Comparing The Five Pillars Of Islam

A Muslim must follow the Five Pillars of Islam to be holy. The Five Pillars of Islam are “the belief in Allah and Muhammad as his prophet…prayer… fasting… making a pilgrimage… and giving alms to the poor” (Spielvogel 208). Each Muslim having to pilgrimage at least once in their life, shows holiness through a physical test. Observing Ramadan shows holiness through self-denial. Praying 5 times a day promotes holiness through prayer. A Muslim must also abide by “Shri’a law”. These laws promote holiness through self-denial as no consumption of alcoholic beverages, dishonest behaviors, and gambling. A Muslim must “strive in the faith of the lord”, or jihad, which is holiness through martyrdom. A Muslim must follow the Qur’an or the Koran. The Qur’an states a Muslim

As stated in the Sunnah “March in the name of God and by his aid on the religion of the messenger of God” (Sunnah). This shows that Islam promotes advancing the faith and protecting the faith with force. This is the exact definition of one aspect of Jihad “striving in the way of the lord” (Spilevogel 209). Defending one’s faith is one version of jihad, but the other aspect is a “holy war”. However, Islam wishes that Muslims will not act as the aggressors, but they should act upon vengeance. Also, the Sunnah states “kill not the old man who cannot fight, nor young children nor women; and steal not the spoils of war, but put your spoils together, and quarrel not amongst yourselves, but be good to one another, for God loveth the doer of good” (3). This shows that Muslims shall not kill, the old, the weak or the young; it also shows how Muslims should act out of defense and vengeance rather than being the aggressor. Another aspect is that the Sunnah states that their shall not be inner quarrels and fighting against one another; but for the hundreds of years Islam has been a religion, there has always been fighting between the two sides of Islam, Shiite and