The 'Five Pillars' of Islam are the foundation of Muslim life:
"There is none worthy of worship except God and Muhammad is the messenger of God." This declaration of faith is called the Shahadah, a simple formula that all the faithful pronounce. The significance of this declaration is the belief that the only purpose of life is to serve and obey God, and this is achieved through the teachings and practices of the Last Prophet, Muhammad.
Salah is the name for the obligatory prayers that are performed five times a day, and are a direct link between the worshipper and God. There is no hierarchical authority in Islam and there are no priests. Prayers are led by a learned person who knows the Qur'an and is generally chosen by the congregation.
Prayers are said at dawn, mid-day, late-afternoon, sunset and nightfall, and thus determine the rhythm of the entire day. These five prescribed prayers contain verses from the Qur'an, and are said in Arabic, the language of the Revelation. Personal supplications, however, can be offered in one's own language and at any time.
Although it is preferable to worship together in a mosque, a Muslim may pray almost anywhere, such as in fields, offices, factories and universities. Oftentimes visitors to the Muslim world are struck by the centrality of prayers in daily life.
A translation of the Adan or Call to Prayer is:
God is Great.
God is Great.
God is Great.
God is Great.
I testify that there is none worthy of worship except God.
I testify that there is none worthy of worship except God.
I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of God.
I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of God.
Come to prayer!
Come to prayer!
Come to success!
Come to success!
God is Great!
God is Great!
There is none worthy of worship except God.
An important principle of Islam is that everything belongs to God, and that wealth is therefore held by human beings in trust. The word zakah means both "purification" and "growth." Our possessions are purified by setting aside a proportion for those in need and for the society in general. Like the pruning of plants, this cutting back balances and encourages new growth.
Each Muslim calculates his or her own zakah individually. This involves the annual payment of a fortieth of one's capital, excluding such items as primary residence, car and professional tools.
An individual may also give as much as he or she pleases as sadaqa-h, and does so preferably in secret. Although this word can be translated as "voluntary charity" it has a wider meaning.
The Prophet said, "Even meeting your brother with a cheerful face is an act of charity." The Prophet also said: "Charity is a necessity for every Muslim." He was asked: "What if a person has nothing?" The Prophet replied: "He should work with his own hands for his benefit and then give something out of such earnings in charity." The Companions of the Prophet asked: "What if he is not able to work?" The Prophet said: "He should help the poor and needy." The Companions further asked: "What if he cannot do even that?" The Prophet said: "He should urge others to do good." The Companions said: "What if he lacks that also?" The Prophet said: "He should check himself from doing evil. That is also an act of charity."
Every year in the month of Ramada-n, all Muslims fast from dawn until sundown--abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations with their spouses.
Those who are sick, elderly, or on a journey, and women who are menstruating, pregnant or nursing, are permitted to break the fast and make up an equal number of days later in the year if they are healthy and able. Children begin to fast (and to observe prayers) from puberty, although many start earlier.
Although fasting is beneficial to health, it is mainly a method of self-purification and self-restraint. By cutting oneself from worldly comforts, even for a short time, a fasting person focuses on his or her purpose in life by constantly being aware of the presence of God. God states in the Qur'an: "O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed to those before you that you may learn self-restraint." (Qur'an 2:183)
The pilgrimage to Makkah (the hajj) is an obligation only for those who are physically and financially able to do so. Nevertheless, over two million people go to Makkah each year from every corner of the globe providing a unique opportunity for those of different nations to meet one another.
The annual hajj begins in the twelfth month of the Islamic year (which is lunar, not solar, so that hajj and Ramada-n fall sometimes in summer, sometimes in winter). Pilgrims wear special clothes: simple garments that strip away distinctions of class and culture, so that all stand equal before God.
The rites of the hajj, which are of Abrahamic origin, include going around the Ka'bah seven times, and going seven times between the hills of Safa and Marwa as did Hagar (Hajir, Abraham's wife) during her search for water. The pilgrims later stand together on the wide plains of 'Arafat (a large expanse of desert outside Makkah) and join in prayer for God's forgiveness, in what is often thought as a preview of the Day of Judgment.
The close of the hajj is marked by a festival, the 'Id al Adha, which is celebrated with prayers and the exchange of gifts in Muslim communities everywhere. This and the 'Id al Fitr, a festive day celebrating the end of Ramada-n, are the two holidays of the Islamic calendar.
While discussing the violence aspect of religious texts, Goldberg wrote,
"At one time or another all religions have been nasty. For all of the passages in the Koran that have been used to justify violence, one can just as easily find passages in the Jewish or Christian Bibles justifying violence. The difference is that Europeans and Americans, broadly speaking, no longer have the desire to use religion to justify violence. Vast numbers of Arabs, North Africans and East Asians still do. Our inquisitions are in the past, their inquisitions happen every day. Much of Muslim world simply lives in a different time than in the West. Oh sure, some of the big cities, with their cars and satellite dishes, may look modern. But their culture is horribly behind the times."
In other words, Goldberg is implying that people of Jewish and Christian faith may not take their respective religions quite literally. For many of them, they may accept their texts with a grain of salt. Unfortunately, for millions of people of Islamic faith, blasphemy is such a buzzword that it can trigger a violent outburst autonomously in no seconds.
Some analysts may blame this mindset as the main hindrance to progress in Muslim societies. The Hindus have their share of intolerance in the age-old inhuman caste system in the societal domain. Nevertheless, they are showing more and more signs of tolerance in their antiquated belief system. When an Indian artist of Muslim heritage drew a nude portrait of a Hindu Goddess who personifies art and education, there was an outcry in parts of India. But soon the controversy subsided and the artist is now alive and well roaming freely all over India.
What could have been the aftermath if the artist dared to enter the Islamic cultural space?
One of my friends of Hindu heritage told me an interesting story. He went to a Saraswati Puja a few months ago. The priest and his spouse were the guests of honor in the festivity. While the priest was busy performing the Puja, his spouse was utilizing the time chitchatting with some of the worshipers in a different room. The most incredible thing was utterances that came from the priest's spouse mouth. She said to the devotees, "Ram was a homosexual and Krishna was nothing more than a womanizer."
I asked my friend about the reaction of the devotees, whether they jumped to the priest's spouse to choke her to death.
My friend's reply was there was no negative outcome. It seemed as if nothing extraordinary happened in the Puja Mandap.
If you care to do an exegesis, you will observe that many of the educated Hindus are not apologetic of Krishna's philandering escapades. Some are even critical of Ram's social behavior especially when he subjected his spouse Sita to undergo a test of her marital fidelity by walking through an open fire. However, their critical scrutiny does not throw them into atheists' camp. Many of them still believe in the basic tenets of Hinduism. In a sense, they are quite tolerant as far as scrutinizing their faith is concerned.
The other day, I was watching "Mission Impossible," the movie on TV. In one sequence, the character played by Tom Cruise threw away a copy of the Bible from the computer table to the floor. He showed his casual approach to the "Holy book" as if it was just an ordinary book.
I do not know if any evangelical Christian group raised any outcry for showing such disrespect to the Bible. Can you possibly imagine what could have happened if it had been a Koran instead of the Bible?
The zealots could have burned the movie theater to the ashes. And don't kid yourself!
Let me also do here a short exegesis of Serrano's art that stirred a controversy as his expression of artistic freedom touched upon sacrilegiousness of the Christendom. Believe it or not, with the able help of American taxpayers' money, the National Endowment of Arts put the Serrano exhibit in New York City. The controversial art that drew criticism was Jesus in a bottle of urine.
Many of the US lawmakers expressed their outrage and disgust in congressional hearings. However, their opinion centered on not to get rid of the artwork, rather not to fund such "sacrilegious" artwork with American taxpayers' money. They therefore drew a line of distinction.
A similar situation arose in New York City again. The famous New York Museum of Modern Art had a display of African arts. One of the exhibits had been Mother Mary covered with the elephant dung. Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani understandably had boycotted the show; nevertheless, the exhibition was allowed to continue.
Imagine, what could have happened if both of these art works touched upon subjects relating to Islam! Many of the readers may remember the famous lawsuit of the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) against U.S. Supreme Court. The CAIR wanted to get rid of the frieze of Prophet Muhammad which was an important Supreme Court artifact. The Supreme Court's desire to keep the frieze of Muhammad, the Justice, prevailed. CAIR probably learned to be tolerant a little bit, I may say.
Let me now get to the final part of my brief exegesis on religious tolerance. A recent PBS documentary covered the linkage between Judaism and Christianity. The documentary showed a dramatization of Jesus Christ's circumcision. Jesus, a born Jew, ought to have been circumcised before third weeks of his birth. This ritual had been historically a social custom in Jewish community for thousands of years.
Many religious scholars find significant similarities between Islam and Judaism. It is as if the two religions are two sides of a coin. How male circumcision became part of Islamic tradition is a puzzle to many. There is no evidence that Prophet Muhammad's ancestors of the Quraysh tribe followed this ancient Judaic practice and there is no historical clue to support this notion. Yet, as male circumcision became part and parcel of Muslim social practices, many Muslims in South Asia even fondly call it Mussalmani or Sunnat.
Although Jesus Christ was definitely circumcised, most of the Christians of the western world did not embrace the ritual as part of their faith. Could these contrasting scenarios be the possible flight paths to probe another historic riddle?
Islam is a monotheistic,Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. The word Islam means "submission", or the total surrender of oneself to God (Arabic: الله, Allāh).An adherent of Islam is known as a Muslim, meaning "one who submits [to God]". The word Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islām is the infinitive. There are between 1 billion and 1.8 billion Muslims, making Islam thesecond largest religion in the world, after Christianity.
