5 Pillars of Islam 3
Belief and witness
The first pillar of Islam (the Shahadah) is believing and professing the unity of God and the messengership of Muhammad: “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God.” The Qur’an requires the faithful to tell others of Islam, so that they will have the information they need to make an intelligent choice.
However, it rules out the use of coercion in spreading the message:
Let there be [or: There is] no compulsion
In religion: Truth stands out
Clear from Error: whoever
Rejects Evil and believes
In God hath grasped
The most trustworthy
Hand-hold, that never breaks.29
The Qur’an insists on respect for all prophets and all revealed scriptures.
Daily prayers
The second pillar is the performance of a continual round of prayers. Five times a day, the faithful are to perform ritual ablutions with water (or sand or dirt if necessary), face Mecca, and recite a series of prayers and passages from the Qur’an, bowing and kneeling. Around the world, this joint facing of Mecca for prayer unites all Muslims into a single world family. When the prayers are recited by a congregation, all stand and bow shoulder to shoulder, with no social distinctions. In a mosque, women and men usually pray separately, with the women in rows behind the men, to avoid sexually distracting the men. There may be an imam, or prayer-leader, but no priest stands between the worshipper and Allah. On Friday noon, there is usually a special prayer service in the mosque, but
Muslims observe no Sabbath day. Remembrance of God is an everyday obligation; invoking the
Name of Allah continually polishes the rust from the heart.
Repeating the prayers is thought to strengthen one’s belief in God’s existence and goodness and to carry this belief into the depths of the heart and every aspect of external life. Praying thus is also expected to purify the heart, develop the mind and the conscience, comfort the soul, encourage the good and suppress
The first pillar of Islam (the Shahadah) is believing and professing the unity of God and the messengership of Muhammad: “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God.” The Qur’an requires the faithful to tell others of Islam, so that they will have the information they need to make an intelligent choice.
However, it rules out the use of coercion in spreading the message:
Let there be [or: There is] no compulsion
In religion: Truth stands out
Clear from Error: whoever
Rejects Evil and believes
In God hath grasped
The most trustworthy
Hand-hold, that never breaks.29
The Qur’an insists on respect for all prophets and all revealed scriptures.
Daily prayers
The second pillar is the performance of a continual round of prayers. Five times a day, the faithful are to perform ritual ablutions with water (or sand or dirt if necessary), face Mecca, and recite a series of prayers and passages from the Qur’an, bowing and kneeling. Around the world, this joint facing of Mecca for prayer unites all Muslims into a single world family. When the prayers are recited by a congregation, all stand and bow shoulder to shoulder, with no social distinctions. In a mosque, women and men usually pray separately, with the women in rows behind the men, to avoid sexually distracting the men. There may be an imam, or prayer-leader, but no priest stands between the worshipper and Allah. On Friday noon, there is usually a special prayer service in the mosque, but
Muslims observe no Sabbath day. Remembrance of God is an everyday obligation; invoking the
Name of Allah continually polishes the rust from the heart.
Repeating the prayers is thought to strengthen one’s belief in God’s existence and goodness and to carry this belief into the depths of the heart and every aspect of external life. Praying thus is also expected to purify the heart, develop the mind and the conscience, comfort the soul, encourage the good and suppress