The five pillars of Islam are part and parcel of the Islamic faith. Those five are shahada, no Gods but Allah and Mohamed is his prophet, Prayer, Ramadan Sawm (fasting), Zakat, and Hajj.
Those five are mentioned in Hadith, prophet Mohammed peace upon him said, and they constitute the essence of Islam for their significance and effect on the life of Muslims and their surrounding community.
This article will represent each pillar of Islam’s structure and why it’s essential. Also, we will include the Quranic evidence that indicates the five pillars of Islam and their significance.
We mentioned before the names of the five pillars of Islam, but what do they really mean? What’s their definition and why do Muslims perform them, let’s begin with the first one.
This is the first and most important pillar of Islam. Shahada isn’t merely an oral phrase told by the tongue but a profound faith that there’s no god but only one( Allah) who created this world with no partner sharing his authority. He is an enduring, single, and all-sustaining God. And Muslims should believe that Allah revealed his message of Islam to his prophet Mohammed, The latest and final messenger.
Humans are bound to worship. That’s something in their DNA. Some people are obsessed with piling up their money and equating their only value to how much they pull in. Others derive their value from how they look or how people flatter them. Being faithful to worship Allah is the ultimate freedom.
Being faithful to Allah means ultimate freedom of those worldly obsessions. The intrinsic meaning of Shahada is I’m not enslaved. I won’t let anything or anyone controls me but Allah, and I’m gonna derive my value from him so I won’t let anyone judge me for anything because I’m a creature of God. I carry his soul inside my heart.
Prayer is the bond that connects believers with God. Without it, this bond ruptures and gets loose.
Muslims perform five daily prayers at specific times a day at very specific times:
Those five prayers are mandatory, and they have a time range in which Muslims should perform them, as Good said in Surah An-Nisa :
perform Salāh as due. Surely, Salāh is an obligation on the believers tied up with time. (103)
These five daily prayers are obligatory for anyone who reached puberty. Other types of Salah like Sunna, and Nafl, are desirable and Muslims have additional rewards for doing it but they’re not mandatory like those been mentioned, which means there is no sin in not performing them.
Other than connection with Allah, the main purpose of prayer is to improve the museum’s behaviors toward what’s good and keep him away from the misleading track. Allah says in Surah Al-ankubut
Surely Salāh restrains one from shameful and evil acts (45)
So, prayer protects Muslims from committing wrong deeds, enlightens their road, and makes them connected with God. Plus, it dramatically impacts the Muslim’s life as it teaches him discipline. By performing it five times per day and each day, Muslims learn the value of discipline, which spills over to other parts of their own lives.
Zakah is the third pillar of Islam and means giving 2.5 percent of the wealth (like money and plants) as a charity. Islam determined eight outlets for zakah in surah Al-Twaba, including poor, needy, and indebted people. Zakah is an obligation on any Muslim able to give which means it’s a sin to not perform it.
Zakah has a noble purpose as it purifies Muslims’ souls from misery and obsession with hoarding and makes them feel that the wealth they’ve is a blessing from Allah and should return to him. By giving, Muslims learn to transcend their materialistic part. Also, it reduces the disparity between the poor and the rich in the community.
As Allah said: In surah, Al-Tawba Take Sadaqah (obligatory alms) out of their wealth through which you may cleanse and purify them,
Watch this video about the five pillars of Islam for further information.
Sawm is The fourth on the list of the five pillars of Islam. It means refraining from bodily indulgences like food, drinking, and sexual intercourse to purify the soul and cultivate piety. Each Ramadan, a Hijri month that follows the lunar calendar, Muslims around the world perform sawm from fajar (sunrise) to Maghrib (sunset).
Like prayer, Swam is obligatory for any Muslim who reached puberty except for some cases like traveling or being sick or women during menstruation. Muslims have a license to breakfast in those conditions at the expense of doing some compensatory deeds (kafara).
One of the five pillars of Islam, the hajj is an obligation for anyone capable financially and physically, as Allah said in Swarh Al-Omran
and pilgrimage to the House is (incumbent) upon the men for the sake of Allah, (upon) everyone who can undertake the journey (fulfill pilgrimage) to it. Whoever disbelieves, then surely Allah does not need the worlds (does not need anything).
In Hajj, Muslims perform many rituals, including visiting Kaaba, the sacred shrine in Macca, Saudi Arabia, roaming around it seven times, and running between the mountains of Safa and Al-Marwa .pilgrimage begins on the 7th day of Dhū al-Ḥijjah (the last month of the Islamic year) and ends on the 12th day.
Allah ordained Hajj to teach his believers how to transcend their sensual indulgences, how they kill grudges and hostilities, and become one unified soul. As Allah said in surah al Baqarah.
Whoever intends to perform Pilgrimage in these months shall abstain from sensual indulgence, wicked conduct, and quarreling; and whatever good you do, Allah knows it. Take your provisions for the Pilgrimage, but, in truth, the best provision is piety. (197)
The five pillars of Islam are the keystones of this faith, so Muslims shouldn’t overlook nor underestimate them. All of those pillars connect believers with their god and not performing them is considered a great sin.
Also, they have great significance for Muslims. Performing those rules is in favor of humans, not Allah. Each of those pillars empowers Muslims to rise above the materialistic, worldly lusts and lean into humanity where the superpower lies.
They become more in control over their instincts and embrace love instead of hatred. In general, they become capable of performing the mission Allah created them for.
Shahada is the first pillar in Islam and it’s the difference between the believers who trusted Mohaned’s massage and those who harbored skeptical doubts about it. The other pillars have revealed Sabsquently in order.
Salat is ordained in Mecca on the night of Israa and Maharaj before the prophet’s immigration to Madina by about 5 years and some historians say it was ordered 3 or 1.5 years before immigration, so there are various opinions in this respect.
On the other hand, Sawm (fasting) and zakah are thought to be ordained in the second year after immigration to Madinah.
Hajj is ordained in the 9th year of immigration to Madinah and it was obligatory for one time in the lifetime as the prophet said.
Abu Huraira said that God’s messenger addressed them, saying, “Pilgrimage has been ordained for you people, so perform it.” A man asked whether it should be performed annually, but God’s messenger gave no reply until he asked the question three times.
Then he said, “If I were to say that it should, it would be obligatory, and you would not be able to perform it,” after which he said, “Leave me alone as long as I have said nothing to you, for your predecessors perished simply on account of their much questioning and their disagreement with their prophets. But when I command you to do anything, obey it as much as you can; and leave it alone when I forbid you to do anything.
Read also: Why Muslim love to read surah Al-Kahaf on Friday
There are many verses in the Quran that mention the five pillars of Islam. We just quote some of them.
1. Shahada is mentioned often in an implicit manner.
Say, “I am only a man like you, to whom has been revealed that your god is one God. So whoever would hope for the meeting with his Lord – let him do righteous work and not associate in the worship of his Lord anyone. (Al-Kahf: 110)
2. Salat (prayer) is mentioned about 100 times often with zakah (charity)
Establish prayer, pay zakah and bow down with those who bow down. (Surah Baqarah: 43)
4. Zakah: being the third pillar of Islam, it’s highlighted at least 58 times in the Quran along with Salat.
Who keep up prayer and pay zakah and of the hereafter, they are sure. (Surah An Naml: 3)
4. Swam (fasting ) is mentioned 13 times
“O you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may develop God-consciousness (Surah Baqarah: 183)
5. Hajj is mentioned 11 times in Quran
Call ˹all˺ people to the hajj. They will come to you on foot and every lean camel from every distant path (hajj: 27)
Shahada is the most fundamental pillar of Islam. It’s the defining difference between believers and non-believers, so it comes before the bulk of pillars.
No, Jihad isn’t considered a pillar of Islam despite its great virtue in Quran as not everyone can perform it.
Central to faith and practice in Islam are the five pillars outlined in the Hadith of Gabriel, recorded in Sahih Muslim: witnessing (shahadah), the five daily prayers (salat), almsgiving (zakat), fasting during the month of Ramadan (sawm), and the hajj pilgrimage
The five pillars of Islam are significant to each Muslim, and it’s a test for his belief. Also, they favor his life for their numerous significant impacts on his well-being. Indeed, each Muslim should stick to them as they hold the key to success in this life and here-after.
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