FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM

 Five Pillars of Islam

Sharia prescriptions form the basis of Islam and are binding on all Muslims. The five pillars of Islam include Shahadah, Namaz, ROZA, Zakat and Hajj.

 

The five pillars of Islam are not listed in the Holy Quran: they got their fame from the hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. In order to do them and follow them, an inner spiritual initiation is required, as well as an external sign of intention (niyat). A very important requirement is the correct fulfillment of each of the five pillars of Islam.

SHAHADA

The testimony implies the utterance of the dogma that proclaims the principle of monotheism, which reads as follows: "Ashkhadu an-la ilaha illa Llah, wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan rasulu-Allah." and I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." The declaration of the testimony of faith contains recognition of the oneness of God and recognition of the prophetic mission of Muhammad ﷺ.

The emergence of the shahada is associated with a distinctive and prayer cry, which distinguished the first Muslims from polytheists, pagans, and other infidels. The testimony of faith was used as a battle cry during Muslim battles, and from this term came to the name of the concept "shahid", which means "martyr" and was originally used for warriors who with the testimony of monotheism on their lips died in hostilities against the enemies of Islam.

Islam believes that as soon as a person utters the shahadah with sincerity in his heart, he begins to be considered a Muslim, and from that moment he must comply with the regulations prescribed by the Koran and Sunnah.

Pillars of the Shahada

The testimony of monotheism has two pillars:

1.      1. Negation;

2.      2.  Confirmation.

The first pillar, "denial," means the denial of all false deities that people worship.

And the second pillar is the confirmation of the qualities of the divinity of Allah alone. This is indicated by many verses in the Qur'an. The Supreme Lord says:

"He doesn't believe in Tagta, but he believes in Allah, and he holds the most reliable handle that never breaks."

The Supreme Lord says: “Here Ibrahim told his father and his people:“ Truly, I have nothing to do with what you worship, except for the One who created me. Indeed, He will lead me on a straight path ”(Quran, 43: 26-27).

The Almighty Lord says: "This is because Allah is Truth, and what they worship besides Him is a lie, and also because Allah, the Exalted, is Great" (Quran, 22:62).

In these verses, everything that is false that people worship besides Allah is denied and the right to worship only the One Allah, the true deity, is confirmed. The testimony that Muhammad is the servant of Allah and His Messenger also consists of two parts, the so-called two pillars:

     1.       Recognition that Muhammad is a slave of Allah Almighty

1.                     2.  Recognition of the prophetic mission of Muhammad ﷺ.             

Understanding these two pillars leads to the correct relationship that Allah Almighty requires from us in relation to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Namely, without disregard for his rights, absolute obedience, and following him, without excess in honoring him.

The second pillar of Islam: Prayer

To perform a prayer (namaz) five times a day every day strictly at the time allotted for this is the duty of every adult Muslim in Islam.

 

Prayer is the greatest form of worship, which includes the exaltation of Allah, His praise (tasbih), supplication, reading the Qur'an, dhikr, bowing and bowing to the ground. The Almighty ordered Muslims to stand prayer in the same way as he prescribed it to previous prophets and their communities.

 

The Holy Quran does not give prescriptions as to how prayers should be performed, but there are indications of particular moments regarding the time and formulas of prayers, as well as those movements that should be performed in prayer.

The order of prayer was formed as a result of the imitative actions of the postures and movements performed by the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ on the part of the first Muslims. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ called on his ummah to pray as he was seen praying. There are a number of rules that govern the uniformity of prayer.

Prayer formulas and all the words of namaz are pronounced only in Arabic. The difference in prayer formulas may be due to the madhhab (legal school).

The daily prayer cycle includes five obligatory prayers (far):

1. Morning Prayer fajr; consisting of two rak'ahs and performed from dawn to sunrise;

      2. noon prayer zuhr; consisting of four rak'ahs, which occurs from the zenith to the moment when the shadow of the  becomes equal to the object itself;

      3. the evening prayer asr, consisting of four rak'ahs, which is performed in the period after the end of the time of noon prayer until the time when the sun begins; 

      4.evening Maghrib prayer; which consists of three rak'ahs and is performed between sunset and dark 

      5night prayer isha; which consists of four rak'ahs and takes place from late evening until midnight.

      In some cases, midday prayer can be combined with evening prayer, and evening prayer can be combined with night prayer. It is forbidden to pray exactly at noon and immediately at the time when sunrise and sunset occur

 

In addition to ritual prayers, a Muslim has the opportunity to address Allah Almighty through dua (prayer), which can be pronounced in any language and at any time of the day. Namaz can be performed both individually and collectively in a special place that is suitable for performing it.

Friday juma namaz has a special social significance and should be performed in a mosque, Muslims listen to the imam's sermon, and then perform a collective prayer.

 

Muslims perform not only obligatory but also voluntary prayers, which also belong to the category of godly ones.

The third pillar of Islam: the obligatory donation of Zakat.  Zakat is a charity or tax of 2.5% for one year, which is paid from their property to those Muslims in need. According to the interpretation of the faiths, the term “zakat” is interpreted as “cleansing from sin”.

Meccan suras interpret zakat as a blessing or charity, the provision of material assistance. If a Muslim is unwilling to pay zakat, then this is a grave sin in Islam and may even be considered apostasy. Zakat is paid by capable Muslims, and during the year the sums collected in this way are spent only in the district where they were collected. Received zakat: the poor, the collectors of zakat, the poor, the students, travelers who do not have the means to return home, those who deserve encouragement, and a number of other categories and individuals.

The fourth pillar of Islam: Fasting. Fasting, called Uraza among the Turkic peoples, is performed in a certain lunar month - Ramadan. Allah Almighty established the obligatory fasting of Ramadan for Muslims in the 624th year. The very tradition of fasting dates back to pre-Islamic times, as you know, fasting was imputed to representatives of Christianity and Judaism. In the Qur'an, Allah Almighty addresses the believers "O you who have believed! Fasting has been prescribed for you, just as it was prescribed for your predecessors - perhaps you will be intimidated." (Al-Bakara (Cow), 183rd ayah).

The Holy Quran prescribes fasting, like the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Fasting lasts twenty-nine or thirty days, the fasting time begins at dawn (Suhur time) and ends after sunset (Iftar period). The essence of the rite of fasting is to abstain from eating and drinking during daylight hours, to abandon intimate marital relations, as well as from everything that can distract from piety. All these prohibitions are lifted as soon as the sunsets. The night during fasting is used before reciting the Qur'an, performing the additional collective Taraweeh prayer and the Tahajjud night prayer and meditating on the eternal. Throughout the month of observing the Ramadan fast, one should do as many godly deeds as possible, give alms and settle quarrels. All adult Muslims who adhere to the principles of the faith of Islam must observe the fast, and if a person for some reason cannot observe fasting, for health reasons, or a person is not able to take responsibility for his actions, then such people are exempted from observing it. This category of people includes lactating and pregnant women, the elderly. Women during menstruation also do not observe fasting.

The fifth pillar of Islam: Hajj  Hajj or pilgrimage is every Muslim's dream. Every believer dreams in his life to make a pilgrimage to Mecca, where the Kaaba is located - the main shrine of Islam, and Medina, where the grave of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is located. The Kaaba was built during the life of the prophet Adam, then during the flood, it was destroyed, after which it was restored by Abraham (the prophet Ibrahim) together with his son Ismail. The tradition of making a pilgrimage dates back to the time when the prophet Ibrahim lived, even before Islam, the ancient Arabs made a pilgrimage to her.

In the form in which the Hajj exists today, it was formed already during the time of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ himself made his only pilgrimage in his life in 632, which was called “farewell”.

For every Muslim, the Hajj is a duty, and if a person is not able to perform the Hajj himself during his life, then he should send his deputy to make the pilgrimage. Women can go on Hajj only when accompanied by a man. It is prescribed to perform the Hajj in the month of Zul Hajjah according to the Islamic calendar, is two months and ten days after the end of Ramadan. Hajj consists of certain rituals.

Hajj gathers in Mecca every year more than ten million pilgrims come to this city from all over the world. This event strengthens Muslim unity and strengthens ties. During the Hajj, pilgrims of all classes and income levels wear the same white garment or ihram. According to Islam, if a Muslim performs the Hajj correctly, it removes all his sins from him.

After the end of the Hajj, Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha   or Eid al-Adha, which is one of the main holidays in Islam.