Section:9

Pillars Of Islam

The Declaration of Faith, Shahada:

 Shahada is the first pillar of Islam. It is the declaration:

 “I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and
Muhammad (SAW) is the messenger of Allah”
 This is the testimony or profession of faith, containing
knowledge, commitment and declaration. It consists
of two parts.
 The first, that there is no god but Allah, attests not
only to the oneness and uniqueness of Allah, but it
also signifies the oneness of Lordship, the
sovereiegnty, and the authority in the universe. Allah
is accountable to no one, He creates what He
pleases, giving each of His creation the role He
desires. The Quran says:
 “You do we worship and your aid we seek”
 True unity of Allah means that Allah is unique in
person, that there is no other god but Him, unique in
attributes, that man cannot acquire perfection in the
attributes of Allah, and unique in action, that no one
can do the works that Allah has done or may do.
 Associating partners with Allah is called shirk. Shirk is
not only the worship of idols but also offering prayers
 and supplications to anyone dead or living, believing
that they hold the same attributes as Allah.
 Thus the belief that Allah is not sovereign or
independent or that deities can intercede with Him
and any attempt to implore any other being besides
Allah.
 The Quran considers shirk to be an unpardonable sin.
It says:
 “Allah forgives not that partners should be set up
with Him”
 The second part of this declaration is that Muhammad
(SAW) is the messenger of Allah.
 For Muslims, it is necessary to believe that Prophet
(SAW) was the last in the line of messengers sent by
Allah, and he is the seal of Propjets.
 He is distinguished in many ways from the previous
prophets.
 For example, his prophet hood is universal and
eternal i.e. he was not sent for a particular nation or
country but the entire human kind.

Prayer, Salat:
Timings of Prayer:
1. Fajr: from dawn until just before sunrise
2. Zuhr: after midday until afternoon
3. Asr: from afternoon until just before sunset
4. Maghrib: after sunset until the end of daylight
5. Isha: from evening until just before dawn
Preparation of Prayer:
 Wudu: washing of hands, mouths, nostrils, face,
arms, across the head, ears, back of the neck and
feet.
 Satar: proper dress code i.e. from navel to knees men
must be covered and for women whole body except
hands, feet and face
 Qiblah: facing the Ka’bah
 Niyat: intention of prayer
Performance:
 After saying the niyat, worshipper stands still with his
hands on his sides and feet on the ground, only
slightly apart
 Then he raises his hands up to his ears and says
Allah u Akbar
 He then folds his hands on the navel and recites the
Sana followed by Tasmia and the Qirat
 He then bows down in ruku by placing both his hands
on his knees and says: “Glory to the God, The mighty”
thrice
 He then stands erect, hands by his side, in wuquf
 After saying Allah u Akbar again, the worshipper
prostrates by touching his forehead on the ground
 In this position, he says: ”Allah is the highest” at least
thrice
 He then sits up in the jalsa position and the prostrates
again
 The second prostration completes one rakat
 Importance of prayer:
The importance of Prayer in Islam is great as it is the fore
most duty of the Muslims, and the chief of the pillars on
which the structure of Islam stands. It is the first thing that
was made obligatory on Muslims and the first thing they
will be questioned about on the Day of Judgment.
Congregational Prayers:
1. Friday Prayers:
 Take place of the Zuhr prayers of Friday
 Cannot be offered as qaza
 Must be offered in congregation
 Obligatory on all adult men
 Women, slaves, minors, sick are exempted
 2 azaans
 Sermon (Khutba) is delivered
 Listening to it is obligatory
 While the sermon is being delivered no conversation
is allowed, not even reciting the Quran
 The sermon consists of 2 parts
 In the first part the Imam recites and explains Quranic
passages and then after a short rest stands up again
to deliver the 2nd part which includes general prayers
for the welfare of Muslim Ummah
 2 obligatory rakat are offered after the khutba

2. Eid prayers:
  2 eids in one Islamic calendar
 Eid-ul-Fitr on 1st Shawal
 Eid-ul-Azha on 10th Zilhajj
 A day of thanksgiving when Muslims assemble in a
brotherly atmosphere
 Congregational prayer for men only
 Women, minors, travelers, sick are exempted
 Can be offered from sunrise to noon
 Offered in large empty grounds
 No replacement of any other prayer
 Cannot be offered as qaza
 Consists of 2 rakats
 After rakats, imam delivers khutba in two parts which
focuses on Sadqah tul Fitr in Eid ul Fitr and
importance of sacrifice on Eid ul Azha
 Muslims exchange greetings after offering prayers
 Take alternate routes while coming and going to meet
as many people as possible

Private Prayer.Dua
 No Qiblah
 No wudu
 No satar
 No fixed language
 No Niyat
 Not obligatory
Delayed Prayer:
  If a Muslim misses an obligatory prayer, he must
make up for the loss
 These qaza prayers must be offered as soon as
possible
 Only Farz and Witr can be offered as Qaza
 Conditions in which it is allowed to miss a prayer:

1. In battle field
2. Taking care of seriously ill patients
3. If a person sleeps with necessary arrangements
but fails to wake up on time
4. If a person is sick or injured
Mosque:
 A place where believers get together for religious
purposes
 Educational, political and social centres of society
 House of Allah
 One should enter the mosque with respect, in clean
clothes and footwear must be removed.
 Indulging in wordly affairs is not allowed in mosque

Alms-giving, Zakat:
How it is performed:
 Zakat consists of giving set proportions of
possessions for the poor
  Compulsory on all adult rich muslims to gibe zakat
which they’ve had in their possession for more than
one calendar year
 Its rate on annual savings is 2.5%
 If a person has 7.5 tolas or more of gold, 2.5% of it is
due as zakat
 If a person has 52.5 tolas or more of silver, 2.5% of it
is due as zakat
 If a person has 40-120 goats, then one goat is due in
zakat
 No fixed date of payment
 However, usually paid in the month of Ramzan
 Reciepients of zakat:

1. Poor
2. Needy
3. Newly converts to Islam
4. Travelers
5. Slaves
6. Those appointed by state to collect Zakat
7. Those who are in bondage or in debt
8. Those who can’t fulfill an obligation
2. Significance in the community:
 Helps poor people stop starving
 Sense of brotherhood develops between rich and
poor
 It reduces financial difference between rich and poor
 Encourages a bond of social responsibility
  Brings the society closer
 Encourages unity in society

Fasting, Saum:
1 The Way it is Observed:
 Carried out in the month of Ramzan
 Starts from the sighting of the moon of Ramzan and
ends at the sighting of the moon on Shawal
 All adult Muslims should fast suring day light hours
i.e. from dawn to dusk
 They take their sehr before dawn
 After that they refrain from eatinf or drinking until
sunset
 During a fast, Muslims abstain from smoking,
indulging in evil and indecent acts, abusing etc
 They remember Allah throughout the day by offering
prayers and reciting the Quran
 However, they cannot ask for concessions is their
work and must lead the normal daily routine
 At the Maghrib prayers, they break their fast with
dates and water
 After the Isha prayers they offer 20 rakat of taraweeh
prayers
 During the odd nights of the last ten nights of
Ramzan, they search for Laila tul Qadr, the night
when Quran was revealed
 Muslims even withdraw to mosques and sit in Aitkaaf
for the last ten days, i.e. they avoid any contact with
the world and submit themselves to Allah
 Those exempted:
 Sick
 Pregnant women
 Travelers
 Elderly people
 Minor

Pilgrimage, Hajj:
1. The Main Observances Involved:
DATE PLACE OBSERVANCE
8th Zilhajj Meeqat - perform wudu
- wear Ihram
- offer 2 rakat
- make niyat
- recite Talbiah
8th Zilhajj Ka’abah - perform tawaf-e-
qudum, encircling
Ka’abah 7 times
- kiss the black
stone
8th Zilhajj Multazim - say private
prayer
8th Zilhajj Maqaam-e- - offer 2 nafal
Ibrahim
8th Zilhajj Safa and Marwa - sayee, starting at
Safa and ending
at Marwa, 7 times
8th Zilhajj Mina - offer Zuhr, Asar,
Maghrib, Isha
 prayers
9th Zilhajj Arafat - listen to sermon
- offer combined
Zuhr and Asar
prayers
- perform wuquf-e-
arafat
9th Zilhajj Muzdalifah - perform Maghrib
and Isha prayer
combined
-collect pebbles
for rami
- spend night in
rememberance of
Allah
10th Zilhajj Mina - stone Jamarat-
ul-uqba 7 times
with pebbles
-offer sacrifice
- men cut their
hair and women
clip a lock
11th – 12th Zilhajj Mina - perform rami,
symbolic stoning
of satan
- perform tawaf-e-
ziyarat between
one of these days
in Ka’abah
- perform tawaf-e-
wida before
leaving Makkah