THE FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM

The Five Pillars of Islam ~ 82 ~ THE FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM Islam, according to the Prophet, was built upon five tenets: “The sworn testimony that none is worthy of being served besides God and that Mohammad is His servant and Apostle; ritual prayer; the giving of alms; pilgrimage to the House of God, and the fast of Ramadhan.” A building, when looked at in the mass, appears to be the sum of its many intricate parts. But what is it which bears aloft the entire soaring edifice? One comes inevitably to the pillars, the underpinnings of the whole structure. Thus, the above-cited articles of faith, are, figuratively speaking, the “pillars” of Islam, without which the entire Islamic edifice would come crashing to the ground. Human individuals are like pieces of land on which such an edifice can be raised. But, if that edifice is to be pleasing to God, it must be set firmly on those five pillars of Islamic tradition. Without this, the structure of Islam cannot be built up and supported at the level either of the individual or of society. According to Islam, all individuals should lead