The Religion of Islam

Islam is a religion of peace. There are 5 pillars of Islam, which are mandatory. The five pillars are, Shahadah, Salat, Zakat, Sawm, and Hajj, I will define the five pillars now.

1. Shahadah: Beleiving that there is no God but Allah, and Muhammad [peace be upon him] is his last messenger.

2. Salat: It is the prayers Muslims offer five times a day, Fajr, zuhr, asr, maghrib and Isha.

3. Zakat: It is to give 2.5% annually of one’s savings to the needy people.

4. Sawm: Fasting during the month of Ramadan to learn to have a control over yourself and to know how the needy people feel who have to starve because they can’t get food.

5. Hajj: To go to Mecca and Medina to perform pilgrimage once in a lifetime at least, if you can afford it.

Islam began when Gabriel [peace be upon him] came to Muhammad [peace be upon him] when Muhammad [peace be upon him] was praying at Cave Hira. He told Muhammad [peace be upon him] that he was Allah’s Prophet. Gabriel [peace be upon him] asked Muhammad [peace be upon him] to read, but Muhammad [peace be upon him]replied: “ I am sorry, but I cannot read”, He asked him to read again, and the reply was the same till the third time; Then Gabriel [peace be upon him] held Muhammad [peace be upon him]and recited the first five verses of Surah Al-Alaq. That was the first revelation. The prophet Muhammad [peace be upon him] got so scared after that, that he was shaking. He went home and told his wife Khadija [peace be upon her] about it. Hazrat Khadija [peace be upon her] took Muhammad [peace be upon him] to his cousin, Waraqa bin Noafal, who was a true Christian.

Warqa bin Nofal recognized Muhammad [peace be upon him] as a prophet right there and cried out:"Holy! This is the Namus, The Holy Spirit who came to Mus...

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...isinterpreted by people in today’s world. If Muslims follow on to the way their Prophet had told them, I am sure the world will be a better place.

Works Cited

1. http://www.islamicity.com/forum/printer_friendly_posts.asp?TID=14317

2. Jung, Dietrich. "Islamic Studies and Religious Reform. Ignaz Goldziher – A Crossroads of Judaism, Christianity and Islam." Der Islam: n. pag. Print.

3. Nadwi, M. A.. "Review: The Pillars of Islam: Da'a'im al-Islam of al-Qadi al-Nu'man (Volume 1) * Translated by Asaf A. A. Fyzee, revised and annotated by Ismail Kurban Husein Poonawala: The Pillars of Islam: Da'a'im al-Islam of al-Qadi al-Nu'man (Volume 1)." Journal of Islamic Studies: 211-212. Print.

4. Rubin, Uri. The life of Muhammad. Aldershot, Hampshire, Great Britain: Ashgate, 1998. Print.

5. Wilkinson, Philip, and Batul Salazar. Islam. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 2002. Print.