What are the main

practices?

They are called the “five pillars of

Islam”.

1. Say the Shahada throughout the day.

2. Pray five times daily, facing Mecca.

Each prayer begins with a recitation of the opening chapter from the Qur’an.

“In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

Praise belongs to God, the Lord of all Being, the All-merciful, the All-compassionate, the Master of

the Day of Doom.

Thee only we serve; to Thee alone we pray for succour.

Guide us in the straight path, the path of those whom Thou hast blessed, not of those against

whom Thou art wrathful, nor of those who are astray.”

Prayers must wash in the prescribed way before they pray.

Prayers are formal and memorized and prayed

in various postures, from bowing to kneeling. The word mosque means “place of prostration.”

Muslim communities gather for collective prayer mostly on Fridays.

3. Alms: Muslims are required to give 2.5% of their income to the poor.

4. Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj) Every able bodied Muslim must make this pilgrimage once.

Activities during hajj re-enact important events in life of Muhammad

Focal point of the pilgrimage is the Ka’aba, recast as an Islamic, not a pagan shrine. (Muslims believe the Ka’aba houses the stone Allah gave Ibrahim when he almost sacrificed Ishmael.)

                

Fasting in the daylight hours during Ramadan, the month the Qur’an “came down.”

What about the “Nation of Islam” in

America? Wallace Fard started

“Nation of Islam” in Detroit

in 1920s to fight white oppression with

mixture of Muslim and African ideas.

Elijah Poole (Muhammad),

son of a Baptist preacher, took the lead when Fard disappeared in 1934.

Malcolm Little (alias Malik Shabazz or Malcom X)

became a prominent leader, but fell out of favor after the Kennedy assassination, returned from the pilgrimage to Mecca and advocated reforms to make “Nation of Islam” more Islamic. He was assassinated by Muslims on February 27, 1965.

Warith Muhammad succeeded his father Elijah in 1975, and aligned “Nation of Islam” with Sunni Islam

worldwide, changed name to American Muslim Mission.

Louis Farrakhan

revived Nation of Islam in

1978 as a separate, racist

movement.

What do orthodox Muslims say about Jihad

or “Holy War”?1. Physical violence must never be used to advance Islam.2. Islam should be propagated only by reason and persuasion.

3. An Islamic nation may defend itself when attacked by another nation.4. If a non-Muslim nation uses physical force to oppress Muslims, Muslims may respond with force.

5. Former Muslim nations that are overtaken by non-Muslims must never be allowed to revert to non-Muslims. 6. The Islamic holy lands must never be violated by non- Muslims. Any violations give just cause for Holy War.