Passage rites mean rituals that a person must go through to progress to the next stage of his or her life. They are often ceremonies surrounding events in cases of birth, coming of age, marriage, and death. The French ethnographer Arnold van Gennep categorized passage rites into three phases: separation, transition, and incorporation. In the first phase, people withdraw from the group and begin moving from one place or status to another. In the third phase, they reenter society, having completed the rite and assumed new identity. The transition phase is the period between the two phases, during which people have left one place or state but haven't yet entered or joined the next. This article aims to introduce the forms and meanings of passage rites that are observed in the life cycle in the Muslim world. Today, there are more than 1.3 billion Muslims around the world. Although they share the same religion, they are sometimes quite different one another in the ways of understanding and practicing its doctrines in their everyday lives. In addition, the Muslim population includes many ethnic groups, who have different cultural backgrounds and use different languages. So it is impossible to present a universal or ideal model of Muslim passage rite. That's why I have limited my interests on passage rites found in four countries such as Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, and Iran. In this article, four important Muslim passage rites are introduced, which are birth, puberty, marriage, and death. At birth of a child, two important rituals are accompanied, which are the call to prayer and the naming ceremony. Islam sets out no rites for puberty per se. But circumcision and fasting during the month of Ramadan could be regarded as the rituals that lead children towards their gender-based, adult roles in the Muslim society. Marriage is the expected state for all adult Muslims. At marriage, Islamic law demands a marriage contract, which establishes rights and responsibilities not only between the husband and the wife, but also between their respective families. At death, a dying person prepares for it by speaking Shahada. When dead, the corpse is buried facing Mecca, in imitation of the direction of prayer.

Passage rites mean rituals that a person must go through to progress to the next stage of his or her life. They are often ceremonies surrounding events in cases of birth, coming of age, marriage, and death. The French ethnographer Arnold van Gennep categorized passage rites into three phases: separation, transition, and incorporation. In the first phase, people withdraw from the group and begin moving from one place or status to another. In the third phase, they reenter society, having completed the rite and assumed new identity. The transition phase is the period between the two phases, during which people have left one place or state but haven't yet entered or joined the next. This article aims to introduce the forms and meanings of passage rites that are observed in the life cycle in the Muslim world. Today, there are more than 1.3 billion Muslims around the world. Although they share the same religion, they are sometimes quite different one another in the ways of understanding and practicing its doctrines in their everyday lives. In addition, the Muslim population includes many ethnic groups, who have different cultural backgrounds and use different languages. So it is impossible to present a universal or ideal model of Muslim passage rite. That's why I have limited my interests on passage rites found in four countries such as Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, and Iran. In this article, four important Muslim passage rites are introduced, which are birth, puberty, marriage, and death. At birth of a child, two important rituals are accompanied, which are the call to prayer and the naming ceremony. Islam sets out no rites for puberty per se. But circumcision and fasting during the month of Ramadan could be regarded as the rituals that lead children towards their gender-based, adult roles in the Muslim society. Marriage is the expected state for all adult Muslims. At marriage, Islamic law demands a marriage contract, which establishes rights and responsibilities not only between the husband and the wife, but also between their respective families. At death, a dying person prepares for it by speaking Shahada. When dead, the corpse is buried facing Mecca, in imitation of the direction of prayer.

통과의례는 인간이 성장하면서 다음 단계로 나아가기 위해 거쳐야 하는 의식이나 의례를 말한다. 대표적인 통과의례로 출생의례, 성인식, 혼례, 장례 등을 꼽을 수 있다. 프랑스의 인류학자 아놀드 반 즈네프는 출생의례를 크게‘분리’, ‘전이’, ‘통합’등 세 가지 단계로 나누었다. 분리의 단계에서 사람들은 기존의 소속 단체에서 떨어져 나와 새로운 공간이나 지위로 옮겨간다. 통합의 단계에서 사람들은 특정한 의례를 통해 새로운 정체성을 획득한 후 사회에 재진입 한다. 전이는 분리와 통합 두 단계 사이에 위치하며, 이때 사람들은 예전의 지위와 결별했지만 아직 새로운 지위를 얻은 상태는 아니다. 본고는 이슬람 세계에서 발견되는 각종 통과의례의 형식과 의미를 소개하고자 한다. 오늘날 이슬람 세계는 13억 이상의 인구가 광대한 영토에 걸쳐 있다. 각 국가들은 똑같은 종교를 공유하고 있지만, 일상생활에서 교리를 이해하고 실천하는 방식에 있어서는 상당한 차이를 보이기도 한다. 또한 이슬람 세계에는 서로 다른 문화적 배경을 지니고 다른 언어를 사용하는 다양한 민족으로 구성되어 있다. 따라서 이슬람 통과 의례에 대한 보편적 모델을 제시하기 것은 매우 어렵다. 이 같은 이유 때문에 연구 범위를 모로코, 이집트, 터키, 이란 4개국에 한정시킨다. 본고는 이슬람 통과의례 가운데, 출생의례, 성인식, 혼례, 장례 등을 다룬다. 무슬림들은 신생아가 태어나면 기도문을 외우고 작명의례를 행한다. 이슬람 세계에서는 성인식으로 특별히 명명되는 의례는 없지만, 할례와 라마단 단식은 아이에게 성인 남‧녀로서의 역할 구분을 인식시켜주는 역할을 한다. 무슬림들은 결혼을 바람직한 성인의 의무 가운데 하나로 여긴다. 결혼에서는 계약서가 체결되며, 이는 신랑과 신부 당사자뿐만 아니라 그들을 둘러싼 가족들 간의 권리와 책임까지도 규정한다. 무슬림들은 임종을 앞두고 신앙 증언과 꾸란 구절을 암송한다. 이들은 시신을 하루 만에 매장하며, 머리는 예배 시와 마찬가지로 메카를 향하게 한다.

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이슬람, 통과의례, 출생의례, 성인식, 혼례, 장례, 전이단계, 흉안, 진, 40일