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Furoo
Ad-din
The Branches of Faith
By
Cyril Anderson
Part
1 of 2
1. SALAT (PRAYERS) –
Salat is the act of prayer. Prayer
is required of all Muslims beyond a certain age, with exceptions made
women during their menstruation, when they are excused from this duty at
that time. Obligatory prayers
are offered 5 times a day; once between dawn and sunrise, two in the time
between midday and sunset, and two between the time of sunset and natural
midnight. Additional prayers
may also be offered if the believer wishes.
The obligatory, formal prayers follow a prescribed structure, which
includes prescribed recitations and body movements that are synchronized
with these movements, and are offered in Arabic. In addition, the believer may offer individualized,
informal prayers known as dua’a.
2. SAUM (FASTING)
- talk about this. Builder
of patience. Voluntarily
forsaking what is usually allowed. Fasting
for 29-30 days, one lunar month, during the month of Ramadan, the 9th
month of the 12 lunar month Islamic calendar.
Ramadan in 2005 will start in early October and will go until early
November. In terms of
external acts, abstaining from sex, eating, and drinking of water from
dawn to sunset. As well, one
must exert a great deal of internal control as well.
One must take care to avoid anger toward one’s fellow human
beings, as well as avoid lustful thoughts.
One may, however, eat, drink, and go to one’s spouse during the
nighttime. Night often filled
with special prayers and visiting of friends and family, or by going to
special events as mosques and community centres.
Importance placed on strengthening oneself, as well as
strengthening brotherhood and community.
The fast is required of all Muslims above a certain age, and must
be made up later if missed deliberately by paying a penalty known as a
kaffarah, consisting of the feeding of a certain number of hungry people,
or a fast of a number of days later.
Women who are menstruating or pregnant are excused from fasting,
though they must make up the fasts later.
Muslims may also make
optional fasts as well, and Islamic sources recommend fasting on a number
of occasions during the year. Fasting
has great psychological, mental, and physiological benefits, enabling one
to build himself spiritually and morally, and is a practice recommended
and recorded in the texts of all the major world religions.
3.
HAJJ (PILGRIMMAGE) – Required
of all Muslims who can afford it and who are not blocked from doing so.
Involves pilgrimage to the Kaaba in Mecca, as well as a number of
sites in the vicinity. Each
year millions flock to Mecca to visit, and to also make visits to Medina,
the city where the prophet Muhammad (saws) built the early Muslim
community, and where he and many members of his close family are buried.
Kaaba and its connection to Abraham.
Safa, Marwan, and Zamzam and their connection to Hajar and Ishmael.
Connection of story of Ishmael and the sacrifice of al-Hussein.
Mention sacrifice usually given at the end of hajj. al-Hussain (as) had to leave Medina just before the
pilgrimage time in order to avoid bloodshed in the holy cities and to
ensure that he died a death that would have an impact.
His pilgrimage was to the deserts of Kerbala, and in place of the
sacrifice usually made for charity at the end of hajj, he gave his own
life so that the gift of Islam could continue for future generations.
4.
ZAKAT (POOR RATE) – Muslims are required to pay a tax of 2.5 %
(one-fortieth) for the poor on certain items, such as gold, silver,
livestock, grain, and, according to some, currency.
These collected resources are to be used for charity, or, in an
Islamic state, for the social welfare system for the poor.
This tax is intended to be one of the major foundations of the
finances of the Muslim state and its activities to promote the general
welfare of the population. It
is a great responsibility for a government to collect and manage these
funds, and it is a great wrong if these funds, meant to help the weakest
members of society, are abused.
5. KHUMS
(WEALTH TAX) – note Qu’ran 8:41.
This verse states that whatever
thing we gain, one-fifth is for God, the messenger (saws), his near
relatives, orphans, the needy, and the
wayfarer. This is charged on
whatever wealth is gained in a year, that is, what is left over, and not
otherwise used. In the
presence of an imam, the imam is meant to be the recipient of these funds,
which he is responsible for overseeing and distributing to encourage the
propagation of Islam through support of Islamic projects like schools and
other centres of learning and the support of those who work to teach about
Islam. In the absence of the
direct presence of a proper imam, such as now, during the ghaybat al-kubra
of Imam al-Mahdi (as), this great responsibility is given to the most
educated from among the religious scholars who devote themselves to study
of the teachings of Islam. They
are responsible to oversee these funds in trust for the imam until his
return. Those who are from the descendants of Muhammad (saws) possess a
special responsibility, as representatives of the prophet’s family, the
ahlul bayt (as), to teach about Islam.
As such, they are eligible for part of this money to support such
teaching efforts. This money
is not meant to be without strings attached, however, some sort of
unconditional trust fund. This
money is intended to support these descendants in Islamic work.
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Path of Light / Voie de la Lumiere