The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (618 page)

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

(1479–1573).
Jewish
Talmudist
and
kabbalist
. Between 1517 and 1553, he was head of the Egyptian Jewish community and made several significant reforms. He subsequently moved to Safed. His most important works were collections of
responsa
.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

(Yid., uncertain origin). ‘To pray’: widely used among
Ashkenazi
Jews.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

(Arab., from
da’
, ‘call’, ‘summon’). Invitation, call; prayer (see
DU‘
’
, from the same root). It is the ‘summons’ to the way of All
h, to the true religion (Qur’
n 14. 46). It is used today to denote the effort to spread the teachings of Islam, and in this sense is roughly equivalent to the concept of ‘mission’ in Christianity.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Daxma
.

Often referred to as a ‘Tower of Silence’, the place where
Zoroastrians
expose their dead to vultures. Because death and decay are seen as weapons of evil, a corpse is traditionally seen as the place where
Angra Mainyu
and his forces are powerfully present. All dead matter is polluting, but especially the corpse of a righteous person, for that represents a great (albeit temporary) victory of evil. It cannot therefore be buried in the earth, cremated, or disposed of at sea, for each of these is the good creation of Ahura Mazda. Zoroastrian funerals have two main concerns: to care for the soul and to restrict the pollution. It is important that a priest is called quickly after death. Traditionally the priest is accompanied by the Zoroastrian holy animal, a dog, who both protects people from threatening forces and is especially sensitive to an alien presence, and who therefore ritually ‘sees’ the corpse (Sagdid rite). There is an annual
muktad
ceremony where the souls of all the deceased are remembered.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search