professor James Dickie leads a group of Lancaster University Religious Studies students on a visit to the recently opened Wigan Mosque in the late 1960’s..In the picture the women are dressed in an appropriately modest manner.

9. Muslim Piety A new mosque in the West.
Photo by Irving Hexham © 2011 Irving Hexham
A new mosque in the West.

10. Muslim Piety
Photo by Irving Hexham © 2011 Irving Hexham
Like Christians and Jews Muslims place a great emphasis on the written word. As a result as Islam takes root in North America Muslim bookstores are becoming more common.

11. Muslim Piety
Photo by Irving Hexham, 2005 (?). © 2011 Irving Hexham
While many people worry about the ability of Muslims to fit into North American society the participation of this Ismaili marching band in the Calgary Stampede proves that integration is possible.