The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2236 page)

). Sect Shinto groups continue today, joined by a group of ‘New Sect Shinto’ (shin ky
ha shint
) movements which have developed in the post-war period. Folk Shinto (minkan shint
) is a designation for the extremely wide-ranging group of superstitious, magico-religious rites and practices of the common people. The typical setting for the practice of Shinto is the shrine (
jinja
) precinct, which is an enclosed sacred area with a gate (
torii
), ablution area, and sacred buildings including the main sanctuary (
honden
) which houses the symbol of the kami (
shintai
) and a worship area (
haiden
). The natural surroundings are also regarded as permeated with the kami presence; in fact, occasionally a mountain or sacred forest may take the place of the sanctuary. At special times through the year, shrines become the focal point for community
festivals
(
matsuri
), held according to the tradition of each shrine at stated times in honour of its own kami, although there are many common festivals. For the devout Shintoist, daily life itself is matsuri or service to the kami, and one worships before the home altar (
kamidana
). Mortuary rites are usually conducted by Buddhist priests, even though Shinto lays great emphasis on veneration of the ancestral spirits.
Shinto is a ‘this-worldly’ religion, in the sense that it is interested in tangible benefits which will promote life in this human world.

 
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(Jap., ‘stories of the kami’). Japanese stories about the actions of the
kami
, more closely resembling
myth
than
densetsu
or
setsuwa
. The most important collections are
Kojiki
and
Nihongi
or Nihonshoki.

 
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see
NARA BUDDHISM
.

 
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see
ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION
.

 
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(Arab.). The most heinous of sins in Islamic reckoning, the alienation from God, to some pseudo-deity, of what only and properly is God's. Shirk is the antithesis of
taw
d
. The root verb has to do with ‘sharing’ or ‘association’. Shirk violates the exclusive sovereignty of God, as idolatry does. To worship what is not divine is shirk al-‘Ib
da. But there is also shirk al-ma‘rifa when knowledge, possessed only by God, is attributed to another. To commit shirk is to be a mushrik, one who is not
muslim
(submitted) to God.