Popular Islam, Ancestor/Saint Veneration, and Community Ties Free Essay Example

Tyson (1997) remarks that Soviet and Western scholars that studied Islamic practices in Soviet Union has overlooked or misunderstood the enduring fundamental aspects of Islamic religious practice in the Soviet Union. They saw the antagonistic potential of this “half-Islam” without appreciating its contribution to His essay has made me understand that through shrine pilgrimage, links to the past ancestor veneration was preserved, along with the communal tribal-based solidarity that comes with it. Popular Islam in Turkmenistan reflects the enduring traits of ancestor and saint veneration, communal discourses, and community building, all of which may be seen as products of impure Islam, but can be also viewed as manifestations of surviving and strengthening Islam despite a past repressive national government.

Ancestor and Saint Veneration: Fusing with Islam

Ancestor veneration may have pre-Islamic origins, but how it eventually developed demonstrates its deliberate alignment with Islam. Tyson (1997) narrates the origins of shrines in his essay. He underscores that shrines come from the veneration respected ancestors who later became prominent "Islamicizers". The same shrines castigated as anti-Islam, are actually ancestors that promoted Islam. On one hand, shrine pilgrimage professes evidences of shamanism and ancestor worship. The burial sites of the great ancestors absorbed power that addressed spiritual and other concerns of the local people (Tyson 1997). People felt these shrines helped them spiritually, and also with other humanly concerns, such as having a baby and staying pure and virtuous for women. But more than that, these shrines became sites where sacred power was not only concentrated and localized, but as "nexus points where Islam and the traditions of pre-Islamic times joined and developed -- here local communities dealt with Islam and accepted it as their own  (Tyson 1997). This means that the shrines have become a medium of seeing Islam in its local context, and embracing it side-by-side local beliefs and practices. It is a medium wherein a local culture has fused with Islam, giving it a different flavor of Islam, but is still intrinsically Islam. In the same way, people with spiritual, intellectual, or physical powers are turned into saints by locales and shrines were also made for them (Tyson 1997). These shrines also incite religious and other discussions among pilgrims, once they set foot on and congregate in and around the shrines. Hence, ancestor and saint veneration help local people understand Islam more, through identifying it with local symbols of the shrines, and by making Islam part of their ancient local practices and customs.

Communal Discourses

To stress more the contribution of shrines to informal Islam studies, shrines become hot spots, not for rebellious ideas, but means of discussing and developing local Islam. Tyson (1997) helped me appreciate that though local, on the veneer, and though labeled as "backward Islam," shrine pilgrimage is also inherently promoting communal exchanges that are essentially spiritual and Islamic. Communal discourses are ways of studying Islam and learning it. Attending shrine pilgrimage is an effective way then of localizing the teachings of Islam, so that it may fit everyday life. Islam, after all, is way of living. It constitutes everything a Muslim does, and shrine pilgrimage helps Turkmen imbibe Islam in their particular ways, or different ways, but effective nonetheless. As Tyson (1997) emphasizes: "[Shrine pilgrimage] represents an Islam highly influenced by local tradition and sensibilities; one greatly affected by Soviet rule, but also one which has reemerged with new vigor and significance in an era when national and religious aspirations are being rediscovered and recast." Hence, through communal discussions in shrines, Islam is actually strengthened, not diluted.

Community Ties

A shrine pilgrimage is a community effort and essentially cultural. For instance, these saints and shrines had become an exclusive element of the community (Tyson 1997). This exclusiveness was due the saint's supposed activity in a certain locale or community and more frequently than not his role in the founding or maintaining of that community (Tyson 1997). Because of this exclusivity, local community ties are fostered and maintained and their cultural identities are preserved. These local ties are crucial to making Islam as elemental as possible to the Turkmen's daily lives. I then say, why is it harmful to have shrine pilgrimage part of Islam, if it helps these people understand Islam in their own ways? Local Islam or popular Islam's beauty is in its strong local cultural ties, and it is something that should not be looked down upon, because where Islam is, community cultural ties must also be strong. Religion in culture and culture in religion strengthens Islam, and a proof is how Islam manifests in shrine pilgrimages.

Conclusion

The local practices of shrine pilgrimage in Turkmenistan do not make them anti-Muslim. In fact, Tyson made me realize that their cultures are part of Islam, as Islam is part of their cultures. When culture and religion are intertwined, I believe that this is a crucial factor of making Islam more popular and stronger. Culture is about how people think and understand the world, and if the culture of shrine pilgrimage teaches Islam along the way, then Islam for Turkmenistan has become both a religion and culture. And for me, this is not bad for Islam, but good for the spiritual development of the people, which Islam also aspires.

b. Answer the following question in a few sentences. How important is shrine visitation in your opinion, and how do you come to that conclusion?

Shrine visitation is important, because it has helped Islam enter strongly cultural and communal locations. It has also helped maintain a loyal affinity with Islam, without necessarily forgetting old local customs, which can also be used to promote Islam. I come to that conclusion because shrine pilgrimage in Turkmenistan showed me that localized Islam is not necessarily an example of backward Islam, but merely a very communal and cultural, and still strong form of expressing Islam.

Work cited

Tyson, David. Shrine Pilgrimage in Turkmenistan as a Means to Understand Islam among the Turkmen. Central Asia Monitor 1997. 7 August 2008.

http://www.uga.edu/islam/turkmen.html