Worship

The Legal History of Worship in Islamic Law

This section provides an overview of Worship in Islamic Law

Worship, Services, Mass

From the book The Clergyman’s Hand-book of Law, about Worship, Services, Mass (1): Any act of adoration, reverence, praise, thanks, honor, or veneration given to God, is religious worship.44 A Sunday-school where the Bible was read and a hymn sung and a state temperance camp-meeting where a prayer was said and hymns were sung, were held to be places of divine worship.45 But a priest’s house where he had a room fitted up for a chapel, was held to be not a place of worship.46 It is very difficult to draw a line-no matter what curves you may give it-between the Protestant system of worship, which consists of the reading of the Bible, the singing of hymns, and the reciting of prayers, and such services in the public schools. Also, there would seem to be no legal difference between a prayer said or a hymn sung by a Catholic and a Protestant. As we have no established church in this country, we have no standard for prayers, hymns, or music.47

More solemn and impressive than her prayers adapted for schools is the Mass of the Catholic Church, defined thus: “The Mass is the unbloody sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ.”48 It is defined in 26 Cyc, 940, as follows: “A religious ceremonial or observance of the Catholic Church;49 a Catholic ceremonial celebrated by the priest in open church, where all who choose may be present and participate therein;50 the sacrifice in the sacrament of the Eucharist or the consecration and oblation of the Host.”51

Worship, Discipline, Innovations

From the book The Clergyman’s Hand-book of Law, about Worship, Discipline, Innovations (1): The denomination itself, according to its rules and regulations, determines what services shall form a part of its public worship. The inferior authority in the church has no right to violate the discipline by innovations. Whether or not devotional singing may be accompanied with instrumental music, must be determined by those who administer the discipline of the church.550

Resources

Notes and References

1. Charles M. Scanlan, The Clergyman’s Hand-book of Law. The Law of Church and Grave (1909), Benziger Brothers, New York, Cincinnati, Chicago

See Also

• Religion
• Church

Resources

Notes and References

1. Charles M. Scanlan, The Clergyman’s Hand-book of Law. The Law of Church and Grave (1909), Benziger Brothers, New York, Cincinnati, Chicago

See Also

• Religion
• Church

Resources

See Also

• Legal Biography
• Legal Traditions
• Historical Laws
• History of Law

Further Reading

• Worship in Islamic Law in the Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History (Oxford University Press)
• The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Political and Legal History (Oxford University Press)
• Worship in Islamic Law in the Dictionary of Concepts in History, by Harry Ritter
• A Short History of Western Legal Theory, by John Kelly