Business_Man Posted January 3, 2003 Worship has a principal role in Islam. The tive pillars of Islam, as the prophet named them, are (for both men and women): I. Shahada: that is to bear witness that there is no deity but God (Allah) and that Mohammad is the messenger of God. 2. Prayer: obligatory prayers are performed in a certain format five times during every day. These are the early morning, noon, after-noon, early evening (after sunset) and night. To perform prayer the Muslim man or woman must be in a state of Tahara (cleanliness or purity). This usually entails a ritual washing (wodou or ablution) of face (and mouth and nose), forearms, stroking head with water and washing the feet and toes. Ablution has to be repeated (renewed if broken by certain events including micturition, defecation, passing flatus, sleep and certain other conditions. Sex (or night dreams leading to orgasm) necessitates a full (ritual) bath. 3. Fasting: every year, for the full length of the month of Ramadan, daily abstinence from food, drink and sex from dawn to sunset is observed. 4. Zakat or alms: this is a tax amounting to two and one half percent of horded money owned for a full year. 5. Pilgrimage: the ritual journey to Kaaba (at Mekka) and remembrance of Abraham and his son Ismail, born to Hagar, should be made once in a life time at a special season if the Muslim can physically and financially afford it. We are omitting further details that the interested reader may easily pursue in specialised books. Needless to say that the pillars of Islam do not include the totality of Islam, for the pillars are only meant to carry a whole building. What we propose to cover in this chapter is the special rulings concerning certain situations peculiar to women and how they relate to the general outline of worship addressed to all Muslims, men and women. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
