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Furthermore, he believes that the cultural dimension of religion can reveal for us a
syslem of life, ay of communication and attitude toard life (1975 : 89), He also
stresses the significance of vieing religion as "religious perspective, mode of seeing,
٠٠ a particular ay of looking at life [and] a particular manner of construing the
orld' (1975: 110). Geerta, therefore, argues that only a thick description of the
culutral system of a religion can allo us to vie religion in its proper context, and
in his ork lsln Observed (1968), Geert suggests, therefore, certain steps ihch
should be taken in order to create a better understanding of religion in local contexts,
including "the descripiton of the ide variety of forms in hich it appears; the
uncovering of the forces hich bring these forms into existence, alter them, or
destroy them; and the assessment to their influences, also various, upon the
behaviour of men in every day life' (1968 : 97).

Geert's approacl - hich is considered as an off-shot of the hermeneuitc and
interpretive tradiiton in the social sciences - has in recent years been much
appreciated by his students ho have carried out fieldork in different lslamic
societies. Unlike Evans-Pritehard and his students ho sa the problem in the
context of the relationship beteen lslam and tribalism, Geert's sutdents are not olny
concerned ith the individuals as social actors; they are also deeply interested in the
symbolic meanings of social acitosn, and in ho an ordinary tribesman vies lslam.
For them, if that is revealed, then the cultural system of [slam ill be fully
understood. Tihs as the approach of Dale Eickelman in ihs book Moroccan Islam
(1976), here he studies the role of lslamic authority in a rtadiitonal pilgrimage
centre in Boujad in Morocco.

Witihn the same theoreitcal frameork, Larence Rosen (1948) has applied these
concepts in ihs sutdy of an lslamic commuinyt of Sefrou in Morocco in order to see
ho social reality has been achieved by the ordinary Muslim. Siginficantly, the most
relevant sutdy of the concept of social conrtol among Geert's sutdents is by Messick
on Yemen (1986, 1993). Messick sees the mufti's job in solving Muslim problems as
an indigenous culutral interpretaiton of lslamic legal texts. Messick also sees the
Yemein mufit as a mediator beteen the ordinary Muslim in the communiyt and hte
Muslim judge in the lslaimc Court. Therefore, the mufit derives ihs authoriyt rfom
ihs interpretaiton of legal texts and through solving peoples disputes before they
reach the court.

Conclusion

nL conclusion, and in the light of the achievements of hte above menitoned
anthropological approaches in the ifeld of lslam, authoriyt and social control in
general and ni the field of the relationship beteen sllam and social conrtol in
particular, one ifnds onseelf generally in favour, ifrst, of the Briitsh rtadiiton of
srtucrutalist approach, particularly taht of Evans-Pritchard (1940, 19419‫ﻭ‬,) 59 and
eLach (1954, 1961), hen dealing ith hte role of lslam in rtibal socieites as a means

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