1 Altareb, Belkeis, "Islamic spirituality in America: A middle path to unity." Counseling and Values, Oct 1996, Vol. 41 Issue 1, pp. 29-31

This article summarizes the concept of Islamic spirituality with emphasis on personal and community forms of worship. The author shows how integration of various realms (spiritual, social, moral, and individual) allows the Muslim person to live a peaceful life. In addition, he discusses the some of issues which indigenous Muslim American and immigrants Muslim American face. This article shows the how Muslim people, who follow specific life styles, are adjusting in America well.There is also good description of five pillars of Islam.

2 Bokhari, Farhan, "Moon sighting in cyberspace" Christian Science Monitor, Jan 10 2000, Vol. 92 Issue 33, pp. 9-10

This article is about the change of the signal of ritual of the end of Ramadan in Pakistan. Traditionally, the moon sighting was viewed by at least four adult Muslims, before the central Ruet-I-hilal (moon sighting) committee, would announce publicly that Eid could be celebrated. However, now people can check it from the internet and know that time is the end of Ramadan. He also discusses some of the issues of using technology instead of using the traditional method. This is a good primary source.

3 Bokhari, Farhan, "In Pakistan, few businesses dare to buck traditional Friday holidays." Christian Science Monitor, Sep 5 1996, Vol. 88 Issue 197, p8

He addresses the issue of Friday holiday in Pakistan. Some people believe that Friday is the holiest day in the Islamic week; therefore, people should not work. On the other hand, some scholars say that the Koran asks Muslims to shut down businesses only for afternoon prayers on Friday, after which they may return to work. This article discusses the two different arguments and this shows the problems of rituals in the contemporary world.

4 D'Alisera, JoAnn, "Naming ceremonies of infants among Sierra." Anthropology Today, Feb 1998, Vol. 14 Issue 1, pp. 16-21

This essay is based upon two years of fieldwork in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area among an ethnically diverse community of Sierra Leonean Muslim migrants. She discusses how the naming ceremony has been changed compared to traditional Islam way. Although she addresses the problems, which is loosing their traditional way, she does not talk about much about their tradition. Therefore, this article is helpful for examples of ritual changes in Washington based on her fieldwork.

5 Kaakaabaale, Aryantungyisa, "My Muslim friend." Campus Life, Jan and Feb 2000, Vol. 58 Issue 6, pp. 54-58

This article is about relationship between Kaakaabaale who is a Christian and Sarah who is a Muslim. As Kaakaabaale experienced Ramadan with Sarah, they started to understand and share their own religion. Primary, this shows how much joining ritual had an impact on Sarah’s understanding towards Kaakaabaale. Although Kaakaabaale does not focus on rituals of Ramadan, she address the importance of experiencing rituals in order to understand and enhance knowledge of Islam. This primary source helps me to discuss the importance of rituals not only for Muslims but also for outsiders in my paper.

6 Reuters, "In Gaza, fashion models break tradition." Christian Science Monitor, Mar 9 1995, Vol. 87 Issue 71, p13

This articles shows the difficulty of the issue between maintaining tradition and liberation. The main issue of this article is that by exposing women’s skin it is deemed as breaking Islamic tradition. This is a primary source because Atef Okasha, who was Organizers of Gaza’s first fashion show talks about obstacles of having to show in Islamic countries. I will be able to use this article as a challenge towards the problem of tradition in contemporary Islamic world.

7 Walt, Vivienne, "Village revolution." New Internationalist, Nov 1998 Issue 307, pp. 5-9 

This article is also about changing of tradition. The issue is ending female genital mutilation in Senegal. The female circumcision has been performed as a tradition and it is hard to persuade people to stop. In spite of religious practice,Senegalese President Abdou Diouf recently made his first declaration against female circumcision and it is now a crime punishable by six years in jail. But female circumcision still has its defenders. This is the actual case which shows the obstacles of ritual/tradition change and adaptation to the society.

8 Welsh, Stephanie, "A dangerous rite of passage." World Press Review, Oct 1995, Vol. 42 Issue 10, pp. 39-42

Female circumcision is performed in certain Muslim cultures in Africa. The issue in this article is the notion of female circumcision in Masai. Somali and other Muslim cultures circumcise around the age of seven to preserve girl’s virginity, but the Masai circumcise girls at puberty as an important initiation into the tribe. This article shows that Masai female circumcision seems to become more of a tradition without religious meaning. This article illustrates the girls struggle toward circumcision and it can be seen it from the feminist prospective.

9 "Temporary or mut'a marriage in Islam." Women's International Network News, Autumn 1997, Vol. 23 Issue 4, pp. 44-46

Shiites' view of mut'a marriage (temporary marriage) is a legitimate practice while Sunni Muslims condemn its practice. This article focuses on the debate over mut'a marriage in Islam. Not only can I see both of arguments clearly, but also it shows how both of sects of Islam see women in Islam differently. This article can also see from feminist perspective and discusses some of the problems of performing mut’a marriage. There is no list of countries, which has this problem, so I can only assume that this is a problem in Islamic country in general.

10 "Tragedy strikes Mecca's pilgrimage." Maclean's, Apr 20 1998, Vol. 111 Issue 16, pp. 27-28

Muslims are encouraged to make a pilgrimage. This article is about disasters during Hajj. Saudi authorities make an effort for security, but more than 150 people died in a stampede during the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. People threw pebbles at pillars as part of the ritual and as a result elderly people crushed underfoot and knocked off an elevated walkway. This information will not be focusing on Hajj, but this is a problem that people face and I can apply this when I discuss the Hajj in my paper.