The Pillars of Faith

1. SHAHADA: oath of faith of Muslims: “I do believe in God and Muhammad that is the Prophet” -> Muslims refuse the paganism.

2. SALAT (prayer): it has to be recited 5 times a day and consists of the 5th chapter of the Qur’an. A person can pray everywhere but he always has to be directed to Mecca. The most symbolic moment is that in which they get washed because it means purification -> they never touch Qur’an with dirty hands because in that moment they have to be ready to get in touch with God.
The spiritual moment of the prayer is an individual one: it involves the direct relation between the man and God, differently from what happens in Christianity. On Fridays they go to the MOSQUE (considered the house of the Prophet in Medina) for the KHUTBA, the discussion concerning faith
The model of the Musk was taken from the architecture of a Christian church in Damascus, but in less than two centuries it was created a new structure made of a long series of arches, especially in Spain -> typical approach: Muslims enter in touch with new peoples, take their things and modify them to join their culture.

3. ZAQUAT (alms): the alms is given to poor families and is also imposed by taxes.

4. SAWM: FASTING is the occasion to purify the body one month a year, during the Ramadan. Who cannot fast or doesn’t want to do it has to pay the food for a poor family.

5. HAJJ: pilgrimage to Mecca. It has to be done at least one in a lifetime.

6. JIHÁD (sacred effort, only for Shiites): it means the effort to be a good Muslim: normally Muslims are obliged to follow the 5 pillars above, but Jihád is the way to make a higher step and really approach God.
Islamic extremist groups use this word. Muhammad had made an oath with some groups, that later changed their mind and started to intend this word as war, also because they think that changing faith would condemn them to death. When Muhammad died, the oath became meaningless (the oath is between persons) -> Abu Bakr tried to make again the oath with the tribes, but he didn’t succeed.
Jihad is one of the main pillars, not only in the sense of war but also in the sense of convincing someone who is not correctly behaving according to Islam.
-> Jihad is used in an extreme concept, but it is not what all Muslim think about it.