UNRAVELING THE UNNOTICED: A CASE STUDY OF COMMUNITYBASED MASJID AS AN INSTRUMENT OF SOCIAL CONTROL

Abstract

This ethnographic study explains the social organization of a community-based masjid, located in a rural area on the northern border of Pakistan. The particular focus is on the manner the community-based masjid contributes as an agent of social control in immediate surroundings. Lesson class for religious education of young boys and namaz-e-jumma (Friday congregational prayer) are identified as two main mechanisms for maintaining social control in the masjid and beyond. It is argued that while the image of masjid is presented negatively in scholarly discourse, media and western world in particular, it has important contribution in betterment of social structure and orderly functioning of overall society. The religious lesson class contributes internal control by instilling the values and beliefs of faith while namaz-e-jumma contributes towards external control by strengthening the bonds and attachments among participants and to their community. This way the masjid contributes towards maintenance of informal social control in local setting and an effective tool of formal control. Further empirical research, such as found in this article, is needed for highlighting contributions of the masjid and its role in maintaining order in local community.