Local traditions and Islamic tradition: The dynamics of a conflict seen through the study of a specific case: Funeral rites in a Shfcite village in South Lebanon

In the wake of fifteen years of ‘war’ in Lebanon, the gap between the different religious communities which make up Lebanese society seems to have become unbridgeable. However, through the study of shared traditions, anthropological investigation reveals the existence of a common basis of custom. Similarities in lifestyle and manner of life are all the more apparent in that these communities are united by a common identity (in this case rural), even if at certain times of polarization the likenesses are ignored, and even denied. Detailed research into the funeral rites as practised in a Shi^cite village in Lebanon today, together with a comparative study of those in a Christian village in the same region, bring to light the fact of a shared way of living and an identical attitude in the face of death.