What do scholars mean by #Ritual and how do they study it?

What it means to describe “ritual” as “meaningful action” is focusing on what it does, not the repetition of it. It is the making of different practices, not the practices themselves. For instance, most Muslims practice Hajj which is meant to concentrate on your mind, body, soul, and experience. The description of ritual can often be defined as “a thing”, but the ritual is the multiple practices people do which I think is important to keep in mind. It could even be described as “art” because of the performance of some rituals. Analyzing some of my own actions, I noticed that instead of having a certain time to pray every day, I say short prayers at a different time each day.

This is a “meaningful action” for me because I know I am still practicing my religion even though I am not setting the same time every day to do so. It is not a “meaningful action” because I am praying, it is meaningful because I know I am doing something that is benefiting my mind and soul. I can relate to the podcast discussing Hajj that Muslims practice. I think the main takeaway of this lesson is rituals should not only be looked at as rituals, they are more than just the actions of people who practice them. The word “ritual” alone is also not as basic as it may sound. They do so much more for you mentally and spiritually.