Islam As It Is
The Five Pillars of Islam
~ 110 ~
whatever they give will be returned to them many
times over in the next world; their trust in God’s
promise is complete. In a society ordered in this
way, feelings of antagonism and indifference are
not allowed to develop: people are not bent on
exploiting one another. There is never an
atmosphere
of
mutual
resentment
and
dissatisfaction, for everyone lives in peace with his
neighbour. Such a society, in short, is a haven of
contentment and well-being.
In its external form then,
zakat
is an annual tax. But
in essence, it is the principle on which God and his
creatures have a right to a share in one’s property.
HAJJ
Hajj, the fifth pillar of Islam, is the name given to
the pilgrimage to Mecca, the focal point of Islam,
where once every year Muslims from all over the
world gather to perform a special type of
congregational worship. This takes the form of a
symbolic enactment of certain Islamic teachings, the
observance of which is a requirement on both
spiritual and material levels, since it demonstrates
