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Differences between Islam and Christianity
Differences between Islam and Christianity
Importance of salat in islam
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As each day passes, Islam is becoming a bigger and more followed religion. With every one of those days, it becomes a more important part of our world. For these reasons is it pertinent to be knowledgeable about Islam, especially for Christians. So when you are inevitably put into a situation where you will have to discuss Islam, you will be able to. In this paper I will talk about the history of Islam and the Koran, the basics of Islam faith, the differences between Islam and Muslim, the difference between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, their view on Christ, and finally how to counter their opinion and share the Gospel with them. Mohammed was born in Mecca around 570 A.D. in western Arabia. When Mohammed was about forty, he began having vision …show more content…
These five point of Islam, are the most important in their faith. The first one of these pillars is the confession of faith, which is also known as ‘shahada’, which means ‘witness’, or as ‘kalima’, which means ‘word’. Their confession of faith is translated into English as something like, “There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is His Prophet.” This is a short confession, and most Muslims take great pride in that simplicity. This phrase is often whispered in a newborn infant’s ear as the first thing they will ever hear. This fact, and the fact that most Muslim parents teach their children this phrase first, shows just how important this confession is in the lives of Muslims. The second pillar of Islam faith is prayer. This is another extremely important factor in the life of Muslims. There are two kinds of prayer in the Islam faith. The first is the salat, which is a series of five formal daily prayers alongside physical actions. These prayers occur between dawn and sunrise, just after noon, in the afternoon, after sunset, and before retiring. The salat is known as the liturgical prayer of Islam. It is very important because it is the physical embodiment of a Muslim’s complete surrender to God, hence the physical motions. The second form of Islamic prayer is the du’a, which is a voluntary prayer to Allah that is usually absent of physical movements. The most common form of du’a is when a believer would call down a blessing on the Prophet Mohammed, and his family. Before engaging in prayer, Muslim’s strongly believe in ritual purification. This causes them to perform a type of cleansing, or ablution. Also before the prayer, Muslim’s will make a statement of intention that would be translated as something like, “I really mean to worship You, O God.” This statement is believed to
Islamic life is centered on the physical practice of prayer (salat). With that the religion of Islam itself is based in the methodical movement through which Muslims show their devotion to Allah. The prayer begins with the devotee standing, bending slowly into a sitting position and ending in full prostration. Bowing fully onto the ground is a practice that shows humility and represents the true devotion of members. Practice-centered religion differentiates itself from “orthodox” religion in that it focuses primarily on ritual practice, rather than theology or doctrine, orthodox meaning “correct opinion”. The most visible orthodox religion of America is Christianity. Christianity centers life around the opinions of the church with less emphasis on purity and behavior. Islamic life is distinctly based on what can be defined as “orthopraxy” or the importance of religious practice. The orthopraxy of Islam can be seen in at least three of the Five Pillars of Islam, salat, Ramadan and the hajj, which are also representative of Muslim faith and duties.
In the investigation of Islam, the five pillars of Islam provide a glimpse of the life and obligations of the Muslim. The main pillars include confession, prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and pilgrimage. This essay will provide a brief overview of the pillars, how prayer is lived out in an individual Muslims life, and how Christians assimilate to Muslim culture in Saudi Arabia.
The first of the Five Pillars is the creed. The creed states, “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger,” (Molloy, 431). This pillar is the core for the Muslim faith. When the creed is recited and believed, it is believed that that person is now truly a Muslim. This message is also found all over within the Muslim faith. It is recited daily and frequently written within mosques and private homes (Molloy, 431).
Islam is a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion alongside Judaism and Christianity. It is currently the second largest religion in the world today. Its beliefs come from the Qur'an which literally means "the recitation" which is believed to be a literal transcription of the word of God. Its main prophet is named Muhammad who began Islam by speaking with the angel Gabriel in a cave during his meditation and then acting as an instrument of God to help write the Qur’an. Muhammad then spread Islam to the scattered tribes of Arabia by becoming the leader of Yathrib and using his wonderful leadership abilities to then grow his influence over virtually all of Arabia. Muhammad is known by Muslims to be the seal of the profits because no profits after Muhammad should be considered legitimate. Muhammad also left behind the Hadith or “tradition” which is a collection of writings compiled of reports of Muhammad’s actions as leader of Yathrib. These reports are used as a more specific code of ethics in day to day life and from these reports the 5 Pillars of Islam are derived (Smith 160). Although Islam shares many similarities to Judaism and Christianity it is often viewed in the US with hate derived from preconceived notions following the attack on September 11th 2001. This paper seeks to provide an overview of Islam’s history as well as its two major sects and 5 main pillars to remove preconceived notions and provide a glance into the minds of the Islamic people.
These metaphorical “pillars,” are what Muslims base their life decisions and actions around. To clearly understand Islam’s core philosophy of life, one must first know what these five pillars entail. The first pillar is called Shahada, which is the Muslim’s declaration of faith and belief. The declaration is a short phrase, which translates from its native language of Arabic to English as, “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger.” Then the second pillar is the Salat, which is the pillar of worship. In Islam, daily prayers are greatly important. A Muslim is required by their religion to pray five times a day; at dawn, noon, midafternoon, sunset, and then lastly in the evening. Devout Muslims also wash their hands and feet as a religious practice to purify themselves symbolically before prayers. (University of Calgary,
The iconic set of rules that Islam follows are the Five Pillars of Islam. They are a set of rules that are expected of all Muslims, or followers of Islam, in order to achieve eternal glorification. Some of the pillars include the Shahada which is the confession that Allah is the one true God and Muhammad is his trusted prophet, the Salat which are prayers said five times a day facing Mecca, the Zakat which is the giving of alms, the Shawm which is a fast during Ramadan, and the Hajj which is a pilgrimage that all Muslims, that are able, must take to Mecca. The sacred text that Muslims follow is titled the Quran. The Quran consists of teachings that Muhammad wrote while being divinely inspired by Allah.
Both Islam and Christianity have practices or duties, which are central to the daily routines of life. The five pillars of Islam are the foundation of the way Muslims live. The first pillar of Islam is the Shahadah, the Declaration of Faith. This says; ‘There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah’. The second pillar is salah, which says that Muslims should pray five times a day. This applies to all Muslims, except Shi’is are permitted to combine the five prayers into three sessions. The third pillar is zakah, which means giving money to people who are poor or in need. The fourth pillar is sawm, which means fasting. Every year, during the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast during hours of daylight. The fifth pillar is Hajj. This is the pilgrimage to Mekkah, which
The Salat, a central component of Islam, is a complex assembly of ritual movements and cleansing that allows the Muslim to express devotion and submission to God. The term “salat” itself is derived from an Aramaic word that means “bowing.” Before the establishment of Islam, the term generally referred to institutional prayers in churches and synagogues. Similarly, salat in Islam was also an outward expression of faith. The physical movements done in prayers which compromises of standing erect, bowing and prostrating oneself all serve to acknowledge the might and greatness of God and the dependence of the Muslim on Him . During the pr...
The Five Pillars of Islam are the basis for Muslim life. Similar to the ten commandments in the Bible, these acts of faith are the center of Islam -- belief in the Oneness of God and Muhammad's finality, reciting the daily prayers, concern and charity for those in need, fasting, and a pilgrimage to Mecca for those who are able. The first pillar, Iman (meaning faith), is pretty self-explanatory. This pillar has roots from a declaration of faith deemed the Shahadah - "There is none worthy of worship except God and Muhammad is the messenger of God. " This declaration is reserved for those who are faithful and claims that the sole purpose in life is to serve and obey God, which is achieved by following the teachings of Muhammad.
The worship of Allah is principal in a Muslim’s mind at all time. There are also five formal acts of worship which help strengthen a the faith and obedience of a Muslim. They are frequently called the “Five Pillars of Islam”. The Five Pillars of Islam are the framework and guidelines of the Muslim life. They are the testimony of faith, prayer, supporting the needy, fasting during the month of Ramadan, and the once in a lifetime trip to Makkah for those who are able to do so. These Five Pillars are the thing Muslim’s do to please God and to keep themselves well and happy in this lifetime and for the future ones to come. It was Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam, who was reported to have said, “Islam is based upon five pillars”.
When you become a Muslim,you believe salvation is dependent on man, not God. There are five pillars of Islam, these five pillars are the Muslims acts of worship to Allah. Allah means God. The five pillars of Islam are
The Ka’ba is the central focal point of Mecca and it is where all Muslims are supposed to direct their prayer. The qibla is located in all Mosques and is intended to guide Muslims in prayer toward the direction of the Ka’ba in Mecca. The Five Pillars of Islam are wajib, or obligatory under Islam. One of the pillars is salat which means daily prayer. Muslims are required to pray five times a day which means that five time a day Muslims, regardless of their location, must direct their attention toward Mecca and pray toward the Ka’ba.
The second pillar, named Salat, is the pillar of praying five times a day. Muslims wash their face, arms, feet and passed their wet hands over their heads, before each prayer. Muezzins were people who called the Muslims to the mosques for prayer by shouting from tall towers called minarets. Layme... ... middle of paper ... ...
Why is it so fundamental for Muslims to pray five times a day? In a religious context, the word Islam means ‘submission’ to the will of Allah or God and the Muslim is the one who submits and humbles himself in front of his Lord. The Qur’an revealed that God “…did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship [him]” (51:56) (Ali). If the purpose of life is to worship Allah then there must be a way for them to express their humility and acceptance of God’s commands. Salat is how Muslims show both their physical and spiritual submission to Allah. Just like the other acts of worship such as Sawm (Fasting), Hajj (Pilgrimage to Makkah), and Zakat (alms-giving), the goal of Salat is to bring the Muslims closer to Allah and also build the character of members of Islamic community. This investigation focuses on the early origins of Salat, the role it plays in Islam, and its significance both in this life and the hereafter using as evidence the Holy book of Islam and the sunnah of Prophet
... When Muslims prayer that there mind is clear of any trivial and not importatn thought so that you can give god your undivided attention. http://www.hajinformation.com/main/c20.htm. The prayer starts by standing shoulder width apart and followed by a knell and followed then by the prayer of Salat.