Muslim traditions
Muslim traditions are found in nearly every country, from Morocco to Indonesia, and range from the five daily prayers and the Friday congregation to Ramadan, Eid, the hajj, Mawlid, Ashura and the customs of marriage, naming and burial.
Muslim traditions are found in nearly every country, from Morocco to Indonesia, and range from the five daily prayers and the Friday congregation to Ramadan, Eid, the hajj, Mawlid, Ashura and the customs of marriage, naming and burial. They share a core of belief and practice and take many local forms in food, dress, music and festivals. The calendar is lunar, so the dates move through the year. These pages describe Muslim traditions as those who keep them do, including local ones that differ between communities.
Prayer, Friday and the mosque
Muslims pray five times a day, facing Mecca, and gather for the Friday congregational prayer and sermon. Mosques are places of prayer, learning and community, and many hold meals in Ramadan. Cleanliness, modest dress and the removal of shoes are customary, and Quran recitation is a valued art. In many homes, the call to prayer sets the rhythm of the day, and children learn prayers from their parents and from a teacher.
Ramadan, Eid and the hajj
Ramadan, the month of fasting, is followed by Eid al-Fitr, and the hajj by Eid al-Adha. Both feasts are marked by prayer, new clothes, gifts and meals shared with family and the poor. The hajj draws about two million pilgrims to Mecca, and returning pilgrims are welcomed at home. Local customs, such as lanterns in Egypt, night markets in Indonesia and henna in South Asia, add colour to the occasions.
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Muslim (faith). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreGhazalغَزَل
A short rhyming poem of love and parting, recited and sung from Arabia to South AsiaPerformance
🇹🇷 Konya, Turkey and 4 moreMevlevi OrderMevlevilik
A Sufi tradition from Konya known for its whirling ceremony and devotion to Rumi's teachings.Spiritual
🇲🇿 Island of Mozambique, MozambiqueTufo
A women's dance of northern Mozambique, performed at Islamic feasts to drums and songPerformance
🇵🇰 Islamabad, Pakistan and 2 moreQawwaliقَوّالی
Devotional Sufi singing from South Asia, led by hereditary parties at shrinesPerformance
🇵🇰 Karachi, Pakistan and 2 moreSouth Asian truck art
The craft of painting and adorning cargo trucks and buses across India and Pakistan.Craft
🇲🇦 Morocco and 5 moreAndalusi classical musicطرب أندلسي
A classical suite of vocal and instrumental music shared across North AfricaPerformance
🇮🇳 Gwalior, India and 1 moreDhrupadध्रुवपद
The foundational vocal and instrumental classical music tradition of northern IndiaPerformance
🇲🇦 Marrakesh, Morocco and 5 moreGnawa musicڭْناوة or كْناوة
A spiritual musical tradition of Morocco that blends West African rhythms with Islamic ritual to heal and connect communPerformance
🇲🇦 Morocco and 1 moreHamadsha
A Moroccan possession rite kept by Muslim fraternities to cure affliction and restore social balance through music and dSpiritual
🇹🇷 Turkey and 1 moreSamaSema (Turkish); سَماع (Persian)
A Sufi rite of listening, music and turning, kept by Mevlevi and other Sufi ordersSpiritual
🇮🇷 Tehran, IranTa'ziyehتعزیه
A ritual drama from Iran that retells the Karbala mourning each MuharramSpiritual
🇮🇷 Iran and 3 morePahlevani and zurkhaneh ritualsآیین پهلوانی و زورخانهای
A traditional Iranian martial art blending calisthenics, wrestling, music and ethicsGame
🇧🇩 Dhaka, Bangladesh and 1 moreBaul traditionবাউল
A Bengali devotional minstrel path uniting mystic poetry, music and dancePerformance
🇪🇸 Seville, Spain and 5 moreAzulejo
Painted, tin-glazed ceramic tiles that cover walls and floors across Portugal and SpainCraft
🇲🇦 Rabat, Morocco and 5 moreFantasiaالفانتازيا
A North African equestrian display of synchronized charging and simultaneous rifle fireGame
🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago and 3 moreHosay
An Indo-Caribbean Muharram commemoration with ornate floats, drumming and processionsSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇹🇷 Bursa, Turkey and 5 moreKaragöz and Hacivat
A Turkish shadow play of two quarrelling friends, acted on a lit screen behind a curtainPerformance
🇺🇿 Bukhara, Uzbekistan and 2 moreShashmaqamШашмақом
A classical song cycle of Central Asia, built on six modes and Sufi love poetryPerformance
🇨🇳 ChinaMuqamمۇقام
A Uyghur modal system of melody types, and the twelve long cycles built on itPerformance
🇨🇳 Yining, China and 1 moreMeshrepمەشرەپ
A Uyghur gathering of music, poetry, dance and moral counsel at harvest and weddingsPerformance
🇹🇷 Turkey and 2 moreSufi whirling
A Sufi meditation in which dervishes spin in circles to turn toward GodSpiritual
🇵🇰 PakistanPakistani weddingپاکستانی شادی
Weddings across Pakistan: a match is found, a contract signed, two families joinedRite of passage
🇮🇶 Kufa, Iraq and 5 moreArabic calligraphykhatt (خَطّ)
Artistic handwriting of the Arabic script, practiced as a sacred craft and a living visual tradition.Craft
🇮🇶 Karbala, Iraq and 5 moreMourning of Muharramعَزَاءُ ٱلْمُحَرَّمِ
Annual rites of grief and remembrance for Imam Husayn and his companionsSpiritual
🇹🇷 Turkey and 2 moreHadraحضرة
A collective Sufi ritual of chanted divine remembrance, sacred poetry and rhythmic movementSpiritual
🇩🇿 Djanet, Algeria and 1 moreSebibaسبيبة (Arabic), ⵙⴱⵉⴱⴰ (Tifinagh)
A Tuareg festival and dance in the Algerian Sahara marking the Islamic New Year and Ashura.Festival
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Zajal: 13th century artist, Public domain, source
- Ghazal: Poem by Sa'di of Shiraz (13th century). 19th century manuscript, Public domain, source
- Mevlevi Order: Georges Jansoone ( JoJan ), CC BY 3.0, source
- Pahlevani and zurkhaneh rituals: Hossein Khosravi, CC BY 4.0, source
- Tufo: JCPBFerreira, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Fantasia: Jfcapdet, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Hosay: Julius Eduard Muller, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Qawwali: Saswat swarup mishra, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Shashmaqam: Шухрат Саъдиев, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- South Asian truck art: Alexandros.Papadopoulos, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Baul tradition: Biswarup Ganguly, CC BY 3.0, source
- Sama: myself, Public domain, source
- Ta'ziyeh: Payam Moein, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Muqam: Liang Li, CC0, source
- Gnawa music: Lucyin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Meshrep: https://www.flickr.com/photos/travelingmipo/, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Azulejo: Dr. Thomas Liptak, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Karagöz and Hacivat: Francesco Bini, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pakistani wedding: Rukhsana iqbal, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Arabic calligraphy: Aieman Khimji, CC BY 2.0, source
- Mourning of Muharram: Naser Jafari, CC BY 4.0, source
- Hadra: Zeinebtakouti, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sebiba: Abderrahmane boudjenane, CC BY-SA 4.0, source