The significance of religion and concepts of al‐ghaib (the invisible and unknowable) and sanctity in a materialistically oriented and globally dominant and changing world has been a nexus of current debates in Orthodox Islam. The concept of al‐ghaib is a fundamental principle in Islamic theology; however, it has a profound impact on Muslim’s daily lives. Thenceforth, this study focuses on the concepts of al‐ghaib, or invisibility, sanctity, and imagination, as reflected in ordinary Muslims’ views and key practices aimed at disclosing the unknown and unseen. This article presents an anthropological holistic insight incorporating objective description and subjective interpretation and as such comprises a phenomenological hermeneutic inquiry. Drawing on ethnographic studies conducted in communities belonging to Bahrain (predominantly Shi‘a) and Egypt (predominantly Sunni), this inquiry aims at exploring the relationships between the Islamic sacred conviction of al‐ghaib and everyday practices of Muslim communities. These ethnographic accounts are examined and compared with scholarly literature and cross‐cultural materials.

中文翻译：

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al-Ghaib的关键：跨文化研究

在以物质为导向，全球主导和不断变化的世界中，宗教和al-ghaib（无形的和不可知的）和神圣性的重要性一直是东正教伊斯兰教当前争论的焦点。al-ghaib概念是伊斯兰神学的基本原则。但是，它对穆斯林的日常生活产生了深远的影响。此后，本研究重点关注al-ghaib的概念，或隐性，神圣性和想象力，反映在普通穆斯林旨在公开未知和看不见的观点和主要实践中。本文提出了一种人类学的整体见解，结合了客观的描述和主观的解释，因此包括了现象学的诠释学探究。利用在属于巴林（主要是什叶派）和埃及（主要是逊尼派）的社区中进行的人种学研究，该调查旨在探讨伊斯兰教徒对al-ghaib的神圣信念与穆斯林社区的日常习俗之间的关系。这些人种学资料经过检查，并与学术文献和跨文化材料进行了比较。