Summary: The Five Pillars Of Islamic Religion

In the daily practice of the Islamic faith, followers adhere to the five Pillars of Islam as the foundation of their religious obligation, as it is essential to their faith. As Winfried Corduan lays out the five Pillars of Islam as confession, prayer, fasting, almsgiving and pilgrimage to Mecca (Winfried Corduan, 2012). Confession is key in the Islamic faith, as it sets the foundation for the other pillars to build on, as in most religions, confessing that there is only one God and that God is Allah, and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. Muhammad being this messenger of God, is given the authority, so what Muhammad say’s Allah says. By confessing this, followers are pledging their allegiance to him. Prayer being the second Pillar of …show more content…
Winfried Corduan explains that this provided Islamic countries with a clear program of social welfare (Winfried Corduan, 2012). While in the article Giving Practices in Islamic Societies, it explains that with out including this pre-Islamic Arabian tradition, that has such an important role in shaping Islamic societies and communities. Without this fundamental aspect, it would be hard to fully understand their culture either in the past or present day (Singer, 2013). Pilgrimage is the fifth Pillar of Islam, requiring that every follower make a pilgrimage to Mecca if they are capable, and if they can not then they need to send some one in their place. This is important the Islamic faith, as they fulfill the six main components of the pilgrimage. The first step is preparation, entering a state of purity, the second component is the tawaf or walking around the Kaaba seven times. The third component is running between Marwa and Safa. In the fourth component they pilgrimage from Mecca to the plain of Arafat, where on they stand from afternoon prayer until sunset. The fifth component is sacrifices at Mina, and finishing the sixth component by stoning the