Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Schooling of the Mussulman Tats

It is mandatory for children from ages 6-11 to attend schooling. However most schools and classrooms are poorly structured, especially compared to our schools. The classes are separated by gender and the main subjects are on religion and traditional values rather than other subjects like math or history.

Prayers of the Tats

Not all Mussulman Tats are muslim, a very small part of the community are Christian. About 1% of tats practice christianity. Because they ares such a small group, very few people are willing to switch their religious views from Muslim to Christianity. Like all most Christian groups, praying is a major part of daily life. The Tats have a few major prayer points that i found on the Joshua Project website.
Prayers:
  • Ask God to raise up prayer teams who will begin breaking up the spiritual soil through intercession.
  • Ask God to grant wisdom and favor any missions agencies focussing on the Mussulman Tat.
  • Ask God to use the smaller number of Mussulman Tat Christians to share the love of Jesus with their own people.
  • Ask the Holy Spirit to soften the hearts of the Mussulman Tat towards Christians so that they will be receptive to the Gospel.
  • Ask the Lord to raise up strong local churched among the Mussulman Tat.

Clothing of the Tats

There is a rather strict "dress code" in the Mussulman Tat society. The females dress in a long skirt, wide trousers to be worn outside, a slim line dress, outer unbuttoned dress, a headscarf and moroccan stockings. The men dress in a Circassian coat and a high fur cap. The picture below is of muslim people dressed in what the Tats wear.
Men and Woman's clothing
Source: http://www.peoplegroups.org/explore/photos.aspx?country=RS





References

http://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/13896/AJ
http://www.peoplegroups.org/explore/groupdetails.aspx?peid=24078
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Azerbaijan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tat_people_(Iran)


There was very little information about this culture these were about the only sources of information I could find on the culture.

Monday, May 5, 2014

Tats and their Neighbors

I could not find any information on the diaspora of tats. Most Tats rarely associate with other tribes because they are a closed society. They only allow marriage within the tribe to maintain ethnic purity.

Birds of The Tats

I could not find birds that were specifically in the areas where the Tats live and that were important to their culture. However I was able to find birds that lived in the northern Iranian area.

Some of the birds in Iran:
Whoolly Stork
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolly-necked_Stork

  1. Storks
  • Large, long legged and necked birds with long bills.
    • Black Stork
    • Woolly-necked Stork
    • White Stork











   2. Ibises
  • Large terrestral birds. They have long wings and beaks, and they are very strong fliers.
    • Sacred Ibis
    • Glossy Ibis
      Glossy Ibis
      Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossy_Ibis
       
  3. Grouse
  • Game birds.
  • Caucasian Grouse
    Caucasian Grouse
    Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_Grouse


Tat Cosmos

There are three main religions within the Tat community, the Jewish Tat, Christian Tat and the Muslim Tat. The most popular religion within the tat population is the muslim religion. The Tats are also strongly faithful to the five essential pillars in Islam. Tose pillars are:

  1. A muslim must affirm that "there is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet." 
  2. Five times a day he must pray while facing Mecca.
  3. He must give alms generously.
  4. He must fast during Ramadan, the ninth month of the Muslim year.
  5. He must try to make at least one pilgrimage to Mecca in his lifetime.
  • http://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/13896/AJ
Mecca, the place that he must try to pilgrimage to is a city in Saudi Arabia. This city is so important because it was the birthplace of Muhammad and it is considered to be the holiest city in Islam.
The city of Mecca during a pilgrimage for the Hajj
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/worldnews/9628218/Millions-of-Muslims-gather-in-the-Saudi-city-of-Mecca-to-perform-the-Hajj.html
Some other non religious beliefs that the Mussulman Tats have are marriage within the tribe. They like to marry within the tribe to "maintain ethnic purity."(Joshua Project) They also are very passionate about defending their right to have a self govern society.