Contractual prayer of Christians and Muslims in Lebanon

One perspective from which to view Christian‐Muslim relations is to analyse beliefs and practices shared by Christians and Muslims in a particular culture. This paper analyses contractual prayer as practised by many adherents of the four main religious sects of Lebanon: Sunni and Shi^cfa Muslims and Maronite and Orthodox Christians. Contractual prayer (nidr in colloquial Arabic) is a prayer of petition addressed to the supernatural in which the petitioner couples a request with a conditional promise. Many similarities in the practice are attributable to inherent limitations of this type of prayer, to common human concerns that are expressed in the requests made, and to shared perspectives on gender and other cultural norms. Significant sect‐specific differences are most apparent regarding the supernatural being to whom the request is addressed, the nature of the conditional promise, and the manner and extent to which the practice is institutionalized.