The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2203 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
2.66Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
, who sought to identify comparable spiritual and cosmological principles underlying all the great religions; and through the work of Frithjof Schuon.
Shadkhan
.
Jewish
marriage
broker. Traditionally all marriages were arranged in Judaism.
Shadow-boxing
:
Shadow theatre
:
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
.
Babylonian names for Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, the three Jewish exiles who were cast into the fiery furnace for their refusal to worship idols (Daniel 3).
Shaf
‘a
(Arab.,
shafa‘a
, ‘double, repeat a prayer’).
Intercession
in Islam. The
Qur’
n
insists that no intercession will be possible on the
Day of Judgement
, which will evaluate a strict balance of good and evil works. However, the efficacy of
Mu
ammad's
intercession becomes a matter of
ijma‘
(agreed belief by consensus), making him something much closer to a redeemer. To Mu
ammad were then added many other intercessors, e.g. angels and martyrs (
shah
d
), and, among the
Sh
‘a
,
Im
ms
(especially for
Ithna ‘Ashariy(y)a
,
al-Mahd
), and
F
ima
.

Other books

The Night Crew by John Sandford
Nightwing by Lynn Michaels
Thief of Lies by Brenda Drake
Have Gown, Need Groom by Rita Herron
Dios no es bueno by Christopher Hitchens
Kite Spirit by Sita Brahmachari
Foundation And Chaos by Bear, Greg