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The “Pillars” of Islam
Shahada (testimony)
Salat (ritual prayer)
Sawm (Ramadan fast)
Zakat (alms tax)
Hajj (greater pilgrimage)
Shahada
la ilaha illa Allah
(There is no god except God)
Muhammadun rasul Allah
(Muhammad is the messenger of God)
Salat
At dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset and
evening, facing Mecca
But what if you’re on the opposite side of the
world? Or in space? Or in Alaska?
Attempts to shift Friday noon prayer to
Sunday have failed, though Sunday
is day for “Sunday school” and the like
Imam (prayer leader) as profession,
prayer as assertion of Islamic ID
Sawm
As “great equaliser,” assertion of ID,
but awareness of difficulties. Use of
technology to help determine start and
end
Zakat
How much, on what, by whom and for
whom? Should it be compulsory?
Hajj
Focus on symbolic value of rituals
Attempts to avert accidents through
modification of sites at Mecca
Should Mecca be international?
Hajj as assertion of Islamic ID
Islam on the Internet
Enabling contact between Muslims, but also
leading to (sometimes acrimonious)
debates
Qur’an and other texts
on the internet, but
can lead to problems
with fake or
amateur legal
scholarship?
Islam and Politics
Islamic groups/parties seeking to make Islam
more influential in politics and social life
In Middle East, governments often have
uneasy relations with Islamists and
suppress radicals
Terrorism perpetrated by Islamic groups often
increases tensions within Muslim
communities, hardening boundaries and
sometimes leading to violence