Practices

• Sunni Islam follows five pillars
• Shahadah - declaration of faith
• Salah - prayer
• Zakat - charity
• Sawm - fasting
• Hajj - pilgrimage
• Shi'a Muslims believe there are 10 Obligatory Acts. These include 4 of the 5 pillars (Salah, Zakat, Sawm and Hajj)
• Khums - 20% tax on income after personal expenses have been deducted
• Jihad - struggle to keep the faith and to defend Islam
• Tabarra- avoding enemies of God
• Tawallah - to be loving towards the friends of God
• Amr-bil-maruf | encouraging others to be good
• Nahi Anil Munkar | discouraging people from doing what is wrong
• Both Sunni and Shi'a Muslims recite the shahadah
• Shi'a Muslims add 'Ali is his friend' to the shahada
• The Shahadah is said at birth, in death if possible, at the end of the day and when waking
• Muslims pray 5 times a day
• Shi'a muslims combine Dhuhr and Asr, and Maghrib and Isha
• Before prayer Muslims make wudhu
• Prayer is led by the Imam
• Jummah prayer happens on Fridays at midday
• If water is unavailable, it is permissible to use sand or dust. This shows it is more of a spiritual cleansing to help focus on prayer and Allah
• Muslims pray facing Mecca
• Fasting happens during the month of Ramadan
• Ramadan is the ninth month
• Fasting takes place during daylight hours
• Fasting is broken with a glass of water and a date
• Fasting is not an obligation if you haven't reached puberty, or are physically unable
• Fasting also includes avoiding sex and smoking
• Laylat-ul -Qadr | The Night of Power
• The Night of Power has no fixed date, but it is when Muhammad received his revelation
• The spiritual benefits from the Night of Power are worth 1000 nights of prayers ( Qu'ran Chapter 97 )
• If a Muslim can afford to, they must give 2.5% of their income to charity
• Muslims give to charity as it shows a person doesn't own everything they have ; it has been given to them by Allah
• Hajj should be made once in a Muslim's life, if they are financially and physically able
• Ibrahim was commanded by Allah to take his son Ishmael and his wife Hajira to Arabia and leave them with bread and water. After a few days, Hajira ran up and down two hills ( Safa and Marwah ) looking for help. Ishmael kicked the ground and water spurted out of the ground - Mecca developed around this water source.
• The Ka'aba is circled anticlockwise seven times. Then, they walk between Safa and Marwah seven times, collecting water from the well of Zamzam. There is a 13 mile walk/ride to Arafat with an overnight stop at Mina. During the night, they pray and read the Qu'ran. At Mina, there are three walls of stone representing temptation and the devil. On Day 10, stones are thrown at walls symbolising rejection of the devil.
• Arafat is the site of Muhammad's last sermon
• After descending from Arafat, there is the Eid al-Ahda festival. An animal is sacrificed. 1/3 is given to the poor. Men shave their heads and women cut a small bit of hair.
• Greater Jihad | the struggle of every Muslim to obey Allah