Hajj

The Hajj (Arabic: حج‎ Ḥaǧǧ "pilgrimage", also spelled haj) is one of the largest annually occurring pilgrimages in the world, and one of the five pillars of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so at least once in his or her lifetime.The Hajj is a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslim people, and their submission to God (Allah in the Arabic language).
The pilgrimage occurs from the 8th to 12th Dhu al-Hijjah, the 12th and last month of the Islamic calendar. Because the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar, eleven days shorter than the Gregorian calendar used in the Western world, the Gregorian date of the Hajj changes from year to year. Ihram is the name given to the special spiritual state in which Muslims live while on the pilgrimage.
The Hajj is associated with the life of Islamic prophet Muhammad from the 7th century, but the ritual of pilgrimage to Mecca is considered by Muslims to stretch back thousands of years to the time of Abraham (Ibrahim). Pilgrims join processions of hundreds of thousands of people, who simultaneously converge on Mecca for the week of the Hajj, and perform a series of rituals: Each person walks counter-clockwise seven times around the Kaaba, the cube-shaped building which acts as the Muslim direction of prayer, runs back and forth between the hills of Al-Safa and Al-Marwah, drinks from the Zamzam Well, goes to the plains of Mount Arafat to stand in vigil, and throws stones in a ritual. The pilgrims then shave their heads, perform a ritual of animal sacrifice, and celebrate the four day global festival of Eid al-Adha

fasting or Ramadan

Ramadan (Arabic: رمضان‎ Ramaḍān, IPA: [rɑmɑˈdˤɑːn];Persian: ‎ Ramazān; Urdu: ‎ Ramzān; Turkish: Ramazan) is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar; Muslims worldwide observe this as a month of fasting.This annual observance is regarded as one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The month lasts 29–30 days based on the visual sightings of the crescent moon, according to numerous biographical accounts compiled in hadiths. The word Ramadan comes from the Arabic root ramida or ar-ramad, which means scorching heat or dryness. Fasting is wajib (obligatory) for adult Muslims, except those who are ill, travelling, pregnant, diabetic or going through menstrual bleeding.
While fasting from dawn until sunset Muslims refrain from consuming food, drinking liquids, smoking and sexual relations; and in some interpretations from swearing. According to Islam, the sawab (rewards) of fasting are many, but in this month they are believed to be multiplied. Fasting for Muslims during Ramadan typically includes the increased offering of salat (prayers) and recitation of the Quran.

Zakah

Zakāt (Arabic: زكاة‎ [zæˈkæː], "that which purifies"), is the giving of a fixed portion of one's wealth as a tax, generally to the administration or government and is one of the Five Pillars of Islam.

Salah

Salah (Arabic: صلاة ṣalāh or ṣalāt; pl. صلوات is the practice of formal worship in Islam. Its importance for Muslims is indicated by its status as one of the Five Pillars of Sunni Islam, of the Ten Practices of the Religion of Twelver Shiʿi Islam and of the seven pillars of Mustaʿlī Ismaili Islam, with a few dispensations for those for whom it would be difficult. People who find it physically difficult can perform Salah in a way suitable for them. To perform valid Salah, Muslims must be in a state of ritual purity, which is mainly achieved by ritual ablution, (wuḍūʾ), according to prescribed procedures.
Under the Hanbali School of thought, a person who doesn't pray 5 times a day is a disbeliever. The other 3 schools of thought say that the person who doesn't pray 5 times a day is just a sinner. Prayer is regarded as a dividing line between a believer and a non-believer (according to Sahih Muslim).
Salah consists of the repetition of a unit called a rakʿah (pl. rakaʿāt) consisting of prescribed actions and words. The number of obligatory (fard) rakaʿāt varies from two to four according to the time of day or other circumstances (such as Friday congregational worship, which has two rakaʿāt). The minimal,obligatory rakaʿāt may be supplemented with acts that are optional but are considered meritorious. Prayer is wajib (obligatory) for all Muslims except those who are retarded, pre-pubescent, sick, lactating, pregnant, menstruating, frail and elderly or travelling on a long journey.
For Muslims of the Sunni and Ismaili Mustaʿlī persuasions, obligatory salah is prescribed at five periods of the day. These are measured according to the movement of the sun. These are: near dawn (fajr), after midday has passed and the sun starts to tilt downwards / Noon (dhuhr or ẓuhr), in the afternoon (asr), just after sunset (maghrib) and around nightfall ('isha'). Under some circumstances ritual worship can be shortened or combined (according to prescribed procedures). In case a ritual worship is not performed at the right time, it must be performed later. Muslim doctrine permits ẓuhr (ظهر, "noon") and ʿaṣr (عصر, "afternoon") prayers to be performed in succession.

Shahadah

The shahada (Arabic: الشهادة‎ aš-šahādah) (from the verb شهد šahida, "he witnessed"), means "to know and believe without suspicion, as if witnessed, testification"; it is the name of the Islamic creed. The shahada is the Muslim declaration of belief in the oneness of God (tawhid) and acceptance of Muhammad as God's prophet. The declaration in its shortest form reads:

لَا إِلَّهَ إِلَّا الله مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ الله (lā ʾilāha ʾillā l-Lāh, Muḥammadun rasūlu l-Lāh) (in Arabic)

There is no god but God, Muhammad is the messenger of God. (in English)

In Shia Islam, the creed is expanded with the addition of a phrase concerning Ali at the end, although not obligatory:

وعليٌ وليُّ الله (wa ʿAliyyun waliyyu l-Lāh) ["and Ali is the wali (friend; viceregent) of God"].
The word shahādah (شِهادة) is a noun stemming from the verb shahada (شَهَدَ) , meaning "he observed, witnessed, or testified"; when used in legal terms, shahādah is a testimony to the occurrence of events, such as debt, adultery, or divorce. The shahādah can also be expressed in the dual form shahādatān (شِهادَتانْ, lit. "two testimonials"), which refers to the dual act of observing or seeing and then the declaration of the observation.The person giving the testimony is called a shāhid (شاهِد), with the stress on the first syllable. The two acts in Islam are observing or perceiving that there is no god but God and testifying or witnessing that Muhammad is the messenger of God. In a third meaning, shihādah or more commonly istishhād (إسْتِشْهادْ), means "martyrdom", the shahīd (شَهيد) pronounced with stress on the last syllable ("martyr") demonstrating the ultimate expression of faith. Shahīd can also be used in a non-Islamicreligious context. Long before the advent of Islam, Christian Arabs of the Middle East used the word shahīd referencing to someone that was wrongly killed or someone that died for his family, his Christian faith or his country. The two words shāhid (شاهِد, "witness") and shahīd (شَهيد, "martyr") are pre-Islamic. Both are paradigms of the root verb (شَهَدَ, shahada, "he observed").
A single honest recitation of the shahādah in Arabic is all that is required for a person to become a Muslim. This declaration, or statement of faith, is called the kalimah (كَلِمة, lit. "word"). Recitation of the shihādah, the "oath" or "testimony", is the most important article of faith for Muslims. Non-Muslims wishing to convert to Islam do so by a public recitation of this creed. Sunni Muslims count it as the first of the Five Pillars of Islam, while the Twelver and Ismaili Shi'a connect it to their respective lists of pillars of the faith. The complete shahādah cannot be found in the Quran, but comes from hadiths.

Quran

The Quran (English pronunciation: /kɔrˈɑːn/ kor-AHN ; Arabic: القرآن‎ al-qurʾān, IPA: [qurˈʔaːn], literally meaning "the recitation", Persian: [ɢoɾˈʔɒːn]), also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Al-Coran, Coran, Kuran, and Al-Qur'an, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims believe to be the verbatim word of God (Arabic: الله‎, Allah). It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language.
Muslims believe the Quran to be verbally revealed through angel Gabriel (Jibril) from God to Muhammad gradually over a period of approximately 23 years beginning on 22 December 609 CE, when Muhammad was 40, and concluding in 632 CE, the year of his death.
Muslims regard the Quran as the main miracle of Muhammad, the proof of his prophethood and the culmination of a series of divine messages that started with the messages revealed to Adam, regarded in Islam as the first prophet, and continued with the Scrolls of Abraham (Suhuf Ibrahim), the Tawrat (Torah or Pentateuch) of Moses, the Zabur (Tehillim or Book of Psalms) of David, and the Injil (Gospel) of Jesus.The Quran assumes familiarity with major narratives recounted in Jewish and Christian scriptures, summarizing some, dwelling at length on others and in some cases presenting alternative accounts and interpretations of events. The Quran describes itself as a book of guidance, sometimes offering detailed accounts of specific historical events, and often emphasizing the moral significance of an event over its narrative sequence.

Five pillars

The Pillars of Islam (arkan al-Islam; also arkan ad-din, "pillars of religion") are five basic acts in Islam, considered obligatory for all believers. The Quran presents them as a framework for worship and a sign of commitment to the faith. They are :
(1) the shahadah (creed)
(2) daily prayers (salat)
(3) almsgiving (zakah)
(4) fasting during Ramadan and
(5) the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj)
at least once in a lifetime. The Shia and Sunni sects both agree on the essential details for the performance of these acts.