Islam As It Is
The Five Pillars of Islam
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the individual’s readiness to put Islamic precepts
into practice in his everyday life. Individual acts of
Islamic worship may be similarly defined, but the
scale on which they take place during Hajj and their
close combination produces an intensification of
their overall effect. Individual pilgrims then have a
sense of belonging to a unified whole.
The ideal of all men living on earth as God’s
servants, and therefore as equals, is expressed in the
wearing of
ihram
(a very simple form of clothing) by
all pilgrims, irrespective of their nationality. In this
way, all artificial, discriminatory barriers are broken
down between people from all walks of life.
It is also the earnest wish of Islam that people’s lives
should revolve around the Almighty, and a
symbolic demonstration of this takes place during
the pilgrimage in the circumambulation of the
House of God. Another ritual involving physical
exertion is
sa’i,
which entails a fast-paced walk
between the hills of Safa and Marwah. This gives
pilgrims a taste of the intensity with which one
must press ever onwards along the path of Islam.
Devotees who hear the call of God are exhorted to
