Islam is characterised by a number of inner dualities and oppositions of practice and belief. In its attempt to squash the influence of animism and pantheism or polytheism and to promote the idea of the One and Only Absolute God, Islam has come up against a tendency within itself to incorporate certain local religious traditions and practices. Islamic Prayer shares this combination of universality and local particularity. This book explores this paradox and the contradictory tendencies contained in it.