Five Pillars of Islam

Nahmaduhu wa nusalli ala rasulihil karim amma baad!
Qalallahu taala fil qua’anil Majeed

وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ

Honorable president of today’s programme prominent elders and my dear brothers! It fills my heart with great pleasure to speak on the topic “Five Pillars of Islam”.
May Allah enable me to speak the truth. And to act upon that.

Dear brothers!
It is enough to say that you have reached the side of safety. When someone says that ‘I am a Muslim’ it means he or she accepted and admitted Kalimat at-Tawheed, Kalimat ash-Shahada, "ashhadu an la ilaha illa Allah wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan Rasulullah".

To become a Muslim means accept the Shahada, or else you are not a Muslim. By saying "I am a Muslim" you have passed the first level. Then you have to go to the second level. It means you have said, "O Allah I admit that you are the Creator and I am your slave." Slave, not servant.

A servant is different from a slave: a servant is higher. That is a level that Allah did not give to anyone other than the Prophet (s). When he said

سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَى بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلاً مِّنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ الأَقْصَى الَّذِي بَارَكْنَا حَوْلَهُ

"Glory be to Him Who made His servant to go on a night from the Sacred Mosque to the remote mosque of which We have blessed the precincts…” [17: 2] Surah alisra

He called the Prophet (s) "`Abd". He specified him with that title. To be a slave is a lower level, because our Islam is not yet perfect. We accept to say Kalimah Shahada, we accept Allah (swt) as our Lord and Prophet Muhammad (s) as our Messenger. Yet, we are not doing what is supposed to be done. To do what is supposed to be done is a very important aspect of Islam, it is the most… when you say Shahada when you declare Kalimat at Tawheed - how many times are you obliged to say it per day, week, month year, or lifetime how many times. You can say Kalimat at-Tawheed one time, it is enough not to say it all the time. You don’t need to repeat it every time, once is enough to put you into the circle of Islam. So Kalimat at-Tauheed, the first pillar of Islam, can be said only once in the whole lifetime - it is obligatory to say it once.

The second pillar of Islam is iqamu salat. We will come to it later.

Poor due - Zakat

The third pillar is ita'uz-zakat. Who can, must do it once a year. And you cannot do it if you don’t have the nisab money. If you are poor and you did not make enough profit--a certain amount of money that goes from one year to another--you are not obliged to take out your zakat. It is an obligation farz to be done once a year for those who are obliged to give because they have made on their money, money from one year. But if you did not, then you are not obliged to give it. If there is a poor person who cannot find food for one day's sustenance, you cannot expect him to have saved money on the side. This means some people will do it every year and some people will not do it. Who cannot afford to, is not obliged to do it.

Fasting - Siyam

Sawm-e-ramazan. Fasting, you are obliged to do it every year one time, for one month.

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ

O those who believe, the fasts have been enjoined upon you as were enjoined upon those before so that you be God-fearing.[Qur'an 2:183]

May Allah (swt) give us this month to remember Him. And the Prophet (s) used to urge the Sahaba for itikaf in the last 10 days of that month. And many Muslims around the world do itikaf and they try to do their best to come closer to Allah (swt) and for Allah (swt) to be happy with us and to for us to be nearer to him in dunya and akhira.


أَيَّامًا مَّعْدُودَاتٍ فَمَن كَانَ مِنكُم مَّرِيضًا أَوْ عَلَى سَفَرٍ فَعِدَّةٌ مِّنْ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَ

(Fast) a certain number of days; and (for) him who is sick among you, or on a journey, (the same) number of other days; [2: 184].

In that case Allah gave you permission to fulfill them later. If someone is continuously sick then he is excused. He may do qaza of his left fast. It means you have to do it once a year, but some people if they cannot fast, they do not have to do it in the prescribed time, they may do qaza --Allah is relieving them, excusing them.

Pilgrimage – Hajj

The fifth pillar is hajj. whoever can afford to do hajj who is physically and mentally and financially able to go, must perform it at least once in a lifetime.

وَلِلّهِ عَلَى النَّاسِ حِجُّ الْبَيْتِ مَنِ اسْتَطَاعَ إِلَيْهِ سَبِيلاً وَمَن كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ الله غَنِيٌّ عَنِ الْعَالَمِينَ

A duty owed to God by all men is the Pilgrimage to the House, if he is able to make his way there. And as for the disbeliever, God is All-sufficient, needing nothing from all the worlds (Al-Imran 3: 97).

Prayer - Salat
So on the other hand we see that salat, the second pillar of Islam-you cannot leave it. Five times a day you are obliged to do it and you cannot leave it for any reason. No reason. No excuse. There is a very severe penalty for leaving prayer. If you are sick and you don’t fast there is no penalty. If you are poor and you have no money to give zakat there is no penalty. If you cannot afford to go to hajj there is no penalty. But for leaving salat there is a very high penalty - hellfire.

Ma bayn al-kufr wal iman tark al-salah,

“What is between belief and disbelief is leaving prayer.”

So there is no way, no excuse for any sick person, for a person with or without money, he or she has to pray. Five prayers. The sick person who cannot pray standing can sit and pray; who cannot pray sitting, prays lying down, one who can’t pray lying down may pray with his eyes. Salat has to be performed. Oh Muslims don’t avoid giving salat its importance.

Ibadat 24x7

It is so very important to Allah (swt) that He ordered and obliged 50 salat a day, not one. Allah ordered the Prophet (s) to perform fifty prayers, which means continuous worship.

وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ

"And I have not created the jinn and the men except that they should worship Me."[51: 56]

If it was fifty and if it was still fifty, we would have no time even to raise our heads. Fifty salat, every salat, if you performed it correctly takes fifteen minutes. Fifty salat by fifteen minutes is 750 minutes plus eating, plus wudu for fifty prayers. So what is left? That is meaning of the ayah [51: 56]

وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ

"And I have not created the jinn and the men except that they should worship Me."[51: 56]

Allah said fifty prayers but what is kayfiyya al-salah- how it is done, what are arkan as-salah the procedures? We know Fajar has two Sunnah rakat; Zhuhar has eight or four; four sunnah before, `Asar has two or four sunnah, Maghrib has two; and eleven rakat for 'Isha. Then you have salat ad-zuha, salat al-Awwabin, salat al-Ishraq, salat an-Najat, Salat al-Tahajjud. Then the fifty other prayers also have their sunnah!

So all of your time 24 hours is going to be occupied.

That is the verses:
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ
مَا أُرِيدُ مِنْهُم مِّن رِّزْقٍ وَمَا أُرِيدُ أَن يُطْعِمُونِ
إِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الرَّزَّاقُ ذُو الْقُوَّةِ الْمَتِينُ
[51: 56, 57, 58]

"I do not desire from them any sustenance and I do not desire that they should feed Me."


Allah can give you, you cannot give anything. Don’t think you are going to work for your children, bringing money. If Allah wants to close it---it is finished---nothing. Submit. Allah gives. Allah provides. So 24 hours you are going to be in continuous `ibadat through salat, prayer.

Allah (swt) gave Sayyidina Muhammad (s) fifty salat but then with His mercy reduced it to five. But in the mizan, in the balance, the five salat are considered fifty. If we do our five prayers correctly with complete submission to Allah, complete presence (khush`u) then it as if we were peforming salat 24 hours a day, it is equal to fifty prayers. Then it will be written for us, in the mizan.


Salat - Summation of Worship

Moreover, salat is very important because in it is contained the whole of `ibada. First in salat you declare the shahada the Oneness of Allah in at-Tahiyyat:

Ashhadu an la ilaha illa Allah wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan `abduhu wa rasuluh.

To become a Muslim you say shahada only one time in your life. In your salat you are saying it every day in every two rakat. So salat includes the first pillar of Islam, kalimat at-Tauheed.

Salat as Zakat

Salah includes your zakat--not 2½ percent but 100% percent. Because when you work and make money and go from one year to another year you are only obliged to give 2 ½ percent of the profit--not the capital. You are going to give on what you have profit.

Out of your capital and it is 2½ percent. Whatever you have of jewelry and gold or any kind of savings is money on which you must give 2½ percent, from one year to another. But in salat you do not only give that. Because when you work you are spending time to go work five; six; eight hours a day making money, saving and then paying 2 ½ percent.

In salat you are giving your whole time to Allah swt. If you make ten dollars in one hour; if you spend one hour in salat, it is as if you are giving the entire ten dollars, not just 2 ½ percent. And the ten dollars might be spent and won’t last for one year and you don’t pay any zakat on it, but the salat you are giving. You are giving the entire amount so it is in a geometrical multiplication that increases from 2½ percent to 100%. That is real zakat! You are giving everything that belongs to you. And the most important thing that belongs to you is when Allah gave you the body and this spirit--you are giving to Allah (swt) you are giving to Allah’s will.

Salat as Siyam

Second in salat you are holding your tongue from eating, drinking, backbiting, and speaking. Not only your tongue, but your whole body from touching. Because in Siyam a man cannot approach his wife or vice versa, because it is not allowed. Eating is not allowed. In salat you cannot do anything like that. In siyam you can fast but you can also speak. In salat it is more you fast you cannot speak and you cannot approach your spouse. That is a higher level of fasting that is included in salat.

Visiting Ka`aba

The last pillar of Islam is hajj. In your prayer it is as if you are making pilgrimage five times a day. When you direct yourself to the qibla as soon as you say "Allahu Akbar."

Even in Makkah near the end of the renovation of al-haram ash-sharif, you could not see the Ka’bah. And from outside Makkah you cannot see the Ka’bah. Anywhere in Makkah even you cannot see the Ka’bah. From outside Makkah you can face the Ka’bah [without seeing it] and in Makkah and in the haram you might face it without seeing it.

As if you are going on a trip through your salat because hajj is to visit the Holy Ka`aba. Ziyarat al Ka’bah al-musharrafa.

The most important pillar (rukn) of hajj is to be in bayt ul haram. So the most important thing for us is when we say "Allahu Akbar", is to see it through our hearts, through our mind, through every cell of our body and with every drop of our blood. EVERYTHING is saying "Allahu Akbar" in the presence of the Ka’bah, the House of Allah (swt) on earth, which Allah wanted people to face and direct themselves toward. Allah knows what kind of secrets and tajalli are there. So in your prayer it is as if you are directing yourself by disconnecting with the dunya and facing the Ka’bah. So it as if you have gone there for hajj.

So in salat you find all the five pillars of Islam. That is why you cannot be excused from leaving one prayer; else there will be heavy punishment. If you want to save yourself, then Oh, Muslims let us keep our connection with Islam tight!

Wrapping it all up
Islam is five pillars. The Prophet (saw) wrapped all of them, shahada, salah, zakat, siyam and hajj with two cords: iman bil ghayb, belief in the Unseen, and the state of Ihsan - perfected character. These five pillars, which every Muslim performs, cannot be perfected without first tying up salat, prayer. That is because prayer includes all five pillars. One cannot perform the prayer properly when one's heart is dirty and damaged - when one's faith is damaged. It must be wrapped like a gift. When you look at a present, wrapped nicely from outside, it looks very pleasing, and when you open it, it is also very pleasing. So how are you presenting your prayers to Allah (swt) when your heart is not clean? Cleanliness of the heart by means of attaining the state of Iman and then the state of Ihsan is very essential.

May “ALLAH” enable us all to appreciate “Islam” in the best way and make us comprehend and realize the value of the gift that already lies in our hands.

I affirm that there is none worthy of worship except Allah that He is One, sharing His authority with no one; and I affirm that Muhammad is His servant and His Prophet.

Prepared by Muhammad Asjad Qasmi trainee speaker with Markazul Ma’arif education and research center Mumbai asjad.qasmi@yahoo.com Thursday, August 05, 200911:23 PM