In this chapter, I draw on an ethnographic study of the observation of ritual prayers performed by mosque participants in the light of the scriptural interpretation given by mosque officials. By focusing on the observation of ritual prayers in the Sultan mosque during Ramadan and on Friday, my aim is to posit that the distinctive ritual prayers of the mosque participants are deliberately constructed through the interplay between mosque officials and the royal authority. As discussed later, these particular ritual prayers reflect the different religious orientations in contemporary Bima.

The topic of prayer-leader and Islamic ritual prayer has attracted the attention of Islamic studies and historians on religion, while anthropological studies of Islam have focused on the non-Islamic elements in Muslim rituals. This chapter will provide a middle way by building on the research on ritual prayers across the Muslim worlds conducted by scholars such as Bowen (1989 and 2000), Parkin and Headley (2000), Bowker (2000), Mahmood (2001), Henkel (2005), Möller (2005) and Muhaimin (2006). Bowen (1989 and 2000) and Möller (2005) have pointed out that, although Islamic ritual prayer is the most important aspect of Islamic piety, it is still understudied. Bowen (1989) in particular has encouraged us to become more familiar with Islamic prayer. Parkin and Headley (2000) postulate that for Muslims ritual prayer is imbued with different meanings in different locations.

Mahmood (2001) has found that the divergent views on understanding ritual prayer among anthropologists are related to various ways of developing the discursive and practical conditions of authority and on variable concepts of personhood. She (2001: 828) concluded that the performance of ritual prayer among the mosque participants she studied was an important way by which they could construct their ‘intentions, emotions and desires in accord with orthodox standards of Islamic piety’. Examining the theological aspects, Mahmood (2001: 830) added that Islamic ritual prayer requires sincerity (Ar.: ikhlas) in the worship God and, by concentrating exclusively on God during prayer, it is an important practice in achieving a suitable humility (Ar.: khusyu’). After looking at the difference between ‘formal (conventional) and spontaneous conduct’, Mahmood (2001: 845) proposed the idea that among the mosque participants she studied in Egypt ritual prayer can be best analysed as a ‘disciplinary practice that complexly combines pragmatic action (that is, day-to-day mundane activities) with formal and highly codified behavior’.