The Five Pillars of Islam

My love so far we have been going over the Salah (Prayer) pillar
in Islam. Like I said I think its the most important one for us to
touch on because it is compulsory daily prayer that a Muslim
should do every day and its also one of the pillars that involves
a certain amount of actions that needs to be done in a certain
manner, but I would like to teach you about all 5 Pillars of
Islam. So Ill give it to you in much detail as possible below.

1. SHAHADA (Belief)

The Shahada also known as The Testimony of Faith in

arabic is Ash Hadu Allaa ilaaha illa llaa Wa Ash Hadu Anna
Muhammadan Rasu Lullaa. The translation to this is I
bear witness that there is no god but Allah and I bear
witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
The process of you becoming Muslim is simple and it is
where you will go into a mosque and sit in front of a
learned person in Islam and he or she (I think you can go
to a male if you want to become Muslim) will start the
process with you face to face and there must be a couple
of witnesses watching you embrace Islam.
If you are in a mosque and you are saying the Shahada,
you will sit on the floor face to with a female, they will
basically introduce you to Islam and ask whether you are
willing to take on Islam and its basic 5 pillars and then
they will mention the 5 pillars to you and tell you very
briefly what the five pillars are and how it should be done

and then she will ask whether you accept these duties and
whether you will follow them. Once you have accepted
you have accepted and you say yes to accept those duties
then she will tell you that you will now say the Shahada
and you must repeat after her. She will ask you to repeat
after thrice, so in other words you basically say the
Shahada thrice and once you do that then there will be
people shouting in Arabic Allah Hu Akbar thrice, which
means Allah is Great and they do this to congratulate
you on entering Islam. While you are sitting after you have
said the Shahada, the female will ask whether you have
chosen a Muslim name for yourself and if you have chosen
one then that becomes your name.
That is basically you becoming Muslim
Afterwards you will have the guidance of the people
around you on how to practice Islam and do the Salah etc.
Here are two videos to watch on how to say the Shahada
and the process. Its simple and easy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJPVkVevicI
Please forgive the overly holy music at the end of the
video above hahahahahaha!
Heres the second video https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=2X6HpbGyO5o
I really like the guy above, hes an excellent Muslim
scholar from America, his name is Hamzah Yusuf, you
mentioned him the other day.

2. SALAH (Prayer)
There are five compulsory prayers that a Muslim must do
daily.
They are
o The morning prayer Fajr
o The prayer at lunch time or when its afternoon- Thuhr

o The prayer when the sun is at its Zenith. So its a

certain time in mid afternoon Asr
o The evening prayer after the sun sets over the
horizon or the sunset prayer Maghrieb
o The night prayer when its completely dark and its
night time Eshai
Its quite easy to pick up when its time to make the
prayers if you look into the sky and see where the sun is
during those times. Before the Salah apps for phones
came out, the Muslims could get calendars from the
mosques with the times of Salah to remind them of the
times and we are still able to do so. Muslims now days
have the comfort of just going on their phones,
downloading a Salah app and checking the times. From
there during the day they either just check to hear the
Athaan (call to prayer from the mosque) if when it goes of
or they allow their Salah apps to remind them. For
example, the Morning Prayer for Fajr, the Muslims will set
an alarm because even though some Muslims hear the
Athaan at night, if they are too tired they might sleep right
through the Athaan.
The Salah is of utmost importance. They call it the key to
success and its known amongst Muslims to make you
successful spiritually and to give you certain contentment.
Some Muslims even say it gives the ability to take on life
to best of your ability and to make you successful in
general.
For the Muslims, making Salah on time is like a victory
seeing that modern life is so busy.
My love, I will type up another document giving you the
whole process of all 5 prayers from start to finish.

3. ZAKAH (Wealth Tax)

Zakah is you getting taxed 2, 5 percent of your wealth or

income.
In Arabic, zakah means purification, growth and blessing.
Paying zakah is meant to remind Muslims to be
appreciative of the blessings that Allah (swt) has bestowed
upon them, and to help empower those who have less.
When one gives, one receives more because the
psychology behind it is that when you give so freely, then
theres certainly more to be replaced from what has been
taxed from you. Its purification from greed and its a great
blessing and purification for your soul.
Once you have been taxed, the money must then be
distributed to the community and on those who are in
desperate need or who are struggling.
All Muslims must pay it except for those who unable to.
In the time of the Muslim empires like the Ottoman
Empire, the Zakah was taxed and collected from the
Muslims.
Check this out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zakat

4. SAWM (Fasting)

The Muslims have an Islamic Calendar and that Islam

Calendar started when the Prophet Muhammad (Peace
and Blessings unto Him) migrated to the city of Medina in
Saudi Arabia. Thats where Islam started of. Migration is
called hijrah in Arabic.
We are currently in the year 1437 AH (After Hijrah) and the
current month now is Rabi Al Akhar which is the third
month of the Islamic calendar.
Here are all the months below copied from Wikipedia
No
.

Name

Arabic

Meaning

Note

A sacred month, so called because battle and all

1

Muharram

forbidden

kinds of fighting are forbidden ( arm) during this

month. Muharram includes shr, the tenth day.

upposedly named thus because pre-Islamic Arab

houses were empty this time of year while their
2

afar

void

occupants gathered food. Another account relates

that they used to loot the houses of their enemies
after defeating them in battle, leaving nothing
behind.

Rab al-

the first

Also means to graze, because they used to graze

awwal

spring

their cattle during this month.

Rab al-

the second

thn

spring

Jumd

al-l

Jumd

al-khirah

the first of
parched
land

Often considered the pre-Islamic

summer. Jumd may also be related to a verb
meaning "to freeze" and another account relates
that water would freeze during this time of year.

the last of
parched
land

This is the second sacred month in which fighting is

7

Rajab

respect,
honor

forbidden. Rajab may also be related to a verb

meaning "to remove", so called because pre-Islamic
Arabs would remove the heads of their spears and
refrain from fighting.

habn

scattered

Marked the time of year when Arab tribes dispersed

to find water. Sabn may also be related to a verb
meaning "to be in between two things". Another

account relates that it was called thus because the

month lies between Rajab and Ramadn.

upposedly so called because of high temperatures

caused by the excessive heat of the sun. Ramadn
9

Ramadn

burning heat

is the most venerated month of the Hijri calendar.

During this time, Muslims must fastfrom pre-dawn
till sunset and should give charity to the poor and
needy.

10

11

12

hawwl

Dh alQadah

raised

the one of
truce/sitting

he-camels would normally be in calf at this time of

year and raise their tails.

This is a holy month during which war is banned.

People are allowed to defend themselves if
attacked.

Dh alHijjah

So as you can see above Ramadan is the ninth month in

the Islamic calendar. Im not too sure how it moves in
relation to the Gregorian Calendar but I will find out and
let you know.
As you know Muslims fast in this month. It is compulsory
for Muslims to fast.
Certain people are excluded from fasting like the ill,
people who are mentally ill, and people who are starving
and the poor and the needy.
How this happens is
o The fasting begins once the new moon has been
sighted in the sky at the beginning of the month of
Ramadaan
o At the beginning of the month or the night before
your first fast you make your intention to fast the full
month of Ramadan for the sake of Allah. Then every

o
o

o
o

night there after you make the intention to fast the

following day.
You fast from sunrise to sunset. So basically if the sun
is in the sky, no eating is allowed.
All drinking, eating and sexual intercourse is not
allowed while you fast. This is a major spiritual
cleansing; it has great health benefits and spiritual
benefits too and disciplines one mentally.
Its also one of the most exciting months for Muslims.
Muslims are encouraged to help one another more,
be more giving, and do extra prayers and to give
extra charity during the month.
The month is filled with activity and blessing.
I personally get invited out to eat at peoples houses,
and people in general invite other people over to
their houses during the fast.
Muslims wake up in the morning an hour or two
before the sun rises to eat breakfast and start the
day to fast. We eat high energy and slow releasing
foods preferably to start the day. We are encouraged
not to over eat at the table in the evenings. For some
like me, its difficult to not over eat.
At night after the final prayer Eshai, Muslims do a
prayer called Tarawih at the mosque. This happens
every night and one can do upto 20 rakats. There is
great blessing in doing so, but its not compulsory, so
its your choice.
The month is very exciting but its also a challenge as
you are without food but we always assist and help
one another during these times. Its encouraged to
reflect on your life during this time, to do more good
and use the time to become a better person and not
waste time.
What ends of the month of fasting is after the 29 th
day if the new moon is sighted. If the new moon is
sighted then we fast for one more day and that
makes it 30 days.

o Once moon has been sighted, there is massive

celebration for the Muslims all over the world
because all Muslims globally have just completed the
fast and you must celebrate.
o This celebration is called Eid. All Muslims dress up on
this day, go visit friends and family and there are big
festivities. People are invited over for lunches and
dinners and its a big afair.

5. HAJJ (Pilgrimage)

The Hajj period takes place during the month of Dhul

Hijjah which is the last month on the Islamic calendar.
One is required to only do it once in a lifetime but it can be
done more than once. Once completed, youve completed
a pillar of Islam.
What happens is that journey to Saudi Arabia and you do a
set of actions in the city of Mecca, Medina and also some
other areas surrounding these two cities. For example
when in Mecca, you go to the House of Allah (Also known
as the Kaabah) and you walk 7 times around the Kaabah
which is basically cube structure. You pelt the wall that is
symbolic of the devil that bothered Prophet Abraham
when he pelted the devil for bothering him. You walk
between two places called Safar and Marwa and there are
other things you do as well.
The Hajj is roughly a two week process.
One does not need to go to Medina but its almost a must
to go because the Prophets, mosque and house is there.
The Hajj is definitely one of the best things that Ive
experienced personally and its absolutely amazing.

Ok my love thats the introduction to the five pillars of Islam

thats essential.

I love you my angel and remember that you have mine and
many other peoples support while doing this.
Ill be patient with you like I said I would be. Theres no rush,
and enjoy learning about this beautiful way of life my love.