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Worship through action: The five pillars
Islam is real-life-orientated. There is no benefit in a proclaimed faith which does not translate into action. Worship in Islam is everything that is done with the intention to serve and please Allah. Before we begin offering additional voluntary service, however, there are some prescribed actions, Allah demands from us. These are traditionally known as the five pillars on which the building of Islam rests:
Shahadah (declaration of
faith), Salah (daily prayers), Saum (fasting during the lunar
month of Ramadan), Zakah (a share of one’s surplus wealth
given to those in need of it), and Hajj (the pilgrimage to the
Kaabah in Makkah).
Shahadah
Except at
times of persecution, faith needs to be proclaimed. It is a
public statement of one’s commitment to the cause. To become a
Muslim, a person needs to make the declaration of faith before
at least two witnesses, and to remain a Muslim, this
commitment must regularly be remembered and renewed. The
declaration of faith is that There is no God but Allah (La
ilaha illa-Allah) and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah
(Muhammad ar-rasul-Allah). The first statement is a clear
rejection of all false gods and a recognition that only Allah
is worthy of worship and devotion. The second statement
acknowledges that we can only learn what Allah wants from us
by listening and adhering to the message sent via His
messenger Muhammad, the seal to a long chain of messengers
throughout the history of mankind.
Salah
Theoretical recognition of a Creator and supreme power
is not sufficient. When Allah made us, He made us for a
purpose, namely to worship Him in the way He designed for us
to worship Him. Many people say that they worship God in their
own way and that their belief is in their heart, but by taking
that view we make ourselves gods and decide how Allah should
be worshipped, rather than follow His command. There are five
daily prayers in Islam, which can be complemented by further
voluntary prayers. These prayers involve both the body and the
mind and consist of a series of bowings and prostrations
together with recitations of the Qur’an and of praises of
Allah, complemented by personal requests. Those prayers are
during the morning twilight before sunrise (Fajr), after the
sun has passed its zenith or highest point at noon (Zuhr),
mid-afternoon (Asr), after sunset (Maghrib), and after the
onset of night (‘Isha). These regular prayers serve as an
ongoing reminder of our purpose in life and prevent us from
straying too far off the path. They are like roll calls or the
taking of a register: Just like a factory worker is not
considered to be present at work if he does not clock in, or
pupils are not recorded as attending if they were not present
at registration, the five daily prayers reaffirm again and
again that we are still in the service of Allah.
Saum
As we go
through life, it is easy to become pre-occupied with
satisfying our material needs. Some religions institute
retreats for a few chosen people who dedicate themselves fully
to religious service and renounce the worldly struggle for
survival. Islam takes a more moderate approach where once a
year everybody takes a retreat together. By abstaining from
food and drink and intimate sexual relations during daylight
hours for the duration of the month of Ramadan, the 9th month
of the lunar calendar, and by spending more time during this
month in prayer, recitation of the Qur’an, and reflection, we
train ourselves not to become slaves to our material needs and
desires and heighten our awareness of Allah and our spiritual
dimension and destiny. Because fasting is a communal affair,
with joint fast-breaking in the evenings, it also strengthens
the spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood regarded as so
important in Islam. The fasting month is concluded with the
festival of ‘Id al-Fitr, prior to which everybody, having
learnt the hardships of hunger and thirst, has to give some
charity to allow those in need to join in the joy of the
celebrations.
Zakah
The
experience of fasting prepares us for another important
Islamic principle: that nobody really believes if he fills his
stomach whilst his neighbour goes hungry. Islamic teachings
heighten the awareness of social justice, and the Islamic
economic system, with its prohibition of interest and usury
and its encouragement of fair trading does not condone that
some members of society should exploit others or become
prosperous at their expense. Zakah is one method of penalising
the hoarding of wealth, as it places a social obligation on
any surplus wealth not required for daily needs. Once a year
every Muslim above the poverty threshold must give 2.5 % of
all his belongings which are not in regular use and wealth
which has been allowed to accumulate for a whole year to set
categories of recipients, those who are needy or without
support. Thus both the spending of wealth, rather than its
retention, as well as a sense of social responsibility are
being encouraged. The Zakah is such an important pillar of the
Islamic belief system, that the Islamic state will assign its
collection to dedicated Zakah collectors, yet it must not be
confused with an income tax or a tax to finance government
activity. It is a levy on surplus wealth only, and it may only
be used for the specified category of needy recipients.
Hajj
At the
annual pilgrimage in Makkah a number of rituals are carried
out which reflect the efforts of Abraham (Ibrahim), peace be
with him, who had left his second wife Hajar and her young son
Ishmael (Ismail) there in the arid desert, and Allah rewarded
Hajar’s struggle to find water with the well of Zamzam, a
spring which made the region prosperous and a religious focal
point after Ibrahim and Ismail built the Kaabah. There is also
the gathering at the plain of Arafat, reminiscent of the even
larger gathering to come on the day of judgment. Hajj is more
than a get-together of Muslims from all over the globe; it is
akin to a virtual reality training camp. Pilgrims leave behind
their busy world, dress in simple white sheets of cloth not
unlike the ones they will later be buried in, and concentrate
on the concept of sacrifice – recalling Ibrahim’s willingness
to sacrifice his only son Ismail for Allah. Properly
conducted, this simulated journey from this world to the next
prepares the pilgrims for the remaining life ahead of them,
assisting them in making the right choices and judging their
worldly affairs against the standard of the hereafter. All
over the Muslim world the conclusion of Hajj is celebrated
with the festival of Eid al-Adha, the feast of sacrifice,
where the meat of a sacrificed animal is shared out between
family, friends and the needy, celebrating the fact, that
Allah only tested Ibrahim’s willingness, but did not demand of
him to give up his son, letting him slaughter a ram instead.
Islam thereby categorically rejects the concept of human
sacrifice but also emphasises that nothing should be so dear
to us that we are not willing to give it up for the sake of
Allah.
[Next: Dietary rules
]
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