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Creed | |
Fast | ||
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Prayer (=Salat) | |
Pilgrimage | ||
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Almsgiving |
The creed means translated:"There exists no other god except for Allah and Muhammad is his prophet."
These are the first words which are whispered into a baby´s ear after birth and the last which a Muslim breathes while dying. Any other theories are subordinated to this creed. Everybody saying this creed among Islamic witnesses converts to the Islam. Every devout Muslim prays this prayer many times a day.
There are five prayertimes preceded by ritual washings. Before saying the prayer, the clothes and the body have to be clean, because the Islam appreciates physical and also mental purity.
It´s also necessary to have a clean place. So the Muslims put carpets on the floor, at any place they are at the prayertime. In the Mosque, the Muslims meet to pray together. A recess in the wall shows the right direction (to Mecca) in which the Muslims have to pray.
During the Prayer the posture of the body and the hands and every word are stipulated. The prayer is known as the biggest source of blessing, because it brings peace and calm to the heart and cleans the soul from all temptation and from all dirt.
The almsgiving is the duty to share one´s riches with the poor, prisoners, debtors and travellers, thus with all those people who are more unhappy than oneself, but they also have to be Muslims. The Koran doesn´t stipulate how much somebody gives, but is more concerned about the deeper value of giving.
Every year every Muslim, whose financial affairs are over the minimum, which is stipulated, has to give 2.5 % to 10 % of his cash assets to a Muslim who needs support or a traveller or a debtor.
During the fasting-period, which is one month called Ramadan the Muslim isn´t allowed to eat or drink anything during the day. This should help the Muslims to change for the better. The rhythm of life becomes slower, the Muslims have more time to think about everything, social contacts can become deeper and particular emphasis is placed on social life.
The essential meaning is to show grace. Fasting means that the soul should be taught to wait for God, who guides and helps, patiently.
The Ramadanfasting prepares the Muslims for the night of salvation. This means, in memory for the revelation, when the Koran, the holy book, was sent down. (excluded from fasting are ill people, the old and kids)
More than a million Muslims go on pilgrimages to Mecca every year, something every Muslim has to do once in his life. For about two weeks Mecca becomes the centre of the Muslim world. Outside the holy area of Mecca, the pilgrim puts on white clothes and then goes to Arafat, a suburb of Mecca. There he spens the day praying and thinking. When the day turns into night the pilgrims go on to Mecca.
The pilgrimage shows the brotherhood of Muslims all over the world. The pilgrims don´t mind other people´s races, social status or languages. They live together in the desert, and carry out their religious duties together, they wear the same clothes and they have all the same thought in their hearts, the thought about God.
