A Comparative Study of Niḏr as Practiced by Lebanese Christians, Muslims and Druze

This study analyzes the popular custom of making a niḏr, a special religious vow in Lebanon made when people are confronted with crises. The study is based on observations and questionnaires as well as interviews with both supplicants and clerics. The fieldwork included observations at the main religious shrines in Lebanon and Syria visited by Lebanese supplicants; interviews with clerics at these shrines as well as with major religious leaders of each sect; and open-ended interviews and questionnaires to supplicants at these religious shrines, in several village communities in Lebanon and among students at the American University of Beirut during 1993.