Practices

• The 5 Pillars

  The five most important duties for all Muslims: to believe, to pray, to give to charity, to fast and to go on pilgrimage
• The 10 Obligatory Acts

  Ten important duties for Shi'a Muslims, which include the Five Pillars
• Shahada

  The Muslim declaration of faith
• Salah

  Prayer with an in worship of God, performed under conditions set by the prophet Muhammad
• Wudu

  Ritual waking before prayer
• Mihrab

  A niche in a wall that indicates the direction of Makkah
• Qiblah wall

  The wall in a mosque that contains the mihrab
• Rak'ah

  A sequence of movements in ritual prayer
• Recitation

  Repeating a passage of text from memory
• Prostration

  Kneeling with the forehead, nose, hands, knees and toes touching the floor, in submission to God
• Jummah Prayer

  A weekly communal prayer performed after midday on Friday, which includes a sermon
• Ramadan

  The ninth month of the Muslim calendar, during which Muslims have to fast from dusk to sunset
• Fasting

  Not eating or drinking for a certain length of time, usually for a religious reason
• The Night of Power

  (1) the night when the first revelation of the Qur'an was made to Muhammad (2) the festival that marks the start of God's revelation to Muhammad
• Zakah

  Purification of wealth by giving 2.5 percent of savings each year to the poor
• Sadaqah

  Good actions or voluntary payments that are undertaken for charitable reasons
• Khums

  A 20 percent tax paid by Shi'a Muslims on their excess income
• Pilgrimage

  A journey by a believer to a holy site for religious reasons; an act of worship and devotion
• Hajj

  The annual pilgrimage to Makkah (Mecca) that every Muslim should try to make at least once in their life
• Ka'aba

  The black, cube-shaped building in the centre of the Grand Mosque in Makkah (Mecca); the holiest place in Islam
• Hajji

  Someone who has completed Hajj
• Jihad

  A struggle against evil; this may be an inward, personal struggle or an outward, collective struggle
• Greater Jihad

  The personal inward struggle of all Muslims to live in line with the teachings of their faith
• Lesser Jihad

  The outward struggle to defend one's faith, family and country from threat
• Holy War

  Fighting for a religious cause or God, probably controlled by a religious leader
• Id-ul-Fitr

  A Muslim festival that celebrates the end of Ramadan
• Id-ul-Adha

  A Muslim festival that celebrates the prophet Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son for God
• Day of Ashura

  A festival that is important for Shi'a Muslims in particular, who remember the battle of Karbala and death of Husayn on this day
• Fasting

  Not eating or drinking for a certain length of time, usually for a religious reason