Islam As It Is
The Five Pillars of Islam
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lives of worship of and devotion to God. The
different observances which are the warp and weft
of such an existence—faith, prayer, fasting, charity,
pilgrimage—are not mere rituals, but are integral
virtues of the Islamic awareness. Faith, to take the
most important, is in essence, belief in the truth of
divine realities. Prayer is an exercise in physical and
mental prostration before God, such as will banish
all notions of personal greatness. Fasting—perhaps
the most difficult—teaches one to be steadfast in
one’s trust of God. Charity entails the recognition of
others’ claims upon one, so that one shall not forfeit
one’s own share in God’s bounty. Lastly, the
pilgrimage serves to unite God’s servants around
their Maker. Once an individual attains the high
degree of piety engendered by the observance of
these Islamic requirements, he can be judged to
have acquired such characteristics—selflessness,
patience, readiness to acknowledge the rights of
others—as will gain him God’s blessings for all time
to come.
FAITH
When one finally acknowledges God as one’s Lord
