Introduction
As any other religion, the Islamic confession consists in a set of dogmas, norms, rules and values that must be obeyed by the people practicing it. The Quran, the book that comprises the Islamic learning and religious texts teaches Islamist about how they should behave and act in order to achieve a moral character. By respecting and continuously practicing the exercises imposed by the “five pillars of Islam”, respectively believing, praying, giving, fasting in the month of Ramadan and making at least one pilgrimage to Mecca in a lifetime, Islam believers fit in a moral and ethical framework and achieve a comprehensive lifestyle.
Sustaining Paragraphs
Practicing the duties imposed by the five pillars of Islam means actually being a Muslim, as they hold the weight of Islamic religion, through their learning and prophecies. These duties should be entrenched in the everyday existence of the Muslims as prove of their devotion and submission toward Allah, by following the practice of Muhammad (Teece, 2004).
Believing (Shahadah) is the first of the five pillars. It means declaring Allah as the only God and that He holds the biggest significance in the world and Muhammad as his prophet. The statement of belief in one God is encouraged to be done as often as possible and it represents the Muslims’ intention of following the example of the prophet Muhammad, turning their entire life towards Allah (Teece, 2004).
Devoting their belief to Allah is considered to lead to righteousness for the believers who declare their faith in Allah and who recognize Muhammad as his messenger, because they accept what is pure, noble, cast, holly and supreme. This is the first step for getting closer to Allah and for reaching the moral values that He promotes through the prophet Muhammad.
Praying (salat) is a form of worshiping Allah continuously (Al-Ghazali, 2006), five times per day: before dawn (fari), at noon (zuhr), in the afternoon (asr), after sunset (maghrib), at night (isha) (Teece, 2004).
Salat represents a mode of freeing from diseases, healing the body and making it strong. Prophet Muhammad stated that praying is a way of “prohibiting obscenity and evil” (Al – Ghazali, 2006) and in this manner, while praying, people do not think at obscene and evil aspects, reaching a step forward in perfecting their morals, while developing it into their lifestyle.
Through charitable giving (Zakah – giving money to the poor), another moral principle is met – helping others in need. This is a solution for removing greed and selfishness and for purifying (Teece, 2004; Al – Ghazali, 2006). It only applies for the rich Muslims, who have savings. The ones who do not possess fortunes or enough money to spear with others, must contribute to their cleanliness by doing good deeds. This pillar encourages helping others while purifying the soul and giving defines a moral value, as well as a lifestyle.
Fasting (sawm), the fourth pillar is a way to purify the body, the mind and the soul, because it implies not eating, drinking, having sexual relationships, violent or aggressive behavior or obscene thoughts before the sunrise and before sunset (Teece, 2004).
Fasting is a modality of becoming righteous, as Muhammad himself has spoken and it can be practiced as often as possible, not only in Ramadan (Al – Ghazali, 2006), which implies that it can easily shape Muslim’s lifestyle.
Reaching to Mecca at least once in a lifetime through a pilgrimage (hajj) is compulsory for showing the devotion towards Allah and the love for the world. It implies, besides the trip itself, a righteous attitude that refers to not engaging in sexual or wicked acts, not fighting, having pure thoughts (Al Ghazali, 2006).
The five pillars of Islam offers hence, a comprehensive lifestyle and a moral/ethical framework in which 1.3 billion Muslims of the Umma practice their daily existence worshiping Allah and perfecting their righteousness.
Similar religious practices are present in other cults. As such, Christianity also provides the adepts of this religion with a series of learning regarding how to achieve moral/ethical virtue and a comprehensive lifestyle. These learning are transmitted through the 10 commandments, or the Decalogue, which comprises the laws of Christian morals, ethics and worshiping a one and only God. These are, as it follows:
- “You shall have no other gods before me;
- You shall not make yourself a carved image;
- You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain;
- Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy;
- Honor your father and your mother;
- You shall not murder;
- You shall not commit adultery;
- You shall not steal;
- You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor;
- You shall not covet (your neighbor’s house)” (“The Ten Commandments Listed”).
The Christians who devote themselves and worship the only God do so by respecting these commandments. This signifies that they follow the path to a moral and ethical life, for reaching God, in daily existence. The practice of the 10 commandments with constancy denotes a comprehensive lifestyle of moral and ethical attitude towards life and religion.
Conclusion
Islamic religion preaches morality as an objective of life and for reaching it and devoting a comprehensive righteous life to Allah they must follow the learning transmitted by the prophet Muhammad in the “five pillars of Islam”. Therefore, declaring the faith in Allah, praying, giving, fasting or engaging in at least one pilgrimage to Mecca get Islam believers closer to Allah and closer to the aim of their trip within the Islam confession: achieving a moral and ethical life, which defines their comprehensive lifestyle. Similarities with the prophecies of Muhammad can be found in Christianity, which, through its 10 commandments, proclaims living a life in moral virtue and by respecting the 10 laws of the Decalogue, achieving a comprehensive lifestyle for following God’s laws.
References
Al-Ghazali, M. (2006) Muslim’s character. Adam Publishers & Distributors.
The Ten Commandments Listed. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.godstenlaws.com/ten-commandments/#.UWhiA8pNDSo.
Teece, G. (2004) Religion in focus: Islam. Franklin Watts: London.
