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What are the Five Pillars of Islam in English and Arabic

What are the Five Pillars of Islam in English and Arabic

                                    
five pillars of islam, what are the five pillars of islam

Five Pillars of Islam

What are the Five Pillars of Islam in English and Arabic

This article was originally published on 20th Jan 2020, and updated on 02nd April 2020
Before discussing about the basic "Five Pillars of Islam", we need to know "What does Islam means", or "What is Islam as a religion", in order to understand the basic five pillars of islam more efficiently.

Islam

what is islam, what is islam as a religion
What is Islam?
The word Islam comes from the root word “Salaam” which means Peace. The true meaning of Islam is to surrender or to submit oneself to Allah to attain peace.

Islam is a monotheistic religion sent through Prophet Muhammad (May Allah’s Peace and Blessings be upon Him) around 1400 plus years ago through divine revelations from Allah through Angel Gabriel over a period of 23 Years, which is accumulated in a Book known as Quran.


quran,holy quran,
Quran
Islam is not the new religion, or thousand plus years old religion, but it is a complete religion whose basic message of monotheism was sent through Prophet Adam, Prophet Noah, Prophet David, Prophet Abraham, Prophet Moses, Prophet Jesus (May Allah's Peace be upon them all) the  messengers who came before Prophet Muhammad (May Allah's Peace and Blessings upon Him)

Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta'ala) mentioned in the Quran in ( Chapter 47 ) Surah Muhammad, Verse Number 2 as:
“ And as for those who believe and do good, and believe what has been revealed to Muhammad, and it the very truth from their Lord, He will remove their evil from them and improve their condition.”
Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) also mentioned in the Glorious Quran in (Chapter 05), Surah Al Maidah, Verse Number 03 as:

“ This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your Religion. 


The person who follows Islam (Surrendering oneself to Allah) is a Muslim, and a Muslim must follow and accept these five basic pillars. 

Allah's Messenger Prophet Muhammad (May Allah's Peace and Blessings be upon Him) said: which was narrated by Ibn Umar : Islam is based on the five basic principles. They are :
five pillars of islam in order, five pillars of islam names, what are the five pillars of islam in order
Five Pillars of Islam Names 
  1. Shahadah or Declaration of Faith            
  2. Salah or Prayer
  3. Zakat or Charity
  4. Sawm or Fasting
  5. Hajj or Pilgrim to Makkah
(Reference Sahih Al Bukhari, Volume 01, Book of Belief (Emaan), Hadith Number 08)

Let us understand what are the Five Pillars of Islam in English and Arabic more clearly:




1. Shahadah or Declaration of Faith

Meaning of Shahadah is that, in order for a person to be a Muslim, that person has to accept with true heart that “There is no God other than Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger or Servant of Allah.”

The Arabic Sentence to say Shahadah are: 


The English Transliteration of the above Arabic sentence is :

"La Ilaha Illallah, Muhammadur Rasool Allah"

la ilaha illallahu muhammadur rasool allah,لآ اِلَهَ اِلّا اللّهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُوُل اللّهِ, kalima, shahadah
Shahadah or Declaration of Faith
Shahadah or Declaration of  Faith is divided into two parts : first part is that "There is no god to be worshipped other than Allah."

Allah ( Subhanahu wa Ta’ala ) mentioned in the Glorious Quran in ( Chapter 37 ), Surah As Saaffat, Verse No. 35 as :


"Surely they used to behave proudly when it was said to them (non-believers): There is no God but Allah."
 And in (Chapter 47), Surah Muhammad, Verse Number 19 as:


" So, know that there is no God but Allah, and ask protection for your fault and for the believing men and the believing women, and Allah know the place of your returning and the place of your abiding."
The second part is that the Muhammad is the Messenger or Servant of Allah.

Allah ( Subhanahu wa Ta’ala ) mentioned in Glorious Quran in (Chapter 33), Surah Ahzab, Verse No. 40 as:



“ Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but He is the Messenger of Allah, and the seal of the prophets and Allah has full knowledge of all things."
Prophet Muhammad ( May Allah’s Peace and Blessings be upon Him ) is a Prophet of Allah, like the Prophets sent before Him. He is the final messenger of Allah completing the chain of Prophets which started with Adam , Nooh ( Noah ) , Dawood ( David ) ,  Ibraheem ( Abraham ) , Moosa ( Moses ) , Isa ( Jesus ) -  May Allah’s Peace and Blessings be upon them all. 

Prophet Muhammad ( May Allah’s Peace and Blessings be upon Him ), teachings called as Sunnah have been accumulated in books as 'Hadith', which will light up the Muslims life if they follow his teachings.



2. Salah or To Establish Prayer

salah prayer, prayer time, salah time
Salah or Prayer 
The Second Pillar of Islam among the five pillars of islam is to offer Prayer. The Muslim should offer prayer up to five times a Day.

a. Fajr Salah : The Morning Prayer or Prayer prayed before Sunrise

b. Dhuhr Salah : The Afternoon Prayer or Praying after the sun has passed the noon time.

c. Asr Salah : The Late Afternoon Prayer or Prayer prayed before the Sunset

d. Maghrib Salah : The Evening Prayer or Prayer prayed after the Sunset

e. Isha Salah : The Night Prayer or Prayer prayed in the Evening

Prayer helps Muslims to spiritually connect with Allah, and to remind themselves each day that the man is in total dependence on Allah alone for all his endeavors.

AllahSubhanahu wa Ta'ala ) had mentioned many times in the Glorious Quran about Praying. One of the examples is in (Chapter 20), Surah TA-HA, Verse Number 14 as :


“Surely I am Allah, there is no God But I, therefore serve Me and keep up Prayer for my Remembrance.”

The above verse again emphasis that “There is no God but Allah” and explains further that Muslims need to serve Him through prayers and his remembrance.

Prayer includes certain Physical Actions ( Like Standing, Bowing, Prostration and Sitting – all together called as a Rakah) which will benefit the worldly body as well, in a many ways. For Praying one has to be clean, and the place he/she intends to pray needs to be cleaned, and do the Niyah (Intention) of  how many Rakah’s (certain actions/sentences to be performed during prayer) to be read facing the Qibla { Direction of Makkah or ( Kaaba – The House of Allah )}, which was built by Prophet Abraham ( May Allah’s Peace be upon Him) and his Son Prophet Ishmael (May Allah’s Peace be upon Him)
3.      Zakat or Charity 

zakat,zakat in islam,zakat meaning
Zakat or Charity
Zakat is Arabic word which means “ That Which Purifies ” or “ Giving of the Alms ”

In order to be a true Muslim, one has to give a certain amount of charity to the less fortunate.
Allah is certainly owner of everything and He tests each and every one by providing someone with immense sustenance and others with less. So, the Rich Muslims should give to the Poor Muslims an amount of 2.5% of their annual holdings in the form of wealth and belongings. This charity will in turn purify their wealth and Allah ( Subhanahu wa Ta'ala ) will multiply it in larger numbers.

Like Prayer, Charity is also mentioned in the Glorious Quran many times.

One of the examples is as in (Chapter 21), Surah Al Anbiya, Verse Number 73 as:


“ And we made them Imams who guided people by our commands, and revealed to them the doing of good and the keep up the prayer and the giving of the alms, and us alone did they serve”

4. Sawm or Fasting

sawm in islam, what are five pillars of islam
Sawm or Fasting
Sawm or Fasting means abstaining from food, drinking and also sexual intercourse, from the dawn until sunset. Fasting is performed for two lunar cycles of a month known as Ramadan. Ramadan is the Ninth month as per the Muslim Islamic calendarHijri Calendar).

For Fasting Allah ( Subhanahu wa Ta'ala ) mentioned in the Quran in (Chapter 02), Surah Al Baqarah, Verse Number 183 as :


"O you who believe, Fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may guard against evil."

Fasting helps a person to connect with Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta'ala) spiritually, and feel hunger and thirst like that of less fortunate. To observe fast, the person should wake up in the third part of night, then have a meal, pray Fajr and supplicate followed by the prayers as per the scheduled time Dhuhr and Asr, and after the Maghrib Adhan (Call to Prayer) one can break the fast by supplicating to Allah ( Subhanahu wa Ta'ala ) by eating dates or by drinking water. One can take a meal after the Maghrib Salah, then after some time gap Isha Prayer is followed, and after Isha prayer a special prayer for the whole one month ( sighting of first new moon until the second full moon) known as Tarawih. Tarawih is prayed in set of two rakats, and with total number at least eight rakats. 

For the Muslims who are sick or who are on journey, Allah ( Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala ) has given an exception for fasting in the month of  ramadan and can carry out in other days of the year.

The above sentence is explained in (Chapter 02), Surah Al Baqarah, Verse Number 185 as:



“The month of Ramadan is that in which the Quran was revealed, a guidance to men and clear proofs of the guidance and the distinction; therefore whoever of you is present in the month, he shall fast , whoever is sick or upon a journey, then he shall fast a like number of other days; Allah desires ease for you, and He does not desire for you difficulty, and He desires that you should complete the number, and that you should exalt the greatness of Allah for His having guided you, and that you may give thanks.”

After One full month or two lunar cycles, Muslims celebrate EID UL FITR on the first day of Shawwal , which is the 10th month of the Islamic ( Hijri ) Calendar.

5.      Hajj or Pilgrim to Makkah


hajj, pilgrimage to mecca, what are the five pillars of islam
Hajj or Pilgrimage to Makkah

Muslims who are financially stable has to perform Hajj or Pilgrimage to Mecca (A city in Saudi Arabia) at least once in a lifetime. Hajj is performed during the first ten days of Dhul Hajj, the 12th month of the Islamic Calendar ( Hijri Calendar )

The Glorious Quran says about Hajj in (Chapter 22), Surah Hajj, Verse Number 27 as :





“And Proclaim among men the Pilgrimage, They will come to you on foot and on every lean Camel, coming from every remote path.”
Millions of  Muslims visit Makkah (Mecca) for Hajj every year, During Hajj muslims pray and perform rituals mandatory to be done. Among the rituals to be performed, one of the rituals is called as Tawaf {Circumambulation of the Kaaba – (The House of Allah)}. Muslims should go in round from the Black Stone (Hajr e aswad - A stone came from heaven, located in the eastern corner of the Kaaba )  in counterclockwise direction reaching again the black stone, and thus like this completing seven rounds is called Tawaf. Kaaba is cube shape building, and the first house of worship built by Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) and his son Prophet Ismail (Ishmael) (May Allah’s Peace be upon them) and is the direction for Muslims for prayer.

Allah ( Subhanahu wa Ta'ala ) mentioned in Quran in ( Chapter 03 ) , Surah Al Imran, Verse Number 96 as :

"Most surely the first house appointed for men is the one at Bekka (Mecca), blessed and a guidance for the nations."
 & ( Chapter 02 ) Surah Al Baqarah Verse 127 as : 


"And when Ibrahim and Ismail raised the foundations of the House: Our Lord! Accept us from us; Surely you art the All Hearing, The All Knowing.”

There are three types of hajj that can be performed:

a. Ifrad

b.
Qiran


c. Tamattu

In order to know and learn about the complete procedure of Hajj or Types of Hajj,  please click on the link ↓

Different types of Hajj 

On the Tenth Day of Dhul Hajj, Pilgrims slaughter the animals (Sheep, Goat or Cow) and distribute the meat with the poor, thereby celebrating festival known as Eid Al Adha. 

Eid Al Adha is also known as the "Festival of Sacrifice", as it is based on the story of  Prophet Abraham ( Peace be upon Him) went on to sacrifice his son Prophet Ishmael ( Peace be upon Him) upon the command from Allah ( Subhanahu wa Ta'ala). But, before Prophet Abraham ( Peace be upon him) could sacrifice his son, Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta'ala ) has replaced Prophet Ishmael with a  goat. In respect to this incident, and test of obedience to Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta'ala), every year an animal is sacrificed by muslims around the world and is divided into three shares. One share is given to the poor, the second share is given to relatives and the third share can be used for ownself or kept at home.

Conclusion


Allah ( Subhanahu wa Ta'ala ) has mentioned in the Quran in (Chapter 03), Surah Al Imran, Verse Number 19 as :

“ Truly the religion with Allah is Islam

He also mentioned in the same Chapter, Surah Al Imran, Verse no. 85 as:

“ And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers.”
Hope you have got the complete information about " What are the Five Pillars for Islam in English and Arabic " and "What is Islam as a Religion".

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Jazak Allah Khairan 

Thank you for reading this complete Article.


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  1. Thank You so much so providing such valuable information about Islam.

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