22 October 2012

Understanding Islam - The Five Pillars



This is going to be very basic stuff. If you already know this, great. If you don't, great. Sometimes it's easy to get so in depth in subjects we forget to take a step back and get the overall picture.

Islam's holy book is the Qur'an (Koran). In it, we find the basis of the five pillars.

  1. The shahada (Islamic creed) - what one must say and believe to become a Muslim
  2. Prayer (daily) - performed 5 times per day, at scheduled times throughout the day
  3. Almsgiving - believed to be purifying
  4. Fasting (during Ramadan)
  5. Pilgrimage to Mecca - at least once in a lifetime


***BONUS FEATURE***
Islam = name of the religion
Muslim = person who follows the religion of Islam
(just in case you didn't realize the difference)