Foundations of Islamic Beliefs Global History I: Spiconardi

The Five Pillars of Islam  Faith (shahada)  “La ilah illa Allah wa Muhammad rasul Allah,” meaning “There is no God but the one God and Muhammad is His prophet.” God MuhammadGod Muhammad  Prayer (salat)  Muslims must recite 5 daily prayers  Muslims must perform a ritual bathing before prayer (wudu)

The Five Pillars of Islam  Prayer (Salat)  Muezzin – Person who calls Muslims to the mosque for prayer or Friday services

The Five Pillars of Islam  Almsgiving (zakat)  a tax is levied on those living above subsistence and the tax is then supposed to be redistributed to the poor  Fasting (saum)  No food, drink, smoking or sex from sunrise to sunset during the holy month of Ramadan

The Five Pillars of Islam  Pilgrimage (Hajj)  Every able-bodied Muslim must make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime

The Five Pillars of Islam: The Hajj

Ramadan  Ramadan  month of fasting and worshipping that evokes piety  Fasting promotes self-discipline and spiritual awareness  Celebrates when the Qur’an was first revealed to Muhammad  New crescent moon starts Ramadan, while new moon ends Ramadan  Eid al-Fitr – feast that ends Ramadan

Qur’an (Koran)  Qur’an  Islamic holy book  Considered the very word of Allah  Arabic for “recitation” since Muhammad recited what the angel Gabriel told him  Difficult to translate  No one version

Hadith  Hadith  collection of the sayings and traditions of Muhammad  Sunna  The example of Muhammad (“What would Muhammad do?”)

The Shari’ah  The Shari’ah  “The way”  Body of laws and rules that regulate Islamic life  No alcohol  No pork  Not allowed to depict living things  Countries like Iran base their laws on the Shari’ah  Mufti  experts on Islamic law