Muslims believe that Allah (Islamic name for God in the Arabic language) created everything on the Earth and sustains the universe. Allah is both the giver and taker of life. The most important Islamic belief is “Tawhid” - Allah is the one and only god and Muslims must obey only Him. Allah sees everything and is everywhere. In Islam one lives their belief and a true believer must be seen to put that belief into action.
The belief is that prayer strengthens the belief in God’s existence, purifies the heart, develops the mind and conscience, comforts the soul, encourages good and suppresses evil, and awakens the innate sense of higher morality and aspirations. The third pillar is zakat. Zakat refers to the required tithing and almsgiving. Muslims are required to present two and a half percent of their accumulated wealth to needy Muslims. This is one way that Muslims attempt to decrease wealth inequalities and prevent personal greed.
The Five Pillars of Islam HUM/130 May 6, 2011 Tanya Gardner The Five Pillars of Islam The Five Pillars of Islam make up the central beliefs of the Islamic faith. These pillars help to shape Muslim society. The Islam doctrine teaches that Muslims who live according to the Five Pillars of Islam, stay within the Islam faith, and sincerely repent of their sins, will make it to paradise or jannah (Slick, 1995-2010). The Islamic religion is monotheistic, so it is not surprising that the center of the Five Pillars of the Islamic faith is the total belief that there is only one God (Shahada). The four other pillars include, fasting (Saum), prayer (Salat), and pilgrimage (Hajj), alms-giving or charity (Zakat), Shahada is a declaration that is made by followers of the Islamic faith, which says, “there is no true God except Allah,” and also says that, “Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.
This Islamic creed is the profession of faith and trust, in which Muslims bear witness to the oneness of God and profess that Muhammad is the messenger of God. This statement of the proclamation of faith underlines the monotheistic nature of Islam. لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله lā ʾilāha ʾillā-llāh, muḥammadun rasūlu-llāh This is the basic statement through which Muslims proclaim that Allah is the only God and that Muhammad is his prophet. Through this proclamation of faith, adherents personally accept this to be true and will obey all the commandments of Islam throughout their lifetime. In order to become a Muslim, a person must recite this statement wholeheartedly.
The faithful pray five times a day. They face Mecca and recite either a series of passages or prayers from the Qur’an. They believe repeating these prayers multiple times strengthen your faith. The third pillar is zakat. Zakat is a tithing and almsgiving.
These are mandatory to every Muslim at all times, unless the individual is unable to perform them due to sickness or age. All in all, it is safe to say that commitment in no joke is Islam. The very first of the five pillars as Emerick states “helps Muslims to remind themselves about the reality of God in their lives” (Emerick 118). The Shahadah, the practice in which an individual declares his faith in God and confesses that Muhammad is the messenger of God. The statement “I declare there is no god except God, and I declare that Muhammad is the messenger of God"(Qu ‘ran 3:191) is to be said with pure sincerity and great commitment.
The Five Pillars of Islam The Five Pillars of Islam form the moral framework for the Muslim life. They are the testimony of faith, prayer, fasting during the month of Ramadan, giving to the needy, and the pilgrimage to Mecca once in a lifetime. These acts are considered pillars because they are the very foundation to which Islam is built upon. The first pillar, Shahada, is the confession that Allah is the one and only true God and that there is no other god before Allah. The Shahada also states that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and is recognized as the true and greatest prophet of Allah; it was through Muhammad that Allah conveyed the last and final revelation (Slick, 2010).
Revelation god revealed his will and law to humanity through the Quran. Salvation Is life after death and judgment day will result in eternal reward or punishment Depending on god’s mercy. In Islam there were many prophets who guided the people to the right paths and the last prophet was Muhammad (P.B.U.H) there is only one Sacred book in Islam and that is the Quran. In the Quran God tells us what is haram forbidden and halal unforbidden. God tells us how we should live our daily lives.
Analyse the Muslim understanding of Tawhid and how it is expressed in the Five Pillars Tawhid is a key principle belief in the religion of Islam which can be put into practise through the five pillars of faith. Although there are two different denominations or Islam, Sunni and Shi’a, Tawhid is the central monotheistic belief that there is only one God, Allah. The belief of Tawhid is lived out in the everyday life of Muslims through each of the five pillars of faith, Shahada, Salat, Zakat, Sawm, and Hajj, all acts of worship which show obedience and submission to Allah. Through these expressions of faith, the Islamic community, Umma, is able to connect to Allah closely and more deeply and truly live out the key beliefs of Islam in their everyday lives. ‘There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet’, is the declaration of faith stated in the Shahada.
What are the five pillars of Islam, the names and meanings? The Five Pillars of Islam are as follow: Creed, Prayer, Zakat, Swam, and Hajj. Creed (Shahada) is the first pillar of Islam. This is the Islamic creed that states “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.” This declaration of faith is called Shahada. Non Muslim can become a Muslim by reciting these words and have belief and faith.