Iran

The salat-the five obligatory daily prayers-is also known as the namez in Iran, India, and Turkey. These prayers are only performed after ritual bathing and take place before sunrise, at noon, in the mid-afternoon, immediately after sunset, and before midnight. Mainstream Shiites combine the noon and afternoon prayers and also the sunset and midnight prayers so that they need only pray three times a day.

Praying in Islam is also associated with a specified set of postures, such as standing, bowing, and prostrating. The saum is a fast prescribed only for healthy, adult

Muslims during the 30 days of Ramadan; the ninth month is the Islamic calendar. From dawn until dusk, no food, drink, or sexual relations are permitted. Ill individuals and nursing women are excused, but they are expected to make up for missing the fast at other times in the year when they are healthy again or no longer nursing.

The zakat or alms tax is levied annually on the crops, livestock, precious metals, and cash of all those living above subsistence and whose debts do not exceed their assets. In theory it is to be collected on behalf of, and then distributed to, the poor. However, many Islamic leaders have collected the zakat to add to their royal treasuries. For this reason, the identity of the zakat collector and distributor has often been a mystery. Since the late Middle Ages (AD

476-1453), mainstream Shiites have had the tax collected by their jurists, legal scholars of Islamic law, who act according to their self-styled role as governors of the imam.

The hajj is the “greater” of the two pilgrimages to

Mecca required of all Muslims.