Ma`rifat Adyan

The three Abrahamic faiths—Islam, Judaism, and Christianity—share common roots in the belief in the One God, with ritual obligations (ibādāt) such as prayer (ṣalāt) and fasting (ṣawm) playing a pivotal role in fortifying faith and fostering self-refinement (tazkiyah) in each of them. This study examines the place of these ritual obligations within the structural framework of religiosity (shākilah-yi dīn-varzī) and religious praxis (ʿamal-i dīnī) in Islam, in comparison with Judaism and Christianity. It investigates what emphasis the ideal form of religious practice in Islam accords to ritual obligations, and how it positions them within the overall architecture of the religion alongside other co-equal practical imperatives (lawāzim-i ʿamalī-yi ham-sang) that, together, form the very foundation of this desired religious conduct. The study further explores the nature of this positioning in Judaism and Christianity, and whether the author's hypothesis—that ritual obligations in Islam are necessarily and obligatorily conjoined with social and political commandments—can be discerned with comparable prominence in those traditions. Or is this phenomenon distinctive to Islamic texts, which configure purely devotional commandments, such as prayer and fasting, in such a way that, when juxtaposed with other commandments predominantly social and political in character, they acquire a singular meaning and identity? This multifaceted, integrative identity is articulated in service of a single, unified purpose, and such a synthesis and structural positioning cannot be observed in the lived, practical expressions of the other Abrahamic religions in their current forms.