Living Muslim life

• The Quran is the holy book of Islam, containing the teachings of Allah.
• The Quran contains guidance on how Muslims can live their lives according to God's will.
• Muslims believe that the Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammad through angelic revelation over a period of twenty-three years.
• Muslims believe that the Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammad through the angel Gabriel over a period of 23 years.
• The Quran contains guidance on how Muslims should live their lives according to God's will.
• Islam teaches that there are five pillars (fundamental practices) that all Muslims must follow:
• The Five Pillars of Islam are the building blocks for how a Muslim should worship Allah through the acts of Hajj, Zakat, Shahada, Salah, and Sawm
• The Five Pillars are considered acts of worship carried out with the intention of obeying God
• Shahada is the first pillar and is summarized as the declaration that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger
• For Sunni Muslims, the Shahada is "There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is his messenger"

  For Shia Muslims, the Shahada is "There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is his messenger, and Ali is the friend of Allah"
• The Shahada is recited throughout a Muslim's life in various occasions such as prayers, conversions, funerals, and weddings
• To convert or revert to Islam, one must recite the Shahada three times with the right intention
• Salah is the second pillar and is the practice of prayer performed five times a day facing towards the Kaaba
• The five daily prayers are Fajr, Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib, and Isha, each with a specific time of the day for prayer
• Muslims can pray anywhere, including mosques, streets, and homes, with specific cleansing rituals before starting Salah
• Zakat is the third pillar where Muslims give 2.5% of their wealth annually, usually given during Ramadan
• Zakat can be given in the form of money, property, gold, land, livestock, or other assets
• The source of wisdom for Zakat is "Give us a calm, whatever good you put forward for yourselves, you will find it with Allah"
• Sawm, or fasting during Ramadan, is the fourth pillar and involves refraining from eating, drinking, smoking, and other habits from dawn to dusk for 29-30 days
• Fasting in Ramadan is a form of self-control and a way to train the mind to abstain from harmful actions and unkind speech
• Those exempt from fasting include travelers, sick individuals, pregnant women, children, and the elderly
• Hajj is the fifth pillar and is the pilgrimage to Mecca that Muslims who are physically and financially able must perform at least once in their lifetime
• Hajj involves specific preparations, including entering a state of Ihram, wearing special garments, and following a set journey and rituals
• Muslims can also perform a shorter pilgrimage called Umrah at any time of the year
• Zamzam well:

  • Symbolizes the spring of water revealed to Prophet Ibrahim's wife Hajar by the angel
  • Imagine the feeling of being a Muslim at the time and having water from a well that has been around for thousands of years
• Five Pillars of Islam:

  • Shahada, Salah, Zakat, Sawm, Hajj
  • Learn them well
  • Can be asked to discuss the importance of Salah compared to other pillars
• Jihad:

  • Means struggle for faith and against evil
  • Lesser Jihad: defending Islam from threats
  • Greater Jihad: making effort to be a good Muslim
  • Examples: Crusades (Lesser Jihad), struggling to express religion freely (Greater Jihad)
• Eid al-Adha (Eid):

  • Festival of sacrifice
  • Marks end of annual Hajj pilgrimage
  • Celebrated by both Sunnis and Shias
  • Commemorates Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son Ismael, replaced by a ram
  • Meat from sacrifice shared with family, friends, and the poor
• Eid al-Fitr:

  • Celebrated at the end of Ramadan
  • Marks the start of the new month of Shawwal
  • Celebrates the completion of fasting during Ramadan
  • Houses decorated, new clothes worn, visits to family and friends, prayers at the mosque
• Ashura:

  • Celebrated on the 10th day of Muharram
  • Sunni: fasting to thank Allah for parting the Red Sea for Musa
  • Shia: mourning the martyrdom of Hussein, dressing in black, reenactments, self-flagellation
• Five Pillars vs. Ten Obligatory Acts:

  • Five Pillars: Shahada, Salah, Zakat, Sawm, Hajj
  • Shia Islam: replace Shahada with Jihad and add additional acts like Khums, Amr-bil-Ma'ruf, Nahi Anil Munkar, Tawalla, Tabarra
• Differences between Sunni and Shia Islam:

  • Celebrations like Ashura observed differently
  • Prayer times, Shahada differences
  • Understanding the dynamics between Sunni and Shia Islam
• Muslims believe that the Quran was revealed by Allah through the Prophet Muhammad over a period of 23 years.
• Muslims believe that the Quran is the literal word of God and has been preserved by oral tradition since its revelation.