Arghun in Pakistan

Introduction / History

The Argon (or Arghun) derive their name from the Persian term arghwani, meaning beautiful red color.

What Are Their Lives Like?

Women enjoy high status, being entitled to inheritance. A particular kind of skirt is the sign of a married girl. After a death, the dead body is given a bath, a funerary prayer is performed, and the dead body is laid to rest. A ritual (jib hoo) is performed on the fortieth day after a death when verses from the Quran are recited.

What Are Their Beliefs?

They belong to the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam. Thus, they believe that the supreme God, Allah, spoke through his prophet, Mohammed, and taught mankind how to live a righteous life through the Koran and the Hadith. To live a righteous life, you must utter the Shahada (a statement of faith), pray five times a day facing Mecca, fast from sunup to sundown during the month of Ramadan, give alms to the poor, and make a pilgrimage to Mecca if you have the means. Muslims are prohibited from drinking alcohol, eating pork, gambling, stealing, slandering, and making idols. They gather for corporate prayer on Friday afternoons at a mosque, their place of worship.

The two main holidays for Sunni Muslims are Eid al Fitr, the breaking of the monthly fast and Eid al Adha, the celebration of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son to Allah.

Sunni religious practices are staid and simple. They believe that Allah has pre-determined our fates; they minimize free will.

In most of the Muslim world, people depend on the spirit world for their daily needs since they regard Allah as too distant. Allah may determine their eternal salvation, but the spirits determine how well we live in our daily lives. For that reason, they must appease the spirits. They often use charms and amulets to help them with spiritual forces.

What Are Their Needs?

The Arghun people need to accept the warm embrace of the only Savior so they can enjoy spiritually meaningful lives.

Prayer Points

It is quite unlikely there are any followers of Jesus today among the Arghun community, in either Pakistan or India. Pray for workers and pray for softened hearts.

Please pray the Arghun communities of Pakistan and India will be given a growing interest in Jesus the Messiah, or Isa, as he is known in the Koran.

Pray they will captivated by Jesus and that he will draw these people into a community-wide movement to himself.

Text Source:   Joshua Project