Rituals and Ceremonies of Islam

Kaitlyn Fitzgerald

P2 Intro to Islam

Research paper

August 16, 2017

                                        Rituals and Ceremonies

Muslims have multiple rituals and ceremonies that take place due to the five pillars. The five pillars consist of Shahadah, Salat, Zakat, Sawn, and Hajj. Shahadah is the testimony of one’s faith. Salat is prayer, Muslims need to pray five times a day. Zakat is giving to charity. Sawn is fasting during Ramadan. Finally, Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca. Muslims must follow these five pillars in order to have a relationship with God and be accepted by God.

Shahadah: Stating your faith is considered a ceremony according to the Muslim faith. Shahadah is the first and most important of the five pillars. Muhammad ‘Abdul Haq states, “It is the root of all faith in Islam, but at the same time, it is the source of all knowledge in Islam” (“Abdul Haq 171). The only way to become a Muslim is to state his/her faith. “I bear witness that there is no Lord but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah” (Abul Haq 171.) The word Shahadah means to see with one’s eyes, which means that Muslims are testifying that they believe beyond reasonable doubt that Allah is the only God and Muhammad is the messenger to Allah.

Salat: Praying multiple times a day is a form of Muslim ritual. This ritual is the most visible ritual out of the five pillars of Islam. Each Muslim must pray five times a day during the precisely defined window of time. The five times that Muslims must pray during the day includes at dawn, at noon, in midafternoon, after sunset, and nightfall. Morning prayer is from 4:32 until just before sunrise. Sunrise prayer is at 6:04 and there is no prayer from sunrise until noon prayer. Noon prayer is from 12:11 until just before afternoon prayer. Afternoon prayer is from 16:29 until just before evening prayer. Evening prayer is from 18:17 until just before night prayer. Night prayer is from 18:17 until just before morning prayer (Henkel 493). Each prayer consists of a number of prayer cycles otherwise known as rekats. For example, “the night prayer has four obligatory (farz) and six recommended (sunnet) cycles. These prayers only take a few minutes to perform unless additional cycles are added on (Henkel 494.) While Muslims pray they are focusing on being in the presence of God.

“Salat is supposed to be an act of submission to God but each submission might be a different experience” (Niloofar 28). Before salat can be performed, Muslims must be in a state of ritual purity. Muslims are able to pray while standing, bowing, or kneeling with their hands and forehead touching the ground. The way Muslims decide to pray is not only their personal preference but also where they are praying during that time period. There is no specific place that Muslims need to pray as it can be done in either public or private. They are able to pray from wherever they are if that is a mosque, work, from home, etc. Women are far less likely to pray in mosques so mosque attendance is usually more male than female and it tends to be higher social classes. When in private, women are required to perform prayer alone in their rooms unless there are other guests in the house and sharing living space is necessary.