Current+Afghani+Religion

__**Rituals and Holy Places**__

On Fridays at noon people gather at the village mosque to pray to their gods. Also, tombs of famous religious guides are visited by the people of Afghanistan to worship and praise them. These events on Fridays throughout the year are a chance for women to chat and socialize. Afghanistan has two religious festivals. One is called the Id al-Kabir (the Great Feast). This festival is celebrated for the sacrifice of Abraham. During this festival, most families in Afghanistan will sacrifice a sheep and then will distribute some of the meat to the poor. The second festival that Afghanistan has is called the Id al-Fitr (the Small Feast). It is a celebration of the end of the fasting month. Other rituals that Afghanistan celebrate are births, weddings, funerals, circumcisions of young boys, and charity meals offered by wealthy people(Countries and their Cultures).

__**Life After Death**__

There is a long process that Afghanistan people go through when a family member dies or a famous leader dies. First when someone dies the person is buried in a shroud with simple stones without any name on them. Then usually wealthier people will have a tomb with a prayer on it. After they bury them, for three days, close relatives will have their house open to receive condolences. Then forty days after the death, the relatives and close friends go back to the tomb and each one of them pray for the person. After the person has been dead for one year, a ceremony takes place to show the end of the mourning period and if this does not happen. Which many of the Afghanistan people believe that if these events do not take place and are not properly assembled, the ghost of the dead will return and haunt the living (Countries and their Cultures).



__**Religious Practitioners and Religious Beliefs**__

There are two kinds of practitioners, one is called a scholar and the other practitioners are called saints. Scholars are practitioners whose power is based on knowledge. Then the saints power comes from their ability to transmit God's blessing on earth. Then during the recent war a new practitioner evolved which was called the young Islamic militant. Which challenged the authority of traditional practitioner and proposes a more political conception of religion. The religion that the Afghanistan people worship is the five pillars of Islam. Afghanistan is split up into two different types of affiliations called the Sunnis and the Shiites. Also, Sufism is worshiped in Afghanistan which is a religion that worships supernatural creatures such as angels, genies, ghosts, and spirits (Countries and their Cultures)


 * [Hazrat Peer Syed Mahmood Shah]**