Baber Johansen

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In the field of the cult, the believer’s normative behavior is directed by
his attempt to adapt to the sacred and to cut himself off from the profane
in order to come closer to God. This is evident in the obligatory prayers,
the holy month of RamaÃān, the month of pilgrimage and the sacred
space of Mecca’s Îaram. The state of consecration that the believers
acquire when they enter into prayer or take on the pilgrim’s status and the
profane state to which they return after the accomplishment of these
duties translate the opposition between the sacred and the profane. The
spatial and temporal sphere of the sacred thus gives its meaning to the
cultic acts.
VII.2: The cult: a model of embedded normative behavior
The cult is a model for normative behavior. The performance of cultic
acts requires an embodied capacity to orient one’s behavior according to
rules. The fact that its norms are characterized by an opposition between
the sacred and the profane qualifies the cult as a sphere of transcendence
that follows its own rules. As far as prayer, fasting, and pilgrimage are
concerned, this sphere of transcendence is accessible for the believers
only during specified times of the day or the year or in a specific space.
Cultic acts provide the law with a model of unilateral obligations. The
believer owes God fasting, prayer, and pilgrimage. If he does not perform
them in the time prescribed for them, he owes their performance at a later
date. If he does not fulfill this obligation, he violates the legal norm. The
notion of debt is thus introduced in the relation between the believer and
God and expressed in a terminology (dayn) that is also used for debts in
the commercial exchange. 94 The cultic act fulfills, as the jurists say, a
purpose (qaÒd): it serves to bring the believer near to God (taqarrub). It
is based on the religious ethics of probation and reward. It is construed as
a legal act, the validity of which rests on the free choice (ikhtiyār), the
intent (niyya) and the purpose (qaÒd) of the actor. The actor’s mental
capacity to perform legal acts (ahliyya) and his legal personality
(dhimma) that allows her to incur obligations are the basis of her debt to