Islamic prayer in the psychology: Functions of prayer in the everyday life of muslims - Paperback

by Mohamed Claesson (Author)

The area of studying Muslim prayer and its psychological implications for participants is an underdeveloped area in the field of religious studies (Lindgren, 2005, 159f). Very few studies in the psychology of religion have focused on the prayer experience, and when this has been done, it has almost exclusively concentrated on the Christian experience and thus neglecting other religious and spiritual traditionsIn the psychology of religion, prayer is one area which has received relatively small attention in the past. In the case of Muslim prayer, with a few exceptions, the field is yet to be explored. This convergent parallel mixed-methods study examined the relationship of Muslim prayer acts and perceived psychosocial functions and meaning-making functions. The subject of the book is study to the relations between Muslim rituals, mainly the prayer sessions, and how it is related to psychosocial functions and meaningmaking functions in the everyday life of persons with a Muslim identity . For this study, a primary research question is operationalized into sub-questions in psychosocial- and meaning-making functions.Primary research question: What role or roles do Muslim rituals, with a focus on prayer, have on the psychosocial functions and meaning-making functions in everyday life? This is a relatively broad question with many possibilities for operationalization. Returning to the two main themes of the study; 1) psychosocial functions and 2) meaning-making functions - these two areas will be used for operationalization. In accord with the mixed methods employed in this study, both deductive as well as inductive sub-questions are used to operationalize the primary research question. These relate to the use of different methods and instruments in the study, and the theoretical framework used.For exploring the psychosocial functions, the following sub-questions will be used: 1. What perceived roles do the prayers have in the everyday life of the Muslim participants?2. What role or roles do the prayer rituals have in the psychosocial functions in relation to resilience ?3. What role or roles do the prayer rituals have in the psychosocial functions in relation to Sense of Coherence ?4. What role or roles do the prayer rituals have in the psychosocial functions in relation to religious coping ?For exploring the meaning-making functions the following sub-question will be used: 5. What perceived roles do the prayers have in the everyday life of the Muslim participants in relation to their meaning-making functions?6. What role or roles do the prayer rituals have in the meaning-making functions in relation to religious coping (Brief RCOPE)?7. What role or roles do the prayer rituals have in the meaning-making functions in relation to global and specific meaning-making?