James Smith

World Religions
Wayne-Daniel Berard
5 Pillars of Islam

The 5 Pillars of Islam are very important to many who are

firm believers in the Muslim faith. The Pillars help guide
followers especially in times of need but also just in daily life.
They are the guide and source of inspiration for Muslim followers
the entire world.
The first Pillar is the Shahadah, which in short means, There is
no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger. It is one of the
most basic statements of the Islamic faith and the feeling is that any
Muslim who cant recite it is not truly a Muslim. When stating this Pillar
Muslims are also relaying that Allah is the only God, and Muhammad is
his prophet, and that they will follow all of the Islamic commitments in
their life wholeheartedly. This Pillar has the Muslims proclaiming their
commitment to the faith.
The second Pillar is Salat, which are the mandatory prayers,
which are supposed to be done 5 times daily. This is what God ordered
and they are supposed to be done at dawn (before sunrise), midday
(after the sun passes its highest), late afternoon, just after sunset, and
between sunset and midnight. This is an integral part of the religion
and sets the rhythm for their day. It shows how committed they are to
their faith in this ritual which is over 1400 years old. The idea is the
prayer unites the body, mind, and soul in worship not only prayers to
be spoken. These prayers are so important and help Muslims with
many things including finding their inner peace.

The third Pillar is called Zakat, and it is the compulsory giving of

a ones finances to charity. It helps Muslims with self-purification and
giving to others. The goal of each Muslim giving 2.5% percent of their
earnings is done to benefit the poor and less fortunate. Not only does
this benefit many people but teaches the people giving many lessons
including learning self-discipline, trying to avoid greed and the love of
money, avoiding a big ego, and behaving honestly. This Pillar is
beneficial to everyone and shows Muslims in a very good light.
The fourth Pillar is called Sawm, and is the fasting during
Ramadan, which is the ninth month of the Islamic Calendar. Muslims
are supposed to obtain from food, drinks, smoking, and sexual activity
during the hours of daylight during Ramadan. It is not required by all
and can be hard for some to follow and continue to be productive in
their lives. Many Muslim followers fast to the best of their ability and
clearly show commitment to the religion by doing such a hard thing.
They learn to obey God, self-discipline, grow stronger in faith, share in
fellowship with others, sympathize with the poor, and many other
reasons. This Pillar shows Muslims unwavering commitment to their
faith and may be the hardest part of being true to this religion.
The final and fifth Pillar is the Pilgrimage to the Hajj. This
happens once a year when Muslims from all over the world gather in
Mecca and praise Allah in unison. It is done to show the bonds of
Islamic togetherness and to show that everyone is equal in the eyes of

Allah. The journey to the Mecca is something Muslim adults are

supposed to do at least once in their lifetime if financially and
physically able. This Pillar shows the unity of the Islamic faith
undoubtedly.
The Muslim faith often gets misconstrued with ISIS and terrorism
because some people of the Muslim faith have committed terrorist acts
before. This gives the Muslim faith sometimes a bad stereotype when
in reality most of the millions of Muslims around the world are good
people that dont commit terrible acts. An example would be when we
visited the Islamic Society of Great Worcester. Everyone including the
higher-level people at the place were extremely welcoming and kind.
They clearly practiced the Muslim faith as they are supposed to and all
seemed like very good people who would be positive members of our
society.