The Encyclopedia of World Religions

muezzin S 303

world that signal its fallen nature. For the most part, though, mountains are looked at with religious awe as godlike or as “cathedrals of nature” that inspire VISIONS and a sense of wonder.

it is strictly followed in mosques. Mosques are not, however, without decoration. Preferred forms of decoration include geometrical figures and verses from the Q UR ’ AN written in calligraphy. Muslims consider some mosques to be espe cially sacred. These include the great mosque at Mecca, in the center of which stands the KAABA ; the mosque at Medina, the town to which the Prophet M UHAMMAD immigrated and where he and many of his early followers are buried; and the Dome of the Rock mosque built on the platform of the ancient Temple in J ERUSALEM . mountains and religion The religious signifi cance and role of mountains. Mountains have gen erally exercised a powerful hold on the religious consciousness. Representing places lifted up from the level of ordinary human life, they are the abode of gods, like the Greek Mount Olympus ( see G REEK RELIGION ); the place of divine revelation to human ity, like Mount Sinai where M OSES received the Law from G OD ; or locations where holy men go to practice austerities and gain spiritual power, like several of the sacred mountains of T IBETAN RELI GION and J APANESE RELIGION . They have also been places of WORSHIP and SACRIFICE . The environs of the holy city of J ERUSALEM contain two sacred moun tains, Mount Zion where the ancient temple was built and Mount Calvary where J ESUS was cruci fied. Muslims, as part of the PILGRIMAGE to M ECCA , stand for an afternoon on Mount Arafat, where the Prophet M UHAMMAD delivered his final sermon. In H INDUISM , B UDDHISM , and J AINISM , the world is said to be founded spiritually on Mount Meru, a mythi cal mountain with its roots in the underworld and reaching up through all the levels of reality to the HEAVENS . It is reproduced in many of the temples and pagodas of these religions. Because of their sacred importance and role as sites of spiritual training and realization, mountains have always been places of pilgrimage, from Mount Fuji in Japan to the sacred mountains of Arabia and Palestine. Occasionally, mountains have also been viewed negatively in religion, as the abode of demons and EVIL sorcerers, or as disruptions in the

mudras A Sanskrit word meaning “rings, signs, tokens.” In H INDUISM and B UDDHISM , mudras are postures of the hands and fingers that communi cate religious meaning. According to tradition, Hinduism knows more than 88 million mudras. The number of well known mudras is much more limited. Mudras are used in RITUALS , classical dance, and sculpture. Two examples are seen in the depic tion of the god S IVA known as Nataraja, “King of the Dance.” Siva holds the palm of his right hand toward the viewer, fingers and thumb up, signal ling “do not fear.” His left hand hangs down in a pose reminiscent of an elephant’s trunk. That image recalls Siva’s son, the elephant-headed god G ANESA . Buddhist rituals and sculpture use mudras, too. One common mudra in images of the B UD DHA is similar to the “do not fear” mudra described above. Another mudra shows the Buddha touch ing the ground. Through that action the Buddha demonstrated his resolve when he was tempted by M ARA . muezzin From the Arabic word mu’addhin; the person who issues the call to PRAYER in I SLAM . Mus lims make formal prayer to G OD facing M ECCA f ive times a day ( see SALAT ). Traditionally, the time for prayer is announced by a muezzin. He may stand on top of a pillar known as a minaret. Turning to the four directions, he intones the call to prayer in Arabic: “God is most great [four times]. I tes tify that there is no god but God [twice]. I testify that M UHAMMAD is God’s Messenger [twice]. Come to prayer [twice]. Come to SALVATION [twice]. God is most great [twice]. There is no god but God [once].” For the call to early morning prayer, the muezzin twice adds the statement, “Prayer is bet ter than sleep,” after the call “Come to salvation.”