What are the five pillars of Islam and how do they reflect the important religious values of the Islamic culture?
Religion is an essential topic to study to understand people. Studying religion can teach us how other people think and the values that are important to them. The Islamic religion is the youngest and fastest growing of the world religions. It is also the newest and thus it is the most intriguing to study. It is most prominently found in regions of the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. One in every 5 people in the world is Muslim. The five pillars of Islam are the things one must do to be a good Muslim. The Qur'an presents them as a framework for worship and a sign of commitment to the faith. These Five Pillars of the Islamic faith are a good reflection of what Muslims value. Muhammad is the Prophet and founder of the Islamic faith and is known as the messenger of God. He said that Islam is “constructed on the five”, which have since come to be known as the Five Pillars of Islam.
The first pillar is an open testimony called Shahadah which is the repetition of the creed. This is the most popular of the religious practices in Islamic culture. This is where they confess their faith of Allah (God) in a few words that are known and understood by every Muslim no matter their status or educational background. The words repeated are; “La ilaha illa Allah; Muhammad rasul Allah” which means, “There is no God but God; Muhammad is the messenger of God.” This statement is the first heard by a newborn and the last muttered by a dying Muslim as their confession of faith. No other words are uttered as much as these and are recited daily and as often as a Muslim can by the most devout. They are repeated at a minimum of twenty times a day by a devout Muslim because they are a part of their daily prayer.
This statement is used as an act of affirming Allah to be the One, absolute, transcendent Creator, Lord and Master of all there is, this idea is known as tawhid. They are called to prayer by a muezzin, who is a mosque official who calls Muslims to prayer from a minaret five times a day where these words are also spoken. A warrior who fights in the name of God, mujahid speaks these words in battle, who become a witness and martyr or shaheed if killed. The words of Shahadah come from the Sunna and were established by Muhammad in the form that they are used today. Muhammad talks of rasul in the Shahadah which translates to “messenger”, talking of his mission. Muhammad is believed to have carried a message from God to man. These words are also seen repeated several times throughout the Qur’an to emphasize “there is no deity but He”. The Qur’an is a religious text read by Muslims, the word Qur’an literally means “the recitation”. This is the most important and most read book of this culture. It is known as the verbal divine guidance and moral direction for mankind. They value Allah above all. These well-known words are the most important for a Muslim to say and know by heart. It shows their devotion to God.
The second pillar of Islam is their Daily prayer, Salat. You are to pray five times each day. The acceptable times for prayer are dawn, midday, mid-afternoon, sunset and nightfall. This first time you are to pray is called Subh, when the sky is light but before sunrise. The next acceptable time for prayer is after the Subh which is given in the Sunna, it is the moment when a distinction can be made between a white and black thread. Next is called Zuhr which is after midday, when the sun is highest in the sky. Then ‘asr is between three o’clock and half past three in the afternoon. Maghreb is in the evening, after sunset, and the last time of the day to pray is called ‘isha’ and it is about one hour after sunset. The muezzins are people who call prayer simultaneously five times each day at the appropriate times to alert the people it is time to pray. Times for prayer vary with seasons and the change in the earlier or later sun. A muezzin is a volunteer who is educated in Islam. They believe that if a muezzin calls for God’s pleasure only and not for his own personal gain, he is declared “free of hell-fire”. Wherever a Muslim is and whatever they are doing they are to stop and pray when the muezzin men call. Once the muezzin men call, a set of recitations and responses take place between the caller and the faithful. The objective of the muezzin men is to gather men and women together to pray in a congregation because praying as a community is very important to them.
Being clean before prayer is also very important to them. They have cleansing facilities in the Mosque to clean face, hands, and feet. If no water is available, they use sand. The Mosques are divided into men and women sections; the two are to pray separately to avoid inappropriate physical contact. In many Middle Eastern countries prayer in Mecca is limited to men. Men usually pray together at the mosque, women usually are to pray at home. They face Ka’bah in Mecca, the most sacred site in Islam, when they pray. Prayer consists of thirteen separate movements. This is known as a physical act of Islam. Seven points are to be resting on the floor during this.
Friday is their holy day when they go to pray in a congregation during which the azan gives a thirty minute sermon. They stand in rows facing the Qubla (prayer niche), shoulder to shoulder, feet to feet, and hands held with their eyes on the place on the floor where their forehead will soon touch.
They do not pray to talk with God or to be in the presence of God but to perform the physical acts and spoken words. This ritual is served to concentrate body and mind on God without outside distraction to devout one’s self solely to him. Prayer is not random, but routine to teach discipline. They do not pray with something in mind but rather for that which comes after the outward prayer is performed and an “acceptable” prayer is accomplished. They see praying as the central act of righteousness and that on the first Day of Judgment they believe they will be asked of their record of prayer.
At the end of the prayer sequence, done in thirteen movements, the believer is then transformed to a state and may make du’a which is a supplication by God’s personal nature, along with other prayer formulas. Muslims believe that God will always answer their prayers; therefore praying will always be more beneficial than if they had never prayed at all. Praying is valued greatly in the Islamic culture.
Zakat is the third pillar of Islam. It means grow in goodness or ‘increase, ‘purifying’. So the act of giving Zakat means purifying ones wealth to gain Allah’s blessing to make it grow in goodness. It is the poor tax or almsgiving. Charity is very important to them. They are expected to share their possessions with the poor, widows, and orphans. This money also helps fund their religious institutions, scholars, and students. They are supposed to give 2.5% – 10% of one’s wealth after taxes, because of this they do not see begging as dishonorable. They use the same percent for rich and poor alike. It is a blessing both to receive and give alms although it is better to give so having the upper hand is better. The obligation to donate is spiritual rather than monetary.
The needy and those in difficult times are eligible to receive the Zakat. Uncles, aunts, cousins, and nephews can receive your donation but, mothers, fathers, children, and grandfathers cannot. During slave time it was also used to help them buy their freedom and fund hostile tribes that needed to be bought off. The tithe was based on agrarian and nomadic revenues back then and paid as needed. Today they collect donations and do volunteering services in the mosque, and the donations are kept private.
Zakat is distributed among 8 categories of people, asnaf, The first is Fakir, who is a person without material possessions nor means of livelihood. The Miskin people are those with insufficient means of livelihood to meet basic needs. The third is called Amil, who is appointed to collect Zakat. The fourth, Muallaf is someone who converts to Islam. The fifth eligible to receive is called Riqab who is a person that wants to free himself from bondage or the shackles of slavery. Gharmin is someone in debt and Fisabillillah is one who fights for the cause of Allah. Lastly Ibnus Sabil is a person stranded in journey. These are the types of people who can receive the Zakat.
Giving Zakat is an act of self purification by parting with something that one does not wish to give away. It also teaches discipline and obedience. Giving money to the poor is also believed to purify the remaining of your wealth, it is also to rid you of the guilt of having possessions that others do not. The idea of Zakat is to make the rich less envious of the poor. The more wealth you have the greater the alms you are expected to give. This act should also relieve the poor of the humiliation of receiving charity because they are receiving it from Allah, and thus blessing the donor. Charity is a valuable practice for both the receiver and the donor.
Sawm is fourth pillar and it is for fasting. It takes place during the lunar month of Ramadan which is known as the holiest month on the Islamic calendar so the time of the fast varies each year. Sometime it will fall in the summer when abstaining from drinking water is extremely tough. Unlike other religions, their fasting period is the longest and most stringent fast of other religions. They start the fasting with the new moon at the end of the previous calendar month of Sha’ban. During this month they believe ‘the gates of hell are closed while the gates of Heaven are open.’ These 29 days of the month become a nightly round of celebrations and family visits. It was during this month that Muhammad is believed to have received his first revelation which is now celebrated with a festival on the 26th called Lailet al-Qadr or the Night of Power. The fast concludes with a feast that lasts three days. The fast is broken by Iftar, a traditional evening meal. Then the meal that precedes the resumption of the fast at daybreak is called Sohour. The wealthy set up dining tables in the streets to feed the poor and at the end of Ramadan donations are given for Zakat. They believe Allah will pardon the sins of all who complete the fast.
Fasting lasts from dawn to dusk and after the Subh prayer and before the Maghred prayer. They signal the beginning and ending of the fast with a Ramadan Cannon in Cairo for example or street criers. The rules of the fasting are that no one is to let anything pass the lips; they cannot eat any food, water, or smoke a cigarette. The only exception to this is the sick, the traveling, pregnant or those during menstruation, but they are to make up for these days before Ramadan. Sexual acts are also prohibited during the daylight hours this month, and only husband and wife are to hold hands.
The purpose of the fast is to diminish the believers love and dependence for the world and its material things. It is a withdrawal from the world of flesh in preparation for death shown through the stages of the pilgrimage. The fast is to remind the well-fed of the suffering and create a place for the needy in their hearts. They “fast not with the stomach but with the heart”.
The last Pillar of Islam is called Hajj, the pilgrimage. This is their once in a lifetime obligation for everyone who is able to make the trip to Mecca. This city is very important to their culture; it was part of pre-Islamic Arab religion. It played a significant role in the early history of Islam because it is seen as the mythical site where Adam and Eve found each other after their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. It is believed that Adam then built the first Ka’bah in the Hijaz hills. God told him to build this house of worship and rest so he could redeem himself of sin. Later it was washed away by the flood.
It was also where Abraham offers his son for sacrifice following God’s instructions, to thank God for his mercy after the angel Gabriel’s intervention with the ram. Abraham then rebuilt the Ka’bah that was previously swept away in the flood. He added to the building a meteorite to the north-west corner which is now referred to as the Black Stone. The rituals that they practice today were determined during the first pilgrimage by Abraham and were performed in the presence of Gabriel. The legend then tells of Abraham giving way to the words of the Qur’an, which for a Muslim is fact. And two or three thousand legendary years later the city of Mecca was the birthplace for the Prophet who cleansed the Ka’bah of its idols upon the opening of the city to re-establish it as a shrine dedicated to the one and only Allah. The two cities are a symbol of the entire prophetic cycle from Adam to Abraham to Muhammad.
This spiritual pilgrimage represents a return to man’s physical and religious origins and recapitulation of the spiritual journey of man on earth and his struggles to reaching heaven. This journey is so important even the poor with no money at all find the funds to go and some use their whole life savings to make the trip to Mecca. Hajj takes place during a special month called Dhu al-Hijah on the Islamic calendar. It is during this month that people from all over arrive to the holy place of Mecca to be in the presence of the Sacred, facing the Ka’bah, so man’s life leads to death and to a corresponding encounter with the Divine.
Even before there was such thing as air travel the elderly and the sick would go on the long journey without expecting to return home, but to the devout Muslim no one could ask for a more blessed way to die than on the hajj to the beautiful place of Mecca. Outside of Mecca the pilgrims leave any sort of transportation used for the journey and walk the rest of the way. They wear simple apparel with no head covering and only the briefest of sandals so that the rich are not distinguished from the poor. Pilgrims are also supposed to abstain from food, drink, and sexual intercourse just as done during fasting. They are also not to cut their hair or nails.
Other sacred sites of Islam are visited while on the trip to Mecca such as the Zamzam Well, which is believed to have been created by Hagar and Ishmael. The cave of Hira, outside Mecca, is the place that Muhammad is thought to have received his Message. Another place visited during this time is the battle sites of Badr and Uhud where Muhammad defended his faithful from their enemies. Muslims will visit Muhammad’s place of birth and the first mosque built by the Prophet now containing his tomb to pay their respects to his grave.
There are six stages of the Hajj, first is al-haram this is when the believer performs a ritual to wash all the impurities of the world. Second is tawaf this is when the believer kisses the Black Stone, where one is to make a separation from the fast moving crowd. The third is called sa’y which is the repid walk to celebrate the search for water for Hajar’s son Ishmeal. On the ninth day of this month, the pilgrims will stand together in a congregation to tell of their deepest prayers. At Mina, where the Prophet utters his last words in public during his final pilgrimage, the pilgrims throw pebbles to the stone pillar representing Shaytan. Finally is the sacrifice of the animals.
Muslims are then to make the seven trips around the Ka’bah counter-clockwise and kiss the sacred black stone. During this walk one may pray or cry out the words labbayka allahumma labbayk, which means ‘at Thy service, O Lord, at Thy service’. On the tenth day a sacrifice will be made of sheep or even one’s own son to obey God’s command. The two cities are permeated with the mystic Baraka, which is a word to describe an atmosphere of grace, giving the cities the names of Mecca the Most Honored and Medina the Radiant. This pilgrimage is an outward manifestation of the believer’s faith and is seen as the way in the path of God, or jihad, one’s personal struggle between good and bad. When they return home they may attach the title Haji to their names so everyone will know they have fulfilled this religious obligation, valued and respected by all.
Within these five pillars of faith give we are given the many religious values of the Islamic culture. Shahadah is the most important of their values because it illustrates their devotion to Allah and the importance of having Him in their everyday lives. Salat shows how crucial prayer is to them and how the physical act of prayer will strengthen your life within God, for it is He who truly knows what you need. Zakat is their third Pillar putting a great emphasis on the necessity of charity and giving some of your wealth away to help the needy and give back to Allah who has given them everything. The annual fast of Sawm demonstrates that they value Allah over the material things of this world and reminding each other what really matters. Last of the Five Pillars is Hajj, their once in a lifetime Pilgrimage to visit the holy cities of Mecca and Medina where so many sacred events happened. These Pillars are essential in understanding the Islamic culture.
Endnotes:
Lewis M. Hopfe and Mark R. Woodward and Sarah Touborg. Religions of the World: Tenth Edition. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., 2007. Print.
Paul Grieve. Islam: History, Faith and Politics: The complete introduction. New York: Carroll and Graf Publishers, 2006. Print.
Unknown author; “What is Zakat?” http://www.zpub.com/aaa/zakat-def.html; The Zakat Society; Unknown Web. 4/13/2011
Unknown author; “The Five Pillars of Islam”; http://www.islamicity.com/Mosque/pillars.shtml; Islami City; Unknown; Web; 4/10/2011
Several Authors; Five Pillars of Islam; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Pillars_of_Islam; Wiki; April 12 2011; Web. 4/15/2011
