'Five Pillars' [Arkan] of Islam are the foundation of Muhammadan life:-
These are the fundamentals of the creed as enacted through ritual activity:
1 Shahada: The witness to faith/iman; Faith or belief in the oneness of Allah and the finality of the prophethood of Muhammad
2 Salat: Prayer; Establishment of the daily prayers
3 Zakat: Charity; Concern for and almsgiving to the needy
4 Sawm: Fasting; Self-purification through fasting
5 Hajj: Pilgrimage; Pilgrimage to Mecca for those who are able
These are the duties for which each individual Muhammadan Muslim is responsible and which their tradition proclaims that they were ordained by Allah.
They are the framework of Muhammadan life: faith, prayer, concern for the needy, self-purification, and the pilgrimage to Mecca for those who are able.
First Pillar: Iman/Faith
"There is no god [ilah] worthy of worship except Allah and Muhammad is his messenger".
This declaration of faith is called the Shahada, a simple formula which all the faithful pronounce.
In Arabic, the first part is "la ilaha illa'Llah - 'there is no god except Allah'; ilaha (god) can refer to anything which we may be tempted to put in place of God--wealth, power, and the like.
The second part of the Shahada is "wa Muhammadun rasulu'Llah" -
'and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.'
The significance of this declaration is the belief that the only purpose of life is to serve and obey Allah, and this is achieved through the teachings and practices [Sunna] of Muhammad.
*** The first part of the Shahada is plagiarized from the Torah injunction forever burnt into the tradition of the Jews in their 'SHEMAA', where in the following is recited:
Deuteronomy 6: 4. "Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord;
5. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might"
This prayer is recited by every Jew at birth and before death, every day of one's life. It confirms the Unity and Uniqueness of the Almighty.
While the Israelites never included Moses in the prayer since he was only God's messenger, the Shahada on the other hand, includes the name of Muhammad, the vainglorious 'messenger' of Allah.
That is why Muhammad has such an enormous importance in the psyche of his followers since he is made almost equal to the Divine***
Second Pillar: Salat/Prayer
Salat is the name for the obligatory prayers which are performed five times a day, and are a direct link between the worshipper and Allah. There is no hierarchical authority in Muhammadan Islam, and no priests, so the prayers are led by a learned person who knows the Quran, chosen by the congregation.
These five prayers contain verses from the Quran, and are said in Arabic, the language of the revelation, but personal supplication can be offered in one's own language.
Prayers are said at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset and nightfall, and thus determine the rhythm of the entire day. Although it is preferable to worship together in a mosque, a 'Muslim' may pray almost anywhere, such as in fields, offices, factories and universities. Visitors to the 'Muslims' world are struck by the centrality of prayers in daily life.
A translation of the Call to Prayer is:
'Allah is most great. Allah is most great. Allah is most great. Allah is most great. I testify that there is no god except Allah. I testify that there is no god except Allah. I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. Come to prayer! Come to prayer! Come to success (in this life and the Hereafter)! Come to success! Allah is most great. Allah is most great. There is no god except Allah.'
Once, when Muhammad first arrived in Madina, 'Muslims' prayed - their Qibla - was towards Jerusalem, but Muhammad later changed it to Mecca. From the minbar, the pulpit, the Imam who leads the prayer gives the sermon at the Friday noon community prayers.
*** Prayers existed in the Arabian Peninsula long before Muhammad and his Quran since even the Pagans had prayer rituals that were later subsumed by Muhammad and very conveniently 'Islamised'.
In fact the word MINBAR is not Arabic but is Ethiopic in origin as it described a niche in the Christian Church.
Moreover, both the Jews and Christians had their rituals, their places of worship, the Synagogue and the Church in the Arabian Peninsula, centuries before Muhammad and his Quran ***
Third Pillar: Zakat/Charity
One of the most important principles of 'Islam' is that all things belong to Allah, and that wealth is therefore held by human beings in trust. The word zakat [Alms giving] means both 'purification' and 'growth'. Our possessions are purified by setting aside a proportion for those in need, and, like the pruning of plants, this cutting back balances and encourages new growth.
Each 'Muslim' calculates his or her own zakat individually. For most purposes this involves the payment each year of two and a half percent of one's capital.
A pious person may also give as much as he or she pleases as sadaqa [Charity], and does so preferably in secret. Although this word can be translated as 'voluntary charity' it has a wider meaning.
*** The giving of charity (Tsadaqa) to help the underprivilidged was one of the 'Pillars' of the faith of the Jews as ordained in the Bible.
This was not a practice of the pagan Arabs. Again, this was plagiarised by Muhammad from the traditions of the Jews and incorporated in his Quran***
Fourth Pillar: Sawm/Fast
Every year in the month of Ramadan, all 'Muslims' fast from first light until sundown, abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations. Those who are sick, elderly, or on a joumey, and women who are pregnant or nursing are permitted to break the fast and make up an equal number of days later in the year. If they are physically unable to do this, they must feed a needy person for every day missed. Children begin to fast (and to observe the prayer) from puberty, although many start earlier.
Although the fast is most beneficial to the health, it is regarded principally as a method of selfpurification. By cutting oneself off from worldly comforts, even for a short time, a fasting person gains true sympathy with those who go hungry as well as growth in one's spiritual life.
*** Fasting was not invented by Muhammad or his Quran since even the Pagan Arabs had rituals of fasting. Of course both the Jews and Christians had this from the Bible.
Muhammad even instructed his followers in the Madina to follow the Yom Kippur fasting tradition during the 10th of Muharram.
Once more, another 'pillar' of Muhammadan Islam was plagiarised and imitated from the traditions of other peoples, including the Pagan Arabs ***
Fifth Pillar: Hajj/ Pilgrimmage
The annual pilgrimage to Mecca, the Hajj, is an obligation only for those who are physically and financially able to perform it. Nevertheless, about two million people go to Makkah each year from every comer of the globe providing a unique opportunity for those of different nations to meet one another.
Although Mecca is always filled with visitors, the annual Hajj begins in the twelfth month of the Islamic year (which is lunar, not solar, so that Hajj and Ramadan fall sometimes in summer, sometimes in winter).
Pilgrims wear special clothes: simple garments which strip away distinctions of class and culture, so that all stand equal before Allah.
The rites of the Hajj which are allegedly of Abrahamic origin, include circling the Ka'ba seven times, and going seven times between the mountains of Safa and Marwa as did Hagar during her search for water. Then the pilgrims stand together on the wide plain of Arafa and join in prayers for Allah's forgiveness, in what is often thought of as a preview of the Last Judgement.
*** The Hajj was NEVER an Abrahamic tradition since there was none mentioned in the Bible describing such an event.
It was Muhammad, who unilaterally claimed Abraham as the 'father' of the Arabs through Ishmael.
It was Muhammad who alleged such traditions to the unsuspecting Abraham to give himself and his followers a worthy - but totally false and unsubstantiated - ancestry and origin ***
In previous centuries the Hajj was an arduous undertaking. Today, however,
Saudi Arabia provides millions of people with water, modern transport, and the most up-to-date health facilities.
The close of the Hajj is marked by a festival, the Eid al-Adha, which is celebrated with prayers and the exchange of gifts in 'Muslim' communities everywhere. This, and the
Eid al-Fitr, a feast-day commemorating the end of Ramadan, are the main festivals of the 'Muslim' calendar.
*** Even the last 'pillar' of Muhammadan Islam, is a copy of traditions which existed among the Pagan Arabs as well as among the Jews & Christians long before Muhammad and his Quran.
The Jews & Christians attempted to visit Jerusalem at least once in their life time if possible if they were outside the Land of Israel. Those who were in Israel, they made pilgrimage almost every High Holy Day to Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem when it existed.
Muhammad plagiarized all the above 'Pillars of Islam' from the traditions of the Pagan Arabs, the Jews, the Christians and the Zoroaserians, incorporated them in his Quran and shamelessly and falsely declared them as his own***
In conclusion, the much proclaimed Five Pillars of 'Islam', are copies or imitations of rituals which preceded Muhammad and his Quran by centuries.
The much vilified and denigrated Pagan Arabs contributed to FOUR of the Five Pillars of 'Islam'.
Sahih Al-Bukhari HadithHadith 9.19 Narrated byAbu Huraira
In the year of the Conquest of Mecca, the tribe of Khuza'a killed a man from the tribe of Bam Laith in revenge for a killed person belonging to them in the Pre-Islamic Period of Ignorance. So Allah's Apostle got up saying, "Allah held back the (army having) elephants from Mecca, but He let His Apostle and the believers overpower the infidels (of Mecca). Beware! (Mecca is a sanctuary)! Verily! Fighting in Mecca was not permitted for anybody before me, nor will it be permitted for anybody after me. It was permitted for me only for a while (an hour or so) of that day. No doubt! It is at this moment a sanctuary; its thorny shrubs should not be uprooted; its trees should not be cut down; and its Luqata (fallen things) should not be picked up except by the one who would look for its owner. And if somebody is killed, his closest relative has the right to choose one of two things, i.e., either the Blood money or retaliation by having the killer killed." Then a man from Yemen, called Abu Shah, stood up and said, "Write that) for me, O Allah's Apostle!" Allah's Apostle said (to his companions), "Write that for Abu Shah." Then another man from Quraish got up, saying, "O Allah's Apostle! Except Al-Idhkhir (a special kind of grass) as we use it in our houses and for graves." Allah's Apostle said, "Except Al-idhkhir."
***As usual, whatever was prohibited to all others, was conveniently made 'legal' by 'divine orders' only to Muhammad including breaking every tradition of the Arabs no matter how sacred it was ***
6th Pillar : Jihad/Holy War
Sometimes a sixth pillar is added, the Holy War, a war fought against ALL UNBELIEVERS - all of humanity who do not believe as Muhammad and his followers - in the path of Allah to spread the faith. Its importance depends on the situation.
Those who die in the Holy War are killed as a result of divine predestination and go directly to paradise.
Invariably, Jihad was declared not only against none Muslims but also against other sects of Islam who disagreed with the prevailing power.
Jihad is used as a pretext to expand the realm of the Islamic Empire, to plunder, to rape, to enslave and to tax conquered peoples. It is a PREDATORY excuse for financial gain and has very little to do in reality with the defense of Islam.
The Muhammadan concept of paradise is considerably more substantial than the Christian version (more akin to the Persian, Firdawz).
It is PHYSICAL and not SPIRITUAL; SENSUAL and CARNAL but not HOLY.
The Muhammadan heaven is a lush, green oasis filled with streams and fountains where beautiful, almond-eyed maidens and beautiful boys serve delicious food and drink -as well as sexual favours -to the warriors in the Afterlife.
Hell is similar to that of the Christians - a place of eternal fiery torment.
