Islam

Islam

  • Submitted By: cnelson
  • Date Submitted: 05/24/2008 2:30 PM
  • Category: Religion
  • Words: 1001
  • Page: 5
  • Views: 4

The world is full of differences. From language to religion, people must be understanding in differences to coincide together. For some beliefs, God is the almighty, others follow nature. Islam is a commonly misunderstood religion; it is not about killing, suicide missions, or hate. In the case of Islam, God (Allah) is the deity and the Qur'an is the text; there are the five pillars, somewhat strict family rules, holidays, and dietary limitations in this globally recognized religion.

The foundation of Islam comes from the five pillars; not the hate of others. The first pillar, worded, "I bear witness that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is the messenger of God," basically says that there is one god, and the man Muhammad was his messenger. The second states that Muslims must perform ritual prayer. There are five times for prayer: dawn (al-fair), noon (al-zuhr), afternoon (al-'asr), evening (al-maghrib), and night (al-'isha). Each is a specific prayer repeated a specified number of times. Social taxation is the third pillar. This pillar is generally followed only in stricter regions of Islam's practice. This ‘social tax' is more or less a charitable tax. Many regions do not strictly follow this pillar because they view local or state taxation as their social tax. The fourth pillar requires fasting for the month of Ramadan. During the fast, Muslims may eat only from dusk until dawn. This is a holy month of celebration. The fifth and final pillar is the pilgrimage to Mecca, the city most holy to Muslims.

The core to Muslim society is family. In most Muslim countries, the families are extended and ruled by the paternal family. However, in the growing cities, families are more restricted to the immediate family. Within the family, everyone is considered equal before God and in their eternal destiny. During the life on earth though, the males possess the dominance. Children at birth are considered good by nature,...

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