Odgraniczanie, Część 1: Wybrane behawioralne mechanizmy izolacyjne islamu

Abstract

This paper examines different mechanisms by which barriers of religion (treated as a evolving socio-cultural system) are established. The first part of the paper presents importance of selective isolation from outside ideologies combined with relative openness to outside resources for evolutionary success. These membrane-like properties of religion’s boundaries is presented by analyzing publications which circulate among Muslim minority in Poland. Some of the mechanisms, called behavioral here, restrain close relations between believers and non-believers and so prevent transmission of extraneous ideas identified as a shirk, but not constrain Muslims transmitting their own religious ideas to others. Most obvious is a separation in time and space of religious activities. Others regulations concern commensalism (sharing the table) and symposium (drinking together), intermarriage and close relations like friendship or voluntary cooperation.