See

discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281458074

Hospitality (in Islam)

Article · August 2015

CITATIONS READS

0 429

1 author:

El-Sayed El-Aswad
United Arab Emirates University
109 PUBLICATIONS 66 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Social and Spatial Organization Patterns in the Traditional House: A Case Study of
Al Ain, a City in the UAE View project

Higher Education in Egypt and Arabian Gulf countries: A Comparative perspective

View project

All content following this page was uploaded by El-Sayed El-Aswad on 04 September 2015.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World, 2nd edition – 1st/ 8/17/2015 15:00 Page 462
Hospitality
Muharram and Safar (the first two months in the Muslim
calendar) wherein the martyrdom of Imam Husayn b. qAli,
grandson of the Prophet, is mourned. Their counterparts
in India and Pakistan are called imambara or qazakhana,
and in some places, qashurkhana, dargah, and qalawi.
Although mourning ceremonies have been common since
the Buwayhid era, no definite date can be set for the
emergence of the name hosayniyya before the last part of
eighteenth century. Until that time these ceremonies were
held in royal palatial halls, spacious houses, in streets, and
open spaces. Apparently, from the second half of the
Safavid era the tekke and khanqa (also khanakha), build-
ings that originally served as establishments of the der-
vishes, were gradually transformed into hosayniyyas, often
assuming this name from the latter part of the Zand and
early Qajar periods onward. Starting in the mid-1950s,
buildings serving similar religious purposes have been
named after other imams and Shiqite saints. For instance,
in 1996 there were 1358 hosayniyya, 148 tekke, 34 fati-
miyya, 32 mahdiyya, and 57 zainabiyya in the Khorasan
province. Scores of such buildings built during the last few
decades of the twentieth century in the city of Mashhad
bear such names as sajjadiyya, baqiriyya, sadiqiyya, kazi-
miyya, radawiyya, jawwadiyya, naqawiyya, qaskariyya, mah-
diyya, fatimiyya, nargisiyya, and zaynabiyya.
Apparently, the religious influence of the Safavid era
(906/1501–1149/1736) led to the building of the qashur-
khanas of the Deccan during the reign of the Shiqite
Qutb-shahi dynasty, and Mir Muhammad Mupmin
Astarabadi (d. 1034/1625), an eminent religious and
political figure, is known to have built several of them
in and around the city of Hyderabad, establishing a
tradition that later spread to the north and other parts
of India. The magnificent imambara of Asaf ad-Dawlah
at Lucknow is perhaps the most impressive of this kind of
structures ever built.
SE E A LS O Rawza-Khani; Taqziya (Taqziyeh).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hughes, Aaron. ‘‘The Performance of Muslim Identities.’’ In
Muslim Identities: An Introduction to Islam. New York:
Columbia University Press, 2013.
Soileau, Mark. ‘‘Husayniyya.’’ In Encyclopedia of Islam, edited by
Juan Eduardo Campo. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2009.
Rasool Jaqfariyan
Independent Scholar
HOSPITALITY
Hospitality is highly valued by the majority of Muslims,
whose worldwide population is more than 1.6 billion.
Hospitality (diyafa) and generosity (karam) are core
462
principles in Islamic culture. Shared cosmic-religious
worldviews and moral values have been decisive factors
in orienting Muslims’ notions and acts of hospitality.
The Qurpan and the sunna, the tradition of the prophet
Muhammad, highlight the significance of hospitality in
Muslims’ everyday lives. One of the ninety-nine glori-
ous names of Allah is al-Karim (meaning ‘‘the Gener-
ous’’). According to the ‘‘stories of the prophets’’
literature, Ibrahim (Abraham) offered a feast including
a roasted calf for his guests, strangers who turned out to
be angels.
Islamic hospitality represents the culture and ethics
of giving and relates to many different domains ranging
from private or family relations to public spheres and
© 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. This content is not yet final and Cengage Learning
from social-mundane interactions to sacred or religious
beliefs and rituals. A guest—Muslim or non-Muslim,
does not guarantee this page will contain current material or match the published product.
stranger or relative, rich or poor—must be received and
treated with kindness, dignity, and respect.
In its broad sense, Islamic hospitality means to give
voluntarily and without compensation. Hospitality, an
unconditional welcome of the guest, is made through
acts, words, and objects. It also indicates an effort under-
taken by an individual, group of people, or organization
based on a desire to honor guests as well as to establish or
maintain good relationships with people. The ultimate
motives for hospitality stem from moral incentives to the
self and others. Hospitality also means assisting people in
times of need. Hospitality is not, however, about rela-
tions between things, but rather about constructing rela-
tions between persons as well as with God. As part of
hospitality, gifts are given and received or accepted with
both hands and are not opened in the presence of the
host. The main point here is that hospitality strengthens
social relationships between people and unites individuals
in integrated communities.
According to Islamic tradition, hospitality implies
three important components: the host, the guest or
stranger, and Allah. God is hospitable, and people should
show hospitality. All good deeds, including hospitality,
will be rewarded by God in this life and the afterlife.
Within this context, hospitality is associated with core
concepts of grace or blessing (baraka) and cosmic suste-
nance (al-rizq) represented in God’s name al-Razzaq
(meaning ‘‘the Sustainer’’ or ‘‘the Provider’’). Hospitality
enables people to become receptive to the divine mercy
(rahma) and compassion. Muslims are concerned with
the notion of social, economic, and divine cover (as-satr)
as related to the scheme of the cosmological paradigm of
sustenance or source of revenue, which belongs to the
unseen world (qalam al-ghaib), dominated by God, and
through which the occurrences of unexpected fortunes
can be explained.
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ISLAM AND THE MUSLIM WORLD
Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World, 2nd edition – 1st/ 8/17/2015 15:00 Page 463
© 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. This content is not yet final and Cengage Learning
does not guarantee this page will contain current material or match the published product.
Uighur Wedding Gift Exchange in Khotan, China. The mothers of a Uighur bride and groom exchange gifts, including watches,
scarves, and combs in Khotan, China. Gift giving is an important aspect of a Uighur wedding. ª EARL KOWALL/DOCUMENTARY
VALUE/CORBIS
Islam, however, is not a monolithic religion. Although
the concept of the universal Muslim community (umma)
is firmly acknowledged by all Muslims, Muslim commun-
ities are not comparable or identical, but rather diverse.
Similarly, Islamic hospitality, influenced by social and
historical factors, is multifaceted and diverse. Socially,
hospitality is associated with rites of passage—mainly the
birth of a child, marriage, and death. For example, Mus-
lims, following the Prophet’s sunna or tradition, perform a
sacrifice called qaqiqa, a festival in which an animal (goat or
sheep) is slaughtered to celebrate a newly born baby.
Relatives, neighbors, and friends are invited to share the
food, mainly meat. On the occasion of wedding ceremo-
nies, relatives and friends offer money, goods, and various
forms of gifts to support the newlyweds. Furthermore,
during mourning and memorial rituals in Muslim com-
munities, food, tea, and coffee are distributed and served
to mourners and guests by friends, neighbors, and relatives
of the dead person’s family.
Hospitality is an important aspect of Islamic reli-
gious holidays and rituals, including, for instance, the
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ISLAM AND THE MUSLIM WORLD
Hospitality
holy month of Ramadan (the ninth month of the Islamic
calendar), during which Muslims display generosity and
hospitality especially during the fast-breaking meal
(iftar); the feast following the fast of Ramadan (Eid al-
Fitr); the Feast of Sacrifice (Eid al-Adha), celebrating the
ritual of pilgrimage; the Prophet’s birthday; the night of
mid-Shaqban (the eighth month of the Islamic calendar
during which people’s good deeds are believed to be
blessed and raised to Allah); and the night journey and
ascension of the Prophet (al-Israp wa al-Miqraj; 27 Rajab).
In addition, during the celebration of a saint’s birthday
(mawlid or maulid) the private and public forms of
hospitality are generously offered through what is known
as service (khidma), where food, water, tea, and shelter
(tents for rest and sleep), among other things, are freely
provided for both Sufi adherents and guests or strangers.
Thus, in religious practice and in everyday life, hospital-
ity and generosity are valued religious and moral virtues
throughout Muslim societies.
SEE ALSO Food.
463
Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World, 2nd edition – 1st/ 8/17/2015 15:00 Page 464

Human Rights

BIBLIOGRAPHY
El-Aswad, El-Sayed. ‘‘The Gift and the Image of the Self and the
Other among Rural Egyptians.’’ In The Gift in Culture, edited
by Ró_za Godula, 35–49. Kraków, Poland: Jagiellonian
University Press, 1993.
El-Aswad, El-Sayed. Muslim Worldviews and Everyday Lives.
Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press, 2012.
Stephenson, Marcus L. ‘‘Deciphering ‘Islamic Hospitality’:
Developments, Challenges, and Opportunities.’’ Tourism
Management 40 (February 2014): 155–164.
Young, William C. ‘‘Arab Hospitality as a Rite of Incorporation:
The Case of the Rashaayda Bedouin of Eastern Sudan.’’
Anthropos 102, no. 1 (2007): 47–69.

El-Sayed El-Aswad

© 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. This content is not yet final and Cengage Learning
Professor of Anthropology
and Chair of the Department of Sociology
United Arab Emirates University

HUMAN RIGHTS
Ideas that constitute precursors of what are today known
as human rights have been circulating for many centuries
in a variety of cultures, including in Islamic civilization.
By the end of the twentieth century the principles in the
international human rights law documents put forward
under the auspices of the United Nations (UN), starting
with the seminal 1948 Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (UDHR), had won recognition as the most influ-
ential formulations of human rights. The relatively brief
list of principles in the UDHR was vastly expanded in
subsequent UN instruments. Although these instruments
are generally treated as authoritative, certain human
rights, such as those pertaining to sexual minorities, are
matters of controversy. The preeminence of principles
formulated under UN auspices does not mean that the
UN instruments cannot be challenged or that continued
exploration of human rights issues in such fields as theol-
ogy, philosophy, and ethics has been precluded.
The stages of historical development of ideas that
provided the foundation for international human rights
law roughly correlate with what can be called three gen-
erations of rights. It was in the West that formulations of
human rights first emerged in codified form, the most
renowned and influential being the 1789 French Decla-
ration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The
emphasis in the eighteenth century was on what are
called civil and political rights, or first-generation rights.
In these, the central concern was with defining spheres of
individual rights and freedoms that were not to be
infringed by the modern centralized state, protecting
freedoms such as the freedoms of expression, association,
and religion. Many classify these as negative rights, in
that they provide grounds for pushing back against
does not guarantee this page will contain current material or match the published product.
Protest Against Human Rights Violations in Iran, 2010.
A group of Iranians and members of the human rights group
Amnesty International hold a sign reading ‘‘Iran: Where are
human rights?’’ in Italian in front of the Iranian embassy in
Rome on 11 June 2010. The protest was sparked by the arrest of
opposition political leaders following the contested presidential
election in Tehran in June 2009. ª ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP/
GETTY IMAGES
governmental oppression. This category also comprises
prohibitions against discriminatory treatment of individ-
uals based on categories that have been expanded to
encompass those of race, color, sex, language, religion,
political or other opinion, national or social origin, prop-
erty, birth, or other status. Rules in the sphere of criminal
justice, which are designed to protect the rights of the
criminal accused and to ensure fair trials, fit in the first-
generation category, as does the ban on the use of torture.
Economic and social rights, or second-generation
rights, were elaborated in the nineteenth century in
response to influential socialist philosophies. These rights
are often viewed as positive rights, in that they impose
obligations on governments to take actions to provide for
people’s needs—such as food, employment, housing,

464 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ISLAM AND THE MUSLIM WORLD

View publication stats