preview

The Five Pillars Of Islam Essay example

Better Essays

The Five Pillars of Islam "La ilaha ila Allah; Muhammadur-rasul Allah," There is no god but Allah; Muhammad (PBUH) is the Messenger of Allah. This essential phrase in Islam is termed "Shahadah" which literally means "to witness" and is the first pillar of Islam. Any Muslim or any individual that wants to convert to Islam must recite and more importantly, must truly believe this statement. It is the first words that are heard through the ears of a newborn, and is stressed from thereon as soon as an individual is capable of rationale. It is stressed in prayer everyday, five times. The first part clearly illustrates the oneness of Allah, acknowledging His absolute superiority and power. By reciting this, one truly believes that only …show more content…

Knowing that this would be too much for the human race, Muhammad consults with Moses and eventually Allah (SWT) reduces fifty to five. In order to perform Salah, one must be in a clean state. A Muslim will perform ablution, termed “wudhu” in arabic, prior to prayer. The Salah is achieved through a term called rakah. The rakah refers to the physical prostration of the individual, and this is how the numerical count is kept. Salah diverges into different classifications. There is fard, sunnah, and nafl. The fard salah is compulsory. The sunnah salah is voluntary, yet was executed through tradition by the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), and therefore remains almost involuntary amongst most Muslims. The nafl salah is an optional extra prayer that brings about more reward for the individual due to its unnecessity. The five daily prayers are to be completed during their given time periods that are based on the lunar calendar. They can be delineated by their relative timings: morning prayer, afternoon prayer, mid-afternoon prayer, evening prayer, and night prayer. These times vary, once again, due to the respective lunar calendar. While the salah is compulsory amongst individuals of reason, there is flexibility to certain circumstances. An individual is excused of prayer during its timing if one is unable to do so, and is able to make it up later– this is called qada. Also, if someone is traveling a certain distance, they are

Get Access