Pillars of Islam-Shahadah

Shahadah is an Arabic word of meaning “to know and believe without suspicion, as if witnessed”. The Shahadah is the Muslim declaration of belief in oneness of Allah Almighty and acceptance of Muhammad (SAW) as His Prophet. In Arabic it reads as: La Ilaha Illallah Muhammad Rasulullah which means “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is His messenger” in English.

The word Shahadah is derived from word Shahida meaning to observe, witness or testify. A single honest recitation of Shahadah in Arabic is required by a person to become a Muslim. This declaration of faith is called Kalima, which means “word” literally. The first and most important of five pillars of Islam is recitation of Shahadah. A public recitation of Shahadah can convert a non-Muslim to Islam. The significance of declaration of Shahadah is the belief that the only purpose of life is to obey and serve only Allah and this is achieved through the teachings and practices of last prophet Muhammad (SAW).

Shahadah come from the Quran as stated in the Surah Ali Imran verse 18 that there no another God than Allah alone. As Allah says in Quran,

                “There is no god but He(Allah):”(03:18)

And in Surah Al Munafiqin verse 1 of Quran Allah recognized Muhammad (SAW) as the last prophet and messenger of Allah.

                “they say, We bear witness that thou art indeed the Apostle of God.”(63:1)

These essences are combined to be the Shahadah, spoken by all Muslims in every prayer and anyone who wishes to convert to Islam.

Pillars of Islam -Salat

Salat is an Arabic word whose meaning is prayer. Salat is the second pillar of Islam after Shahadah (Believe in oneness of Allah and prophet hood of Muhammad (SAW)). Salat is the Arabic name of formal prayer in Islam. Salat is ritual prayer and have some defined conditions, procedures and times. Allah Almighty Says in Quran,

                “I have only created Jinns and men, that they may worship (and serve) Me.”(51:56)

Salat is obligatory for all adult Muslims According to Quran and Sunnah. To perform Salat, one must be clean and pure. Physical purity is mainly achieved by ritual of Ablution. The place of Salat should be clean as well and so should be clothes one is wearing. Salat is performed five times a day depending upon the movement of sun. Salat consists of two or more units of sequence of actions and words, prescribed by Muhammad (SAW). The number varies according to their timings and special circumstances (Friday and Eid salat etc). There are some exceptions for some or all the actions of Salat for those who are physically unable to complete them. The prescribed words remain obligatory.

The importance of Salat can be considered by the fact that it is mentioned 70 times in Quran. Allah Almighty says, in Quran,

                “To those whose hearts when God is mentioned, are filled with fear, who show patient perseverance over their afflictions, keep up regular prayer, and spend (in charity) out of what We have bestowed upon them.”(22:35)

Salat is the distinction between Muslim and a non-Muslim. As prophet Muhammad (SAW) said,

                “What lies between a man and a disbelief is the abandonment of prayer”

The purpose of Salat is that it acts as medium of communication between a person and Allah Almighty. Daily prayers remind people about thanking Allah for His blessings. Salat is a formal process of remembering Allah. Salat is also considered a means of restraining one from wrong and evils. According to Hadith Salat is the best deed.

Pillars of Islam-Sawm

Sawm is Arabic word for fasting. By Islamic law Sawm means to abstain from eating, drinking, sex and anything prohibited by Islamic Law. Sawm during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam along with Tauhid, Salat, Zakat and Hajj. Sawm is obligatory in Ramadan but it can be observed other time of year also. As Allah Almighty says in Quran,

                “O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint,” (2:183)

Muslims are prohibited from some things which are legal and normal in other circumstances. Muslims are prohibited from eating, drinking, having sex and smoking from dawn to sunset. Fasting or Sawm is an attempt to seek nearness of Allah Almighty. Another reason of fasting is to sympathize with those who are less fortunate and do not always have something to eat or drink. It is important that one try to control his temptations and desires of food, drink and sex etc. One must control his anger, evil thoughts and stop cursing. Sawm also teach one love and obedience because fasting during Ramadan is done out of respect and love of Allah Almighty.

Sawm is obligatory in the month of Ramadan which is a great month in sense that it was the month in which Quran was revealed to Muhammad (SAW) and the rewards of good deeds done in this month is multiplied several folds for the believers. Lailat Ul-Qadr comes in this month which is regarded as night better than thousand months. Gates of paradise are opened and gates of hell are closed during Ramadan.

Fasting in Ramadan is obligatory on every adult and healthy Muslim. According to Quran, if there is any danger to one’s health than fasting can be delayed to time when he gets healthy. Same is case with women who are expecting and elderly, they should either make up for the lost days by fasting after they get healthy enough or feed needy person for every day missed.

Pillars of Islam-Zakat

Zakat is one of the basic duties of Islam. It is one of the five pillars of islam. After Salat it is the most important part of Islam. It has been mentioned in Quran seventy times, just like Salat. It is mentioned by Allah in Quran several times as, “…and establish regular Salat and give regular Zakat…”. Just as Salat is most important worship performed bodily, Zakat is the most important worship performed financially. Muslims who fulfill the duty the duty of giving Zakat are promised endless rewards in this world and hereafter. In the same way those who refuse to follow instructions about Zakat, are warned about strict punishments by Quran and Muhammad (SAW).

As Zakat is duty of every Muslim so every Muslim gives zakat voluntarily. Zakat is for welfare purposes. Rich give zakat so it can be distributed among poor and equilibrium is maintained in Muslim society. It is one of the reasons that Islam spread peacefully in non-Muslim countries. The best example is of Spain, where zakat was taken from rich landowners and distributed among the poor and deprived majority of Spain. This resulted in the interest of the poor population of Spain in Islam and their majority converted to Islam. It was also the main reason for Persians convert to Islam. In Europe, Zakat was regarded as threat to their feudal economy, especially after Spain’s covert to Islam.

The ratio of Zakat is 2.5% of total wealth and is obligatory on every wealthy and rich Muslim. Zakat is applicable on every Muslim who has at least one of the following possessions

·         Gold or silver in any form equal to nisaab

·         Cash, Currency Notes, Bonds etc equal to nisaab

·         Merchandise of Business equal to nisaab

·         Live stock equal to nisaab

·         Income from other businesses equal to nisaab

Nisaab is the amount of wealth which makes one liable to Zakat. It is as follows as fixed by Muhammad (SAW)

·         Gold 7.50 Tolas = 87.48 gms

·         Silver 52.50 tolas = 612.36 gms

Zakat cannot be given to descendents of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), one’s immediate family and Organizations or governments who would not distribute it among poor.

Pillars of Islam-Hajj

Hajj is one of the pillars of Islam. It is obligatory on every sane and able adult Muslim. It was made obligatory on 9^th year of Hijra. On that year 300 Muslims under the leadership of Abu Bakar (RA) were sent to Makkah to perform Hajj and it was for non-Muslims to enter Kaba. On 10^th Hijra, Muhammad (SAW) performed Hajj along with one hundred and fifty thousand Muslims. At the end of that Hajj Muhammad (SAW) announced that the religion of Islam is now complete. As Allah Almighty says in Quran,

                “This day have I completed My commandments for you, and have brought to its fullness the favor that I have bestowed upon you, and have chosen Islam as your religion” (Al Maaidah)

Hajj is an act of worship just like Salat (Prayer), Sawm (Fasting) and Zakat. Muslims from all over the world gather in Makkah to perform hajj. Hajj is performed in the Islamic month of Dul-Hajj. All the essential duties of Hajj are performed on the 8^th and 9^th of Dul-Hajj. There are three basic pillars of hajj namely entering state of “Ihram” with intention of performing Hajj, to stay at the field of “Arafat” on the 9^th of Dul-Hajj and Circling of Kaba. It is prohibited to wear sewn cloths or cut hair during Hajj. Hunting is also prohibited.

On 10^th of Dul-hajj, muslims celebrate Eid al-adha as a celebration for performing Hajj. There is one Surah named after Hajj, Surah Al-Hajj. Which is the 22^nd surah of Quran. Hajj is mentioned in several other chapters of Quran as well, which signifies its importance.

Morals of Islam in War

According to teachings of Islam, war is an unwanted obligation which has to be carried out under strict moral and humane values. War is an option taken only when inevitable. According to Quran wars are started by those who are unbelievers and Allah Almighty does not approve that. Islam stresses the fact wars should be for defensive purposes in unavoidable circumstances.

Quran was revealed in a period of twenty three years and out of these twenty three, for thirteen years Muslims were living in Makkah. They were in minority and faced oppression from others. Muslims were tortured, abused and even murdered. Despite all of this, Muslims never resorted to violence and lived in peace. Muslims migrated to Madinah when oppression was unbearable where they established a free and just community. Only after mischief and oppression of unbelievers continued in Madinah that Allah permitted them to fight in defense of Islam. As the following verses were revealed in Quran,

                “Permission to fight is given to those who are fought against because they have been wronged - truly God has the power to come to their support - those who were expelled from their homes without any right, merely for saying, 'Our Lord is God'…” (22:39.40)

To summarize Muslims are allowed to start a war only when they are oppressed and abused. In other words, war is only allowed for defensive purposes. But even in wars Muslims are ordered to be humane and keep up the moral values Islam teach. As it is said in Quran,

                “Fight in the Way of God against those who fight you, but do not go beyond the limits. God does not love those who go beyond the limits.”(2:190)

A Muslim should treat a non-Muslim kindly. Muslims should only fight in a humane way.

Trusting Fellow Muslims

One of nature of humans is that they find it very hard to trust others. They can establish friendships with individuals of same ideologies, tastes, personalities and fell respect for each other. But when a situation demands them to show trust in their friends they just step away. They feel that they can not trust anyone including their parents, children, spouses and friends. They can only trust themselves. This is all because of curious nature of humans that they suspect each other. Spouses, friends, siblings say that they are very close and trust each other but in reality they always suspect and try to find secrets of each other.

But all this is totally different in Islam and Muslims. It is not difficult for Muslims to trust each other. The teachings of Quran and Muhammad (SAW), and fear of Allah Almighty enable us to trust fellow Muslims. They know for fact that they are answerable for every good and bad deed to Allah Almighty. True Muslims never lie, steal, betray or harm others. They know the value of respect, friendship, loyalty and love for one another. They do not any thing they could not do. As Allah Almighty says in Quran,

                “Your friend is only Allah and His Messenger and those who have faith: those who establish prayers (salat) and pay alms (zakat), and bow. As for those who make Allah their friend, and His Messenger and those who have faith: it is the party of Allah who are victorious!” (5:55.56)

There is no difficulty in trusting fellow Muslims if we follow true spirit of Islam and Quran. Muslims know they would be answerable for all their deeds, god or bad. So they do not betray or harm another.