Samin Shahryar
Frederick Law Olmsted
There are five pillars of Islam that muslims around the globe follow. These pillars are Shahadah, Salat, Zakat, Sawm, and Hajj. Each pillar has a different meaning and are very important in the religion of Islam.
The first pillar is Shahadah. Shahadah is defined as the declaration of faith. This pillar helps muslims understand strongly that there is only one god which is Allah.
The second pillar is Salat (Salah) . Salat just means prayer. We must perform five prayers everyday. The five prayers every muslim should know are Fajr, Zuhur, Asr, Magrib, and Isha. Each prayer has its own time to pray with which also should be known. We pray everyday on a daily basis because praying leads us to communicating with Allah.
The third pillar of Islam is Zakat. Zakat means alms-giving. Every muslim must give charity to those people who are poor. Every muslim must at least give 2.5 percent of their wealth to the poor. If a muslim has more money than they must give more than 2.5 percent of their wealth as stated in the Sadaqah. Allah will be giving rewards to muslims who participate. Muslims give Zakat so they can help the poor people we see almost everywhere.
The fourth pillar of Islam is Sawm. Sawm is another way to say fasting. Us muslims fast when it comes to the month of Ramadan. After every day we come to a stop where we break our fast. We are given a big meal when we break the fast. The Holy Quran shows the requirements for fasting. Allah gets happier and rewarding every time we fast.
The fifth and final pillar is Hajj. Hajj is another term for pilgrimage. We must go do Pilgrimage at least once in our life. This act is done in Mecca, the holy city in the religion of Islam. It is commanded that men and women must walk around the Kaaba at least seven times. After that we must touch black stone during the act of Hajj. These are the five pillars of Islam that us muslims must follow.