Islamiske renhedskategorier

Resumé

Tahāra, the Islamic regulations of purity are discussed as they appear in the Islamic scriptures, and as they are practised in Morocco during visits to the public baths, hammām. The formal and local traditions are not considered as opposites, but they are demonstrated to be interacting in a common logic. It is pointed out that impurity is mainly connected to activities necessary for the reproduction of the human body. Consequently, it is proposed that the ablution and the visit to hammām are ways to transcend the earthly condition and prepare for a connection to God. Furthermore, it is suggested that Tahāra, as a system of meaning, can function as an approach to the analysis of other Islamic rituals, for example the fast of Ramadan.