Islam As It Is
The Five Pillars of Islam
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prostrating oneself, and standing and kneeling
before God. In assuming these various postures, the
congregation demonstrates their submission to the
Lord. When they stand, hands joined in prayer,
when they bow low, when they sit reverently before
the Lord, when they touch the ground with their
foreheads, with each posture they adopt, they
renew their covenant of submission to God.
During the prayers, an excerpt from the Quran is
read out. One amazing attribute of the Quran is
that, no matter which part is chosen and how much
of it is recited, its message is clearly conveyed. This
is because each page of the Quran is like a summary
of the whole. In this way, any short excerpt from the
Quran recited in prayer suffices to show what
pleases and what displeases the Almighty.
Besides this, the prayers include praise and
remembrance of God, supplications to Him and the
expression of goodwill towards the Prophet and all
believers. The prayers then end with a message of
peace to all mankind. Thus constituted, they are
both an act of worship and a reminder of God’s
commandments. They give solace to believers,
