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1.
Shahadah (Profession of
faith):
It means professing one-ness of
Allah and accepting Prophet Muhammad (SAW) as his
messenger to humanity. Professing one-ness of Allah and
accepting Prophet Muhammad (SAW) as God's final
messenger to humanity is done by saying and proclaiming
the following in Arabic:
“There is no God but Allah, and
Muhammad (SAW) is his messenger
2.
Salah
(Prayers):
The second pillar of Islam
is Salat, the requirement to pray 5 times a day
at fixed times during the day.[3]
The time of day to pray are at dawn, noon,
mid-afternoon, sunset, and night. Each salat is
performed facing towards the
Kaaba in
Mecca. Salat is intended to focus the mind on Allah;
it is seen as a personal communication with Allah,
expressing gratitude and worship. According to the
Qur'an, the benefit of prayer “restrains [one] from
shameful and evil deeds
3. Zakat -
Paying of alms (giving to the poor):
Zakat
or
alms-giving,
is the practice of charitable giving by Muslims based on
accumulated wealth, and is obligatory for all who are
able to do so. It is considered to be a personal
responsibility for Muslims to ease economic hardship for
others and eliminate inequality.
Zakat consists of spending 2.5% of one's wealth for the
benefit of the
poor
or needy, including
slaves,
debtors and travellers. A Muslim may also donate more as
an act of voluntary charity (sadaqah),
in order to achieve additional divine reward.
There are two main types of
Zakat. First, there is the kajj, which is a fixed amount
based on the cost of food that is paid during the month
of
Ramadan
by the head of a family for himself and his dependents.
Second, there is the Zakat on wealth, which covers money
made in business, savings, income, and so on.
In current usage Zakat is treated as a 2.5% levy on most
valuables and savings held for a full
lunar
year, as long as the total value is more than a basic
minimum known as
nisab
(three
ounces
or 87.48g of gold). As of 20 September 2008, nisab is
approximately
US$2,640
or an equivalent amount in any other currency.
4.
Sawm during Ramadan
(Fasting during
Ramadan):
Three types of fasting (Sawm)
are recognized by the Qur'an: Ritual fasting, fasting as
compensation or repentance
and voluntary (Nafil) fasting.
Ritual fasting is an obligatory act during the month
of
Ramadan.
Muslims must abstain from food, drink, and sexual
intercourse from dawn to dusk during this month, and are
to be especially mindful of other sins.
The fast is meant to allow Muslims to seek nearness
to Allah, to express their gratitude to and dependence
on him, to atone for their past sins, and to remind them
of the needy.
During Ramadan, Muslims are also expected to put more
effort into following the teachings of Islam by
refraining from violence, anger, envy, greed, lust,
harsh language, gossip and to try to get along with
people better than normal. In addition, all obscene and
irreligious sights and sounds are to be avoided.
Fasting during Ramadan is obligatory, but is
not obligatory in some cases, for several groups for whom it
would be dangerous or excessively problematic. These
include pre-pubescent children, those with a
medical condition such as
diabetes,
elderly people, and
pregnant or
breastfeeding women. Observing fasts is not
permitted for menstruating women. Other individuals for
whom it is considered acceptable not to fast are those
who are ill or travelling. Missing fasts usually must be
made up soon afterwards, although the exact requirements
vary according to circumstance
Many Muslims break their fast with a
date because it is claimed Muhammed broke
his
fast with a date.
NOTE: Shia sect
believe in addition to Jihad, Walayah is also a Pillar
of Islam -
Walayah
“Guardianship” denotes love and devotion to God, the
prophets, the imām and the
duˤāt "missionaries". In
Ismāˤīlī doctrine, God is
the true desire of every soul, and he manifests himself
in the forms of prophets and imāms;
the appointed
duˤāt lead believers to the right path. The Druze
refer to this pillar as Taslīm "Submission".
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5.
Hajj (Pilgrimage to
Mecca):
The Hajj is a pilgrimage that occurs during the
Islamic month of
Dhu al-Hijjah to the holy city of
Mecca, and derives from an ancient Arab practice.
Every
able-bodied Muslim is obliged to make the pilgrimage
to Mecca at least once in their lifetime if they can
afford it. When the pilgrim is around ten kilometers
from Mecca, he must dress in
Ihram clothing, which consists of two white sheets.
Both men and women are required to make the pilgrimage
to Mecca, as the Hajj is mandatory for both males and
females. After a Muslim makes the trip to Mecca, he/she
is known as a hajj/hajja( one who made the pilgrimage to
Mecca).
The main rituals of the Hajj include walking seven
times around the
Kaaba, touching the
Black Stone, traveling seven times between
Mount Safa and
Mount Marwah, and symbolically
stoning the Devil in
Mina.
The
pilgrim, or the Haji, is honoured in
their community. For some, this is an incentive to
perform the Hajj. Islamic teachers say that the Hajj
should be an expression of devotion to Allah, not a
means to gain social standing. The believer should be
self-aware and examine their intentions in performing
the pilgrimage. This should lead to constant striving
for self-improvement.
A pilgrimage made at any time other than the Hajj
season is called an
Umrah, and while not mandatory is strongly
encouraged.
See the scientific explanation of Prostration at
Prostration, a PP file
6. Jihad
(It is practicized to achieve the
objectives of 5 pillars. Majority accept only 5 Pillars)
:
Jihad (Arabic:
جهاد IPA: [ʤɪhæːd]),
an
Islamic term, is a religious duty of
Muslims. In
Arabic, the word jihād is a noun meaning
"struggle." Jihad appears frequently in the
Qur'an and common usage as the idiomatic expression
"striving in the way of
Allah (al-jihad fi sabil Allah)".[1][2]
A person engaged in jihad is called a
mujahid, the plural is
mujahideen.
Jihad requires Muslims to "struggle in the way of God"
or "to struggle to improve one's self and/or society.
Jihad is directed against
Satan's inducements, aspects of one's own self, or
against a visible enemy.
The four major categories of jihad that are recognized
are Jihad against one's self (Jihad al-Nafs),
Jihad of the tongue (Jihad al-lisan), Jihad of
the hand (Jihad al-yad), and Jihad of the sword./span>
Jihad is a term for struggle, or pursuit of a good
cause. It can connote the whole range of effort
necessary to promote Islam in both personal and social
life. Moreover even when it refers to military matters,
it need not primarily be offensive. The more ordinary
reason for going to war, in the Muslim view of past
history, was opposition that would have denied Muslims
the chance to practice or spread the faith of Islam.
Within Islamic belief, Muhammad (SWAS) is said to have
regarded the inner struggle for faith the "greater
jihad",
OOne famous hadith has the prophet saying: "We have
returned from the lesser jihad (battle) to the greater
jihad (jihad of the soul)."[9]
Muslim scholar Mahmoud Ayoub states that "The goal of
true jihad is to attain a harmony between
islam (submission),
iman (faith), and
ihsan (righteous living)."[10]
Greater jihad can be compared to the struggle that
Christians refer to as "resisting sin", i.e. fighting
temptation, doubt, disbelief, or detraction. The greater
jihad is about holding fast against any ideas and
practices that run contrary to the Muhammad's
revelations (Qur'an), sayings (Hadith)
and the examples set by how he lived his life (Sunnah).
This concept of jihad has does not correspond to any
military action.The primary aim of jihad as warfare is
not the conversion of non-Muslims to Islam by force, but
rather the defense of the Islamic state, the State
adapted Sharia as the ideological foundation for their
political institution.
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