Islamic beliefs and practices
All Muslims must accept and practice the Five Pillars of Islam because they support the Muslim faith. All five are mentioned in the Qur'an.
Creed (Shahadah) - "There is no God but Allah, and Muhammand is his messenger." Reciting and believing in this single sentence makes a person Muslim. It's the first thing whispered to an infant when they're born, recited in daily prayer, and written everywhere inside the domes of mosques and over their doors in Arabic. The most noticeable quality in this pillar is its simplicity because it emphasizes that there's only one God and that God is a unity.
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Prayer (Salat) - Devout Muslims are called to pray five times a day: before dawn, midday, midafternoon, sunset, and nighttime. Before prayer, individuals are normally expected to perform a ritual purification with water. This consists of washing hands, arms, face, neck, and feet, and if water is unavailable, the purification can be done with sand. Friday is the day of public prayer, and on other days, people may pray privately, such as in their home or at work or in a mosque. Originally the day of prayer was Sunday, but Muhammad received a revelation that public prayer is performed midday on a Friday was God's will.
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Charity to the Poor (Zakat) - During his time, Muhammad was troubled by injustice, inequality, poverty. The demand that people give to the poor was part of his vision for a more just society. As a result, Islamic practice demands that believers donate certain percentages depending on what is taxed (usually 2.5%) of their total income, herds, as well as produce from fields and orchards to the poor.
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Fasting During Ramadan (Sawm) - Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim calendar. Since Islam follows a strict lunar calendar, Ramadan occurs at a slightly different time each year. This is the time during which Muhammad first received his revelations; therefore, devout Muslims avoid all food, tobacco, liquid, and sex from dawn until dusk. The purpose of fasting is to discipline oneself, develop sympathy for the poor and hungry, and to give others what one would have eaten. It is meant for good individual spirit growth, and is an important bond uniting all Muslims during Ramadan.
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Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj) - The word "pilgrimage" means a religious journey by a believer to a sacred city or site. It is a common practice in many religions, and offers people to travel and experience new sights, bring people of all different backgrounds together, and gives a sense of unity. Pilgrimage becomes a powerful symbol of an interior journey to the spiritual goals of new understanding and personal information. This fifth pillar was already practiced before Muhammad was born, but he continued the practice following his divine revelation. Muhammad also continued many earlier aspects of pilgrimage that included veneration of the black meteorite. All Muslims are expected to visit Mecca at least once in their lifetime, and because Islam is central to the nature of Mecca, only Muslims can visit the city.
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Additional practices
Islam aims to provide patterns for ideal living. Additional practices include: dietary restrictions (much similar to the Judaism religion), prohibition against usury and gambling, circumcision, marriage, female roles, and death rituals. For example, the practice of marriage is basically meant as a civil contract between families. Traditional Muslim societies have marriages arranged by parents and formalized by a written contract. The bridegroom's family makes an offer of money or property to the family of the bride as part of the negotiation, and the marriage ceremony is usually held at home is meant as a witnessing and signing of the contract. Marriages can be annulled for serious reasons, and divorce is possible and can be started by a wife and husband, but neither is frequent in the religion. Women, as a wife, takes on new, responsible role taking on the legal responsibility of her husband.
Molloy, Michael. Experiencing the World's Religions: Tradition, Challenge, and Change. 5th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2010. Print.