1. Faith
“I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His Apostle"
The first part of the declaration of faith means that you accept the oneness of Allah and that you reject all other deities that you believed in before you became a Muslim.
The second part of the declaration of faith means that you accept that Muhammad is Allah's messenger. It means that you take Muhammad and his teachings into your heart, and live by them.
2. FastingEvery Muslim must fast from dawn to dusk during the month of Ramadan. Pregnant women, the sick, and young children are exceptions to this rule. In order to signify Ramadan, I skipped lunch to work on my blog. During this time I was hungry but I got a lot of work done.
3. Charity
One of the five pillars of faith is charity. It tells Muslims to be charitable to others. In order to simulate this pillar, I have given service to the community and to faculty.
As service to community, I helped a friend of my mom's run his chess club at another school. I had a great time with all of the younger kids, teaching them to play chess.
As service to faculty, I helped my math teacher by sharpening pencils during homeroom class for 15 minutes. As the second part of service to faculty, I helped my social studies teacher to grade papers for 45 minutes.
4. Prayer.
Qur'an 4:116
Allah forgiveth not the sin of joining other gods with Him:
but He forgiveth whom He pleaseth other sins than this:
one who joins other gods with Allah hath strayed far far away from the right path..
but He forgiveth whom He pleaseth other sins than this:
one who joins other gods with Allah hath strayed far far away from the right path..
This verse from the Quar’ and means that Allah will forgive all other sins but saying that there is more than one god. If you have declared your faith and commit this crime, then you are not following the correct path of Islam and are not considered faithful.
Qur'an 5:90
O ye who believe!
Intoxicants and gambling, dedication of stones and divination by arrows
are an abomination of Satan's handiwork:
shun such abomination that ye may prosper.
O ye who believe!
Intoxicants and gambling, dedication of stones and divination by arrows
are an abomination of Satan's handiwork:
shun such abomination that ye may prosper.
The verse means that addiction to gambling along with drugs, alcohol, and divination are evil things created by the devil. In the ending line it says that you have to turn away from these things in order to live a good life.
5. Pilgrimage
Once in his lifetime, a Muslim must travel to Mecca in order to worship at the Al-Haram Mosque. Since I am following the Five Pillars of Faith, my host family and I will be traveling to Mecca. We will be seeing the Al-Haram mosque, and the Holy Black Stone. While my host family and I are there, we won't need to wear any kind of special clothing to enter the Al-Haram.
