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Thus the Z a ka t is a means of augmenting the wealth, and purifying the souls from miserliness, stinginess and selfishness. It is a manifestation of social mutual responsibility among the Muslims, that the wealthy among them may sympathize with the poor and the poor among them may love the wealthy.
After all, the z a ka t is an act of worship dedicated to Allah and a positive response to His command and a means of gaining His pleasure.
4- As-Siyam
As-Siyam, in the month of Ramadan is the fourth piilar of Islam. Through fasting all aspects of worship become integrated, and the sense of obedience, and the will to observe is strengthened. Fasting is an act of worship, and a means of bringing man closer to Allah, re-fining the manners, self-restraint and setting the behavior aright. It is also a means of maintaining the fear of Allah.
Allah says:
O, you who believe fasting is prescribed
to you as it was prescribed to those before you,
that you may attain piety.
Fasting was prescribed to previous nations too as a means of purification and help against life's inconveniences, because fasting requires patience, and patience is one of the strongest means for acquiring the happiness in the Hereafter.
Allah says:
And seek Allah's help through perseverance and prayer.
5- Hajj :
The Hajj is the fifth piilar of Islam. This piilar has the same objectives like those of the other pillars of Islam . The Hajj trains self-restraint, endurance, resisting hunger, enduring patiently the hardship of the journey, leaving the family behind, and other desirous things. The Hajj like the Zakat, has a financial aspect. It also shares
with the prayer many physical aspects such as Tawaf, Saee,10 and moving from one ritual site to another. It indudes as well, the talbiyah,11 the dthikr 12 and the iike. Hence, the Hajj is act an of worship involving the financial, physical, and those aspects related to prayer. Like congregational prayer, Hajj also is an occasion for congregating the Muslims in one place at one time, with one more distinction, that is , all Muslims then wear the same outfit regardless of their heterogeneity, home lands, tongues, or classes. The Hajj, in its general
10- The Sa'ee, walking back and forth seven times between the two hills of As-Safa and Marwah. One of the rites of Pilgrimage, both Umrah and Hajj, and is performed immediately after the circumambularion of the Ka'bah.
1l -The rccitation of the words: Labbaikallahumma Labbaik. ete. meaning: Herc am I. O Allah! Here am I. Herc am I declaring no associates with You. Surely, praise and blessings, and dominion are Yours. I associate none with You.
12- The remembrance of Allah as an act of worship.
manifestation is a convention that comprises all groups of Muslims who come from different countries and from different descents to attend and participate in this great beneficial function. The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, made his speech in Arafat conveying to the Muslims the message from his Rub b, calling on Allah to be his witness that he has indeed conveyed the Message. The Muslims have the best example in the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. The Hajj is performed in compliance to Allah's commands. When Ibraheem, peace be upon him, had completed erecting the Ka'bah, Allah commanded him to declare to the people: Allah has enjoined Hajj on you. Therefore perform it Allah says:
And proclaim to mankind the Pilgrimage. They will come to you on foot and on every lean camcl coming by every distant track. 13
13- Quran 22:27
A Muslim who fulfills the five pillars of Islam believing that Allah is his Rubb, and Islam is his faith, and Muhammad is his Prophet and Messenger, and dies while upholding this belief, he will eventually gain the pleasure of his Rubb, and admittance to Jannah. But if a person has fulfilled the pillars of Islam without faith, it would not benefit him nor would it deliver him from the punishment promised by his Rubb even though he appears to be a Muslim.
THE ARTICLES OF IMAN (faith)
We have already mentioned that the first article of iman is the Testimony: "There is no true god except Allah and that Muhammad, is the Messenger of Allah", peace be upon him. The second part of the Testimony necessitates attesting to the truth that he is sent by Allah to mankind at large, and it is imperative to attest to the veracity of everything he toid, to obey him, and
avoid his prohibitions. And of the things he commanded is believing in Allah. His angels His Scriptures , His Messengers, the Last Day , and the Qada' and Qadar."
l- THE BELIEF IN ALLAH : The finn belief that Allah is the self-sufficient, who stands in need of none of His creatures. Allah is neither an offspring of previous roots, nor does He have offspring. Allah describes Himself saying: He neither begets, nor is He begotten. He is far removed from häving a spouse or a son. He is qualified with all attributes of perfection.
It is imperative to believe that Allah is ever-living, unaffected by cessation or extinction, and that He is ever alert, and He is the Proprietor of all. It is also incumbent upon us to believe that intercession is valid only after He permits, and that He is the One and only, häving no partner in His
Ruboobiyyah 15, nor in His divinity, nor is there anyone to share His names and attributes. He has no intermediaries from among His creatures. It is He in Whose händ is the provision, life and death, and härm and benefit. He hears their supplications, responds to the distressed when they call Him for help. Allah's creatures stand in need of Him, while He stands in need of none. Believing in all this makes man expect relief from Allan alone, and fear Him alone, ask Him alone without going through middlemen or intercessors. Allah's creatures have no power without Him to extend benefit, or cause härm to anyone. What some allege that there are intermediaries or intercessors to whose graves they go seeking help, and whom they call, awliya, or the favorites of Allan is not only false allegation, but it is paramount to shirk, or ascribing partners to Allan, the
15-Ruboobiyyah Inf.ofRubb.
Ever living , the All-knowing, the All-powerrul.
2- THE BELIEF IN THE ANGELS:
The angels are part of the unseen world about which Allah the Exalted, has informed His Messenger Muhammad, peace be upon him. The angels are honorable slaves of Allah. Allah says:
They do not rebel against His commands, and do exactly what they are commanded.
Allah has created the angels to worship Him, and charged them with duties that they fulfill obediently as Allah the Exalted, mentions in the Quran rebuffing thus what some people falsely believe that the angels are the intercessors and the daughters of Allah.
Since it is imperative to believe in the existence of the angels, it is also imperative to believe in what Allah, and
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