Islamic Rituals Beyond the Mosque: Historical Evolution of Prayer and Devotion in Physical Space and Cyberspace (Islamic Studies)

Prevailing assumptions posit that Islamic rituals are inextricably bound to corporeal enactments and spatial constraints. This study, however, critically interrogates such presuppositions, challenging the notion that ritual praxis necessitates physical embodiment. A common misconception is that the conceptualization of Islamic rituals divorced from spatiality and physicality is a contemporary phenomenon, catalysed by the exigencies of the Covid-19 pandemic or formulated by modern Muslim intellectuals. This research, however, dismantles this anachronistic view by tracing the origins of such conceptualizations to the 9th century, wherein early Muslim jurists theorized non-physical ritual practices such as the “Heart Prayer” and the “Ship Prayer.”

Grounded in rigorous legal and philosophical analysis, this study offers a comprehensive reassessment of the historical evolution of ritual performance, illuminating its fluidity rather than its presumed immutability. The investigation extends beyond theoretical inquiry to examine the broader ramifications of cyber-Islamic rituals, interrogating their implications for religious authority, the construction of authenticity, and communal identity formation. Through empirically substantiated case studies of Sunni and Sufi communities in both Egypt and the United States, this work situates contemporary digital ritual practices within a historically and legally nuanced framework, thus making a substantive contribution to scholarly discourse on the transformation of Islamic rituality.