Pillars of Islam : Introduction To The Region

Allahu akhbar. La ilaha WAllah Muhammadun rasul Allah. God is great. There is no god but God. And Muhammad is His prophet. This beginning of the cail to worship (the adhari) punctuates daily life in Muslim areas, sounding five times each day from the mosques. The first line glorifies God, using the word for God in Arabic, Allah. Praise of God and the Prophet is a pious and meritorious action. The next lines of the call form the shahadah, the testimony of faith, and the first of the five pillars of Islam. It reflects the unity of God (tawhid), which is Islam’s strongest belief, and the special place of Muhammad as God’s final Messenger.

The second pillar is prayer (salaf), recited five times per day in imitation of the practice of Muhammad. Prayers, preceded by ablutions, begin with a declaration of intent and consist of a set cycle of prostrations. No designated person is necessary to lead prayers-they are often done wherever the Muslim happens to be at the time of prayer. On Fridays, congregational prayer is encouraged; this is the only distinguishing feature of the Muslim “sabbath.” The third pillar is charity (zakat, or purification). Giving to worthy causes individually may substitute, but zakat is technically an assessed tax on property given to a carefully regulated communal fund.