"There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah."
Islam has five so-termed Pillars of Faith or rules to which all Muslims are obligated to fulfill.
The Five Pillars of Faith include the affirmation of Allah's supremacy as well as four
exercises of this faith. In this regard the Five Pillars of Faith may be seen as a
creed that integrates the spiritual and earthly needs of humans, while connecting
these with the eternal and the divine.
The Five Pillars of Faith
The Shahada or Declaration of Faith
The first rule is the
declaration orShahada:"there is no god but (Allah) and that
Mohammad is his messenger."
Prayer
The second rule is the commitment to prayers (Salat) five times a day: at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset and evening.
Prayer is accompanied by prescribed rituals of washing, prostration and the recitation of verses while facing
Mecca. The commitment to prayer includes congregational prayer every Friday at noon at a mosque or building for
congregational prayer. The word mosque is derived from the Arabic masjidmeaning "a place
for prostration."
Sawmor Fasting
The third rule is Sawm,namely, to fast
from sunrise to sunset during the month of Ramadan. Ramadan
falls during the ninth month of the lunar Islamic calendar. During the period of fasting and prayer Muslims are not permitted
to eat, drink engage in sexual intercourse or pleasurable activities from sunrise to sunset.
In refraining from food or drink and in meditation and prayers, Muslims thus personally experience
the rigors of suffering, thirst and hunger of those less priviliged than themselves.
This period concludes with Idal-fitr or the Fast-ending celebrations.
Zakat
The fourth rule is payment of one-fortieth of one's annual wages toward
charities to aid the poor.This payment is known as Zakat.
The Pilgrimage or Hajj
The fifth rule is to go on a pilgrimageto Mecca
during the twelfth Islamic month of Dhu-'I-Hijjaat least once in a life-time. The Hajjmay only be performed during the twelfth month. Pilgrimages performed at
other times are known as lesser pilgrimages.
The Ka'ba |
The ritual of the pilgrimage to Mecca is connected with
Abraham (Ibrahim) and the square where the black stone of the Ka'ba is located. According to Islamic belief, Allah instructed Abraham and his son Ishmael (Ismail) to build a place of worship
at this location. Prior to Islam, the site was a sacred place housing several deities. After
630 CE Muhammad rededicated this shrine to Allah. The central structure is a black cubical edifice
in the Haram Mosque in Mecca. Each year several million pilgrims from all over the world come to the square. The sacred black stone is l
located in the southeast corner of the Ka'ba. Pilgrims perform the ritual seven circumambulations
after which they go through the gate of al-Safa. They then perform the run between the two low hills of al-Ssafa and al-Marwa in a re-enactment of Hagar's search for water for her son Ishmael. Pilgrims must run this course seven times as part of the
preliminary observances.
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