Ramadan and the Five Pillars of Islam

We live in a multinational state where people of each nationality are free to profess their own religion and worship their own God. The majority of the people of our country are Muslims. During November and December, Muslims around the world observe the Fast of Ramadan. What do you know about this and other aspects of Islam?

The Five Pillars of Islam are the fundamental principles or duties of the religion. They must be performed by all Muslims. The Five Pillars of Islam are:

· to believe in only one God and that Mohammed was his prophet;

· to try to visit the holy Ka’ba in Mecca at least once in your lifetime;

· to give Zakat, part of one’s personal wealth, to a charity once a year;

· to pray five times a day;

· to fast in the hours of daylight during the month of Ramadan.

Mohammed was born in Mecca, in what is now Saudi Arabia, in 570 AD. Muslims believe he was the final prophet sent to the earth by God. When Mohammed was 40 years old, he heard the voice of God while meditating in a cave. He had been called upon to become God’s messenger and to spread the word of Islam.

Before Islam, the Arabic peoples had many different beliefs and gods. Mohammed taught them that there was only one god, Allah in Arabic. This was not well-received and Mohammed and his fellow-believers were forced to flee from Mecca to Medina, where they founded the first Muslim community in the year 622 AD. After a few years, Mohammed returned to Mecca, having defeated its army, and from there Islam quickly spread to many countries. After Mohammed’s death, people disagreed about who should be their new leader and which path they should follow. Consequently, they split into two main groups, each developing slightly different traditions and interpretations of the religion. The larger group became known as the Sunnis and the smaller group is now known as the Shi’as. Today, about ninety percent of the world’s one-and-a-half-billion Muslims are Sunnis. There are over fifty independent Muslim countries in the world today, the largest, in terms of population, being Indonesia.

The Koran is the Islamic holy book. Throughout his life, Mohammed received messages from God. Unable to read or write, Mohammed learned them by heart before passing them on to other Muslims so that they could be written down. After his death in 632 AD, all these written passages were gathered together in one book. The fundamental message of the Koran is that God is the creator of the world and that he controls everything in it. The Koran forbids the use of images of living things; hence there is no physical representation of God. Images representing the religion are based on geometric shapes and calligraphy.

The Arabic word Islam means “submission” reflecting the Koran’s instruction that Muslims are required to surrender to the will of God.

The city of Mecca is important as the birthplace of Mohammed and because it is where he first preached God’s message. In the center of Mecca is the Ka’ba, a large square building, which is kept covered in black cloth richly embroidered in gold. In one wall is a black stone believed to be a meteorite placed there by Ibrahim when he first built the Ka’ba. All Muslims try to visit the holy Ka’ba in Mecca, and walk round it several times, at least once in their lifetime.

Muslims pray five times a day from first thing in the morning to last thing at night. Wherever they are in the world, they face towards the Ka’ba in Mecca as they pray. The original movements of a prayer, which were taught by Mohammed, are still practiced today: stand, bow, kneel and then kneel with one’s face towards the floor. On Fridays, the most holy day, Muslim men meet in the mosque to pray together.

The Koran gives guidance to all aspects of life, including eating and drinking. It forbids the drinking of alcohol as it encourages aggressive behavior and distracts people from the principles of the religion. All meats must be halal, which means that the animals are slaughtered in a way that gives the least pain, and the phrase “In the name of God” is recited as each animal is killed. Muslims don’t eat pork. A pig is considered to be an unclean animal.

Traditional Muslim clothing covers as much of the body as possible, particularly for women. This is done to varying degrees, but in some Muslim societies, women cover their entire bodies, including their faces, when they are in public.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim calendar. It is a time of fasting for Muslims and eating, drinking, and smoking during the hours of daylight is strictly forbidden. The fast is broken at the end of each day with a prayer and a meal called the iftar. Muslims observe the Fast of Ramadan as they believe it allows them to concentrate on their faith and spend less time on the concerns of their everyday lives. It also enables them to develop their powers of self-control and through the hunger it causes to have sympathy for the less fortunate in the world. During Ramadan, some Muslims may spend several hours at the mosque praying and studying the Koran. Some will spend the entire night in prayer. On the evening of the 27^th day of Ramadan, Muslims celebrate the Laylat-al-Qadr (the Night of Power). It is believed that on this night the prophet Mohammed received the first messages from God. According to the Koran, it is on this day that God determines the course of the world for the following year. When the Fast of Ramadan ends, on the first day of the month of Shawwal, there is a three-day holiday.

27. Match the summarizing questions to the paragraphs:

a) What happens during Ramadan?

b) How did Islam begin?

c) What does the word Islam mean?

d) Who was Mohammed?

e) What is the significance of Mecca?

f) What is the Koran?

g) What are the Five Pillars of Islam?

h) What do Muslims not eat or drink?

i) When and how do Muslims pray?

j) What do Muslims traditionally wear?

28. Complete the sentences with suitable words:

1. Muslims pray _____ times a day. 2. Ramadan is the _____ month of the Muslim year. 3. Muslims try to visit _____ at least once in their lifetime. 4. _____ is forbidden in the hours of daylight during Ramadan. 5. The city where Islam was started is _____. 6. Muslim men meet in a mosque every Friday to _____. 7. _____ is forbidden by Islam. 8. The month when Muslims fast is _____. 9. Arabic for God is _____.

10. The Islamic holy book is _____. 11. Islam’s most holy day is _____. 12. Muslims go to _____ to pray. 13. Islam was started in the year _____.