Sunnis Islam: The Five Pillars of Faith

The Five Pillars of Faith are duties and responsibilities that are set aside for each Muslim as a celebration of discipline accepting the basic concepts and duties of Islam. The pillars present the obligatory basic knowledge of Islam. The Quran/Muslim bible presents the pillars of Islam as a guide to worship/expression of Faith.

1. Shahadah (Creed)

The creed is prayerfully chanted (Azaan) in Arabic (Islamic language) committing to Allah the belief and acceptance of Muhammad as the Messenger of God (monotheism).

2. Salat (Daily Prayers)

Salat are the five daily prayers of the Islamic faith namely Fajr (before dawn), Dhuhr (with the sun), Asr (afternoon), Maghrib (sunset) and Isha’a (evening) consisting of different parts. There is compulsory washing/Wudu before Salat is recited facing Kabah (mosque) in Mecca with humility e.g. knelt, one foot under another with toes straight.

3. Fasting during Ramadaan

Ritual, repentance or ascetic fasting is part of the mandatory duties of Muslims from puberty (13yrs. old) onwards during the month of Ramadaan from dawn to dusk. Muslims intend to draw nearer to God. The elderly, ill, people with chronic medical conditions, pregnant and breastfeeding women are exempted.

4. Zakât (Alms Giving)

This is the Islamic tithe and is the responsibility of the wealthier Muslim to alleviate the economic burdens of the less fortunate declared unto Allah. Zakat is proportionate to economic prosperity and is generally 2.5% of the individual wealth.

5. The Hajj (Pilgrimage to Mecca)

The Hajj is taken during the Holy month or Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah. Every healthy and able Muslim has to travel to Mecca at least once in their lives. Pilgrimage etiquette is practiced to display devotion to God/Allah. The Five Pillars of Faith offer basic knowledge on the foundation of the Islamic Faith. It is the order for its worldwide disciplinary practice.

Image: Rashid Al-Din, The Islamic prophet Muhammad solves a dispute over lifting the black stone into position at al-Kaaba, Wikimedia

Population Falling

Today’s Catholicism is facing a serious problem of declining numbers. Worldwide, except in third world countries, the number of people attending Church or wanting to join the clergy have been dropping in alarming numbers. This situation is not unique to the Catholic Church; many of the western Christian religions are seeing the same patterns in follower population.

Marketing

To bring people back into the fold, the Catholic Church has been trying new marketing ideas to attract followers to return. These range from community meetings and events to combining school programs with the local church. In some cases, the Catholic Church in developed countries has even become political again, taking positions on various government issues at least in terms of communication. It may be that with the economic recession that has swept the U.S. and Europe since 2008, more people in financial problems have been steered to new faith, looking for comfort or relief, but this is a bit of a guess. Instead, the reality is where people have less money, they also have less to share. As a result, the Catholic Church is seeing a decline in donations from attendants just like any other non-profit as much as it has been experiencing a decline in followers.

Direction

The Church still gets its direction from Rome, but many of the branches coordinate at the national level and direct in detail their own home country churches on a more regular level. In this regard, the Catholic Church experience in Italy may be a bit different than that experienced in Germany as well as the U.S. in terms of doctrine implementation. However, under the conservative approach, eventual changes have been taking place with sermons, ceremonies, wording, as well as policies.

Picture: Lincoln Rogers – Fotolia

Principles

Many do not consider Hinduism a religion in the strict sense of the word, but more like a tradition. This is due to the fact that it encompasses a range of different beliefs rather than sticking to a rigid set of rules. While sacred literature, known as the Vedas, is important to many Hindus, others mostly operate within the principle of karma. From this, the actions of an individual are guided due to the belief in reincarnation and that redemption comes from being freed from this cycle of births.

Beliefs

In addition to the cycle of reincarnation and karma, there are several other beliefs that Hindus hold. Hinduism is built on the idea of people having complete freedom to believe and worship as they please. Further, it is believed that it is possible to be released from the reincarnation cycle and that yoga creates paths to take. The concept of God is a fluid one within Hinduism as there is no definitive text or belief to confirm that there is one. Hindus are effectively philosophers when it comes to this point, but do believe that the soul of a person is eternal. There are four objectives that form the purpose of life, which are righteousness, livelihood, freedom from reincarnation and sensual pleasure.

Rituals

Many devout Hindus will perform a variety of rituals on a daily basis, such as praying at dawn and making offerings to deities. These can be extended when it comes to a variety of landmarks in life. Rituals also take place through the celebration of festivals, many of which occur through the Hindu calendar, such as Diwali, the festival of lights, and Ugadi, celebration of the new year in the Hindu calendar.

Current Practice

Hinduism is widely practised in Asia, with the highest concentration of followers residing in Nepal and the second highest in India. However, people who practice Hinduism can be found all over the world. There are four holy sites that Hindus can make pilgrimages to, though the practice is not compulsory.

Picture: Wikimedia: Dancing Ganpati, 15th century, Central Tibet

History

Buddhism’s rich, spiritual history goes back as far as the 6th century, arising from the bodhi – or personal enlightenment – of Siddhartha Gautama. He came from the foot of the Himalayan mountains, what would currently be around the border of Nepal and India. Siddhartha Gautama subsequently known as Gautama Buddha and his quest for enlightenment gave him the knowledge necessary to be able to teach others the principles of the faith.

Principles

In essence, Buddhism teaches its followers to focus on personal spiritual development by looking within themselves to gain insight on life. Unlike most other religions, Buddhists do not believe in a God, but rather that everything in life is connected. This idea leads to an emphasis on nature, compassion and morality. Transformation is always possible within Buddhism because nothing is permanent.

Teachings

The entirety of Buddha’s teachings can be found in The Four Noble Truths, which came to fruition after his deep meditations. These are suffering, the origins of suffering, cessation of suffering and the path to the cessation of suffering – a diagnosis and cure for a problem. The idea of karma is recognisable in a number of different religions, albeit in slightly different guises. In Buddhism, positive and negative acts contribute to the future life, which can be improved further with continued good deeds.

Practice

Buddhists can practice their faith at a temple or at home, which is mainly undertaken in the form of meditation. Good morals are important to a Buddhist as they help to shape an individual’s character. Accordingly, doing no harm to another living thing is a principle that all Buddhists live by. A number of festivals are celebrated throughout the year.

Present Day

The number of Buddhist followers is great, with there being over 370 million from all over the world. Though the greatest concentration is in Asia, the number of converts from western countries increases the number further.

Picture: Wikimedia: Prajnaparamita female Bodhisattva of the “Perfection of Wisdom”, Java, Indonesia

The First Followers of Christ

Christianity was founded by Jesus and his followers. He had twelve followers called disciples, Peter, Simon, James the great, James the lesser, Andrew, Luke, John, Judas, Bartholomew, Mathew, Thaddeus and Thomas. These were students of Jesus and they followed him, and he thought them Gods message. Jesus also had four Apostles, Mathew, Mark, Luke and John. These were senior followers of Jesus whom he appointed to go forth and spread the word of God. These senior followers also wrote the Gospels, which are an account or a record of the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. The word Gospel is derived from an old English word Godspel which means good news. The Gospels feature in the first testament of the bible.

Christianity Today

There are several religions which follow Christian beliefs, however The Catholic Church believe that they are the only true followers of Jesus, they don’t accept that any other church or religion can have Christian beliefs, and don’t consider themselves a denomination. There are however several denominations with Christian beliefs, the Catholic Church have the largest following of approximately one billion. The other main denominations are the Protestant Church and the Easton Orthodox Church.

The Future for Christianity

Currently approximately one third of the world’s population have Christian beliefs. To be a Christian is to believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God. Many have this belief without being part of a structured or formal religion; therefore it is very difficult to calculate exactly how many people are of Christian faith. Christianity continues to grow, however Catholicism, one of the biggest religions in the world is having a lot of problems, and the credibility of the religion and their beliefs are in severe danger. Many believe that major reforms of the Catholic Church and their structure are required to restore faith in the Catholic Church.

Picture: Wikimedia: Carl Bloch – The Sermon On the Mount