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The Five Pillars Of Islam Essay

Decent Essays

Upon reading Sahih al-Bukhari, fortunately, the five pillars of Islam are actually seen outlined within the very first Hadith. The Five pillars, according to Traditions and Encounters, are a framework of obligations present to help form a unified Islamic community (p.263-264); Muhammad himself, in the 38th hadith, describes the five pillars as the baseline obligations of a Muslim to please Allah and enter paradise. The first Hadith states thusly, “Allah’s Apostle said: Islam is based on five [principles]: 1. To testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and Muhammad is Allah’s Apostle. 2. To offer the [compulsory congregational] prayers dutifully and perfectly. 3. To pay Zakat. 4. To perform Hajj. 5. To observe fast during the month of Ramadan.”
The first of the pillars or principles is, of course, to essentially proclaim Allah to be the one and only true God and that Muhammad is his disciple. Indeed, Muhammad pictured himself as being closest to Allah saying in the 13th Hadith, “I am the most Allah fearing, and know Allah better than all of you do.”
The second of these pillars is performing proper prayer. Going off of both the 38th and 33rd hadith, it would seem that this constitutes both praying 5 times a day and praying towards Mecca, or more specifically, the Ka’ba, or black stone.
The third pillar is to pay Zakat. Though, in Sahih al-Bukhari, none of the Hadith make direct reference as to what Zakat exactly, according to Traditions and Encounters, it

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