Five Pillars: Why they are Referred to as Pillars of Islam

Investigating Islam essay
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Investigating Islam essay
The Five Pillars
According to (Waldo, 2013), Islam means “to submit to God” and is based on doctrines known as the Five Pillars. The five pillars of Islam refers to the religious duties that every Muslim is expected to perform. They appear throughout the Quran and were pointed out to serve as the anchoring points for all the Muslims. Muslims around the world observe the pillars, and they are believed to be a source of reward in the current life and the one to come.
The first pillar is the daily confession of faith (Shahada). It is the basic statement of faith for all Muslims as a person who cannot recite the statement is not considered to be a Muslim. According to (Smith & Worden, 2003), Shahada requires that a believer should testify in Arabic that “There is no god but God and Muhammad is his prophet.” By reciting this, Muslims agree that Allah is the only God who is supposed to be worshiped and that Muhammad is his prophet and that they will obey and live according to the commandments of the faith. For people to convert to Muslim, they must recite this statement wholeheartedly in the presence of three witnesses. Shahada is very central to the Muslim faith because it affirms the oneness of God and the essential role that Muhammad plays as the prophet.
The second one is called Salat which requires that Muslims pray five times a day. The prayers take place at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset and between the sunset and the midnight (Smith & Worden, 2003). The believers do not necessarily need to go to the mosque to pray but rather they should pray toward the Mecca. As a sign of submission to God, they bow down several times then kneel down and touch the ground with their foreheads.
Prayer is important to the Muslims as it sets the rhythm for the day. As they pray all around the world, the entire population around them establishes a mood of prayer. Also, prayer is a worship that unites the soul, mind and the body. Praying together in the congregation reminds them that humanity is one and that all people are equal before God.
Alms-giving is the third pillar. Muslims believe that everything they have belongs to God and that human beings hold it purely by a trust. The word Zakah is used to refer to purification meaning that the possession of the believers are purified when a proportion is set aside to help the needy in the society (Smith & Worden, 2003). As a result, Muslims are supposed to donate a certain amount of their property every year to charity work. Although Zakah is compulsory, people may give as much as they want voluntarily. Zakah is a way to obey God who is the owner of everything. They believe that no one can take anything from the world at the point of death hence the need to give what God has entrusted to them. It is also a way of acknowledging that whether one is poor or rich is God’s choice hence the need to help those that God has chosen to be poor. Giving frees one from the love of money and possessions.
The fourth pillar is fasting during the month of Ramadan (Sawn). (Smith & Worden, 2003), state that Ra...