THE FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM

The Five Pillars of Islam ~ 97 ~ PRAYER Prayer, the second pillar of Islam, entails the worship of God five times a day in the prescribed manner. This mode of worship, laid down for mankind by God through His Prophet, is so allembracing that one cannot imagine any superior way of worshipping the Almighty. When the time for prayer comes, the greatness of God is proclaimed in the call to prayer, and the faithful are instructed to assemble for prayer as a matter of their own spiritual uplift. They then perform their ablutions—in so doing reviving their sense of cleanliness—and, fixing their minds on God, they make their way to the mosque, where they all offer prayers together. The prayers are led by an Imam, under whose guidance Muslims are shown how they should lead their lives. In the same way as the congregation make the Imam their leader in prayers, so should all Muslims unite around the Prophet, making him the focal point of their social existence. The prayer has various stages: bowing low,