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AFAIK I know it is a "core activity" in one Abrahamic religion (Islam)—more so than in any other major religion. A lot of Christians I know have done some sort
by graemep 2y ago
AFAIK I know it is a "core activity" in one Abrahamic religion (Islam)—more so than in any other major religion.
A lot of Christians I know have done some sort of pilgrimage. Quite a few Buddhists too (most of those I know if you count short and easy trips).
I agree it is very common, but I cannot see a correlation between how ancient a religion is and how important pilgrimage is within in it.
- fusivdh 2y agoThere's a big difference in Christianity between Protestants and, for a lack of a better word, the Apostolic Churches (Roman, Greek, Oriental). The later have a very rich culture of pilgrimages.
- ElevenLathe 2y agoAs a protestant, I fully plan to visit Wittenberg some day as a sort of pilgrimmage.
- reptation 2y agoBefore the destruction of the Second Temple, pilgrimage was an important part of Judaism as well.
- graemep 2y agoThanks. It explains some things that were puzzling me about what I had read about pilgrimage in Judaism.
- PrismCrystal 2y agoThere are quite a few Muslim peoples who don’t recognize the hajj to Mecca as an obligation, such as Nizari Ismailis and Alevi-Bektashis. Even in the Balkans or West Africa among Muslims who ostensibly subscribe to a more “orthodox” Islam, though they might see the hajj as a nice thing, consciousness of it as an obligation may be low.
- fujincodes 2y agoWouldn't not believing in the Hajj be equivalent to blasphemy, which in turn is equivalent to being killed in the name of Islam?
- PrismCrystal 2y agoNot if all the Muslims around you also don't believe in the Hajj. Orthodox Muslim belief is highly rigid today, but the medieval era there was a time and region when Muslim concepts could be questioned and given some mystical revision instead. That is where Nizari Ismailism (and the Druze who don't even regard themselves as Muslim any more) came out of.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]