Sharmarke Mohammed
Paper II
REL 300
4/6/11

As a child, the creed of my religion as had a significant effect on my perspective. I was taught the Five Pillars of Islam: Shahadah (Declaration), Salah (Prayer), Sawm (Fasting) Zakat (Charity), and Hajj (Pilgrimage), while a student of Arabic at my local mosque in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 2001. The Shahadah in particular was especially important for believers, as it allowed one to proclaim their allegiance to one God. In fact, my teachers have emphasized the Shahadah often as the most crucial part of faith. At the mosque, I read and memorized verses from the Holy Qur’an. The teacher was strict, and would hit me, and my classmates, if we failed to memorize a line correctly. Of course, he wasn’t cruel; the man knew he had parents to contend with. But he was quite the parochial figure. The point being, we learned the Holy Qur’an because it is said to strengthen our faith, our Iman, as is said by scholars, and by the teachers of the Qur’an. Many stories were told about people during the time of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) who read and wept as they read the Qur’an. Its language was said to be beautiful and poetic. Those who have read and memorized all 30 chapters of the text take great pride within the community of Muslims. Almost any believer in Islam will tell you that you can’t have true faith without believing in the words of the Holy Qur’an. The other pillars of Islam include Prayer, fasting, charity, and pilgrimage. Muslims are compelled to pray 5 times a day. This is mainly to pay our debts to one who Muslims believe created all of us in His Image. We are required to fast in a systemic fashion once a year for approximately 30 days. All Muslims with substantial income must pay 2.5% of their earnings towards charity. Finally, a Muslim must make exodus towards the Kabah, the Holy structure located at the center of the Makah square in Saudi Arabia, once in his her lifetime. These doctrines of Islam have been very much influential in my life. They showed me the importance of thrift (fasting), compassion (charity), personal investment (pilgrimage), and spiritual investment (prayer). Many Muslims would accept that evaluation of these doctrines. They would likely claim to base their moral integrity on the Five Pillars of Islam. It is one of the most fundamental and foundation precepts within our faith. One teacher at the mosque made an analogy to me that without any these pillars, the citadel would not stand. The code of Islam is as broad as any thinking person might expect. Muslims live with one another with respect and humility. They treat their parents with profoundly inspired reverence, especially, and I mean, especially, their mother. The Prophet (PBUH) once told a disciple, Love your mother first. The disciple asked the Prophet, “after her?” The Prophet replied, “your mother.” The disciple asked again, “and after her?” The Prophet replied, “your mother.” The disciple asked, “and after her?” The Prophet replied, “your father.” Muslims are taught to have a tolerance for other faiths, particularly with the People of the Book (Jews and Christians), as is ascribed to in the Holy Qur’an. They have been compelled to enrich sectors of society by their contributions, as they are commanded in the words of the Qur’an and in the sayings of the Prophet (PBUH) to “seek knowledge.” They’ve done this tremendously well in the subsequent centuries following his death, providing innovations in mathematics and in navigation. Finally, Muslims have a special zeal towards sacrifice. They would be highly inclined to give their life for their God. Practitioners worship by daily prayers. All Muslims pray in the same way. The prayer routines consist of standing incantations of the Qur’an, bending motions, and prostrations. Muslims are entirely welcome of all diversity, ethnic and socioeconomic, age and political, of practitioners, and the praying regimen has, I would say, a profound