Religion Beliefs. The state religion in iran is Ithna-ashara or Twelver Shi’ism, established by the Safavid Dynasty in the seventeenth century. This branch of Islam has many distinctive practices and beliefs that differ from the Sunni Islam practiced in most of the Muslim world. Shi’a muslims revere the descendants of Fatimah, daughter of the prophet Muhammad, and her husband, Ali, Muhammad’s cousin. There are twelve Imams recognized by this branch of Shi’ism. All were martyred except the twelfth, Muhammad al-Mahdi, who disappeared, but will return at the end of time with Jesus to judge mankind. A common symbol seen throughout iran is an open hand. This is a complex symbol with a number of interpretations, but one is that the five fingers represent the ‘‘five bodies’’ central to Shi’ism—Muhammad, Fatimah, Ali, and the two sons of Fatimah and Ali, Husayn and Hassain.
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MarriageIn Iran women control marriages for their children, and much intrigue in domestic life revolves around marital matters. A mother is typically on the lookout for good marriage prospects at all times. Even if a mother is diffident about marriage brokering, she is obliged to ‘‘clear the path’’ for a marriage proposal. She does this by letting her counterpart in the other family know that a proposal is forthcoming, or would be welcome. She then must confer with her husband, who makes the formal proposal in a social meeting between the two families. This kind of background work is essential, because once the children are married, the two fami-
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Religious Beliefs. indonesia has the largest muslim population of any nation, and in 1990 the population was reported to be 87 percent Muslim. There is a well-educated and influential christian minority (about 9.6 percent of the population in 1990), with about twice as many Protestants as Catholics. The Balinese still follow a form of Hinduism. Mystical cults are well established among the Javanese elite and middle class, and members of many ethnic groups still follow traditional belief systems. Officially the Government recognizes religion (agama) to include Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism, while other belief systems are called just that, beliefs (kepercayaan). Those who hold beliefs are subject to conversion; followers of religion are not. Belief in ancestral spirits, spirits of diverse sorts of places, and powerful relics are found among both peasants and educated people and among many followers of the world religions; witchcraft and sorcery also have their believers and practitioners. The colonial regime had an uneasy relationship with Islam, as has the Indonesian Government The first of the Five Principles extols God (Tuhan), but not Allah by name. Dissidents have wanted to make indonesia a muslim state, but they have not prevailed.
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Food in Daily Life. Indonesian cuisine reflects regional, ethnic, Chinese, Middle Eastern, Indian, and Western influences, and daily food quality, quan- tity, and diversity vary greatly by socioeconomic class, season, and ecological conditions. rice is a staple element in most regional cooking and the center of general Indonesian cuisine. (Government employees receive monthly rice rations in addition to salaries.) Side dishes of meat, fish, eggs, and vegetables and a variety of condiments and sauces using chili peppers and other spices accompany rice. The cuisine of Java and Bali has the greatest variety, while that of the Batak has much less, even in affluent homes, and is marked by more rice and fewer side dishes. And rice is not the staple everywhere: in Maluku and parts of Sulawesi it is sago, and in West Timor it is maize (corn), with rice consumed only for ceremonial occasions. Among the Rotinese, palm sugar is fundamental to the diet.
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Traditionally the family was responsible for the care of the poor, incapacitated, elderly, and very young. For rural populations this is still largely true. In recent decades, underfunded state Government s, often with international help, have tried to create more jobs for the poor as a direct way of helping them. Beyond this, welfare organizations have helped, but they are largely private and often religious foundations with relatively little financing. The population in need of social welfare support is too vast for the facilities that are available, and these people are disproportionately concentrated in the cities. More...
Public holidays in most states include 1 january (Gregorian New Year), 26 january (Republic Day, when the constitution was adopted), 1 May (International Labor Day), 30 June, and 15 August (Independence Day), 2 October (Gandhi’s birthday), 25 december (Christmas), and 31 december (New Year’s Eve). Parsi New year and Telugu New Year, both locally celebrated, fall at different times. More...
Food in Daily Life. There is a wide variety of ethnic foods, including Italian, Japanese, French, and American. Most people, however, eat Cantonese-style Chinese food. Soups are especially important in most meals. A typical Cantonese food is dim sum, also known as yam chah, which is small snacks cooked in bamboo steamers. This meal is served seven days a week, and family members and friends often meet over tea on the weekend. Residents prefer
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In the cities, houses are made of store-bought materials (bricks, cement, etc.), and some of the homes of wealthy people are large and impressive. In the countryside, each ethnic group has a distinct architectural style. Most of the homes of poor rural people are made of local materials, with floors of packed earth, walls of adobe or wattle and daub, and roofs of clay tiles or thatch.
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Religious Beliefs. Almost all Hondurans believe in God and Jesus Christ, though sometimes in a vague way. In a traditionally Catholic country, many people have joined Evangelical Protestant churches. people usually keep their religious beliefs to themselves but Catholics may wear a crucifix or religious medal around their necks. Many people have a sense of divine destiny. Accidental death is attributed to the will of God rather than to a seat belt that was not buckled or another physical cause. The upper classes are still predominantly Catholic, while many
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Support for the ArtsThe bankrupt Government provides occasional token support for the arts, typically for dance troupes.Literature. Haitian literature is written primarily in French. The elite has produced several writers of international renown, including Jean Price-Mars, Jacques Roumain, and Jacques-Stephen Alexis.
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