Five pillars examined: 3 - Charity (Zakaat)

Of every aspects of Islam, the duty of charity placed on every Muslim is probably my favourite. Many people often forget that we are one large brother/sisterhood of humanity, charity is the epitome of all moral and just treatment of our fellow man. The Golden Rule dictates to treat others as you would like to be treated. Prophet Mohammad (pbuh), in one of the hadith states: "Not one of you truly believe until you wih for others what you would wish for yourself" (An-Nawawi's Forty Hadith 13, p. 56) That in itself is the true Islam but to go above and beyond is charity.

In another hadith, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is quoted as answering after being asked what are human beings expected to give as charity "The doors of goodness are many...enjoining good, forbidding evil, removing harm from the road, listening to the deaf, leading the blind, guiding one to the object of his need, hurrying with the strength of one's legs to one in sorrow who is asking for help, and supporting the feeble with the strength of one's arms--all of these are charity prescribed for you. Your smile for your brother is charity."

To many people, Muslims included, view charity as giving away of our goods or money to those in needs. That does not mean that you should give away to each and everyone. In Paolo Coehlo's The Alchemist, the main character, Santiago, stops atop a hill in a crystal shop. He asks the merchant if he could have a cup of tea, in exchange he would clean the dusty crystal in his shop. The merchant agrees and once done explains to Santiago that regardless of his cleaning the crystal, his religion mandated for him to give him water and food but that allowing him to work as he did was better for both their souls. This is the concept of "tough love" in a way, helping people to do within thier means instead of enabling them in their own destruction. For example, is it helping then to give money to a gambler to pay their bills or would it be best to go do groceries with them and pay for the food? Tipping someone extra-good for doing their job may be greater charity than giving to those who do not work for their recompense.

With Ramadan coming up, I will be doing a lot of introspection but also I will force myself to do some more good int he world around me: smiling a little more, helping those in needs, mending my relationships with friends and neighbours. While they say "Charity starts at home" I think that it's important to look beyond the home from time to time and, whenever possible, invite someone in.

Have a blessed month of Ramadan! :-)

Five pillars examined: 2 - Prayer (Salat)

"Lord, please give me the courage to change the things that I can, the serenity to accept the things that I can't and the wisdom to know the difference"

The prayer above is known as the alcoholic's prayer. While I am not an alcoholic (though my first two years of university might have brought me dangerously close), this prayer resonates deeply with me. It reminds me, just as when my mom used to say "Aides-toi le ciel t'aideras!" (God helps those who help themselves) that God, while almighty, is a facilitator and that I need to change the things around me in order to receive His kindness.

My mom did attend church 5 days a week with the exception of prayer night and bible study, though I never really tagged along except for Sundays and only while living with her. However, she did teach me how to do my Catholic prayers and I have recited the rosary more than my fair share of times for a young adult in the 21st century. I used to think my mother was ompletely demantial with her church once a day, turns out, there's another people out there even more "demential" than my mother. Moreover, I am joining their religion knoingly and willingly: blessed be my soul!

Sunni (a branch of Islam) Muslims pray 5 times a day:
- between dawn and sunrise
- between sunrise and midday
- between midday and the evening (when the sun is about halfway to setting)
- between evening and sundown
- between sundown and nighttime

The concept of Muslim prayer ressembles that of Sunday mass: stand up, sit, stand, sit, kneel, sit EXCEPT replace sit by sitting on your feet, on the ground and kneeling by prostrating. Also, much to my enjoyment, Muslim prayer does not last an hour like Sunday mass, but between 10 -20 minutes depending on the prayer you recite. There is much too much for me to explain but look it up, it's very interesting. But long story short, with all five daily prayers added up, I'm basically goign to church on a daily basis! Ressemblance are so close that I even took it upon myself to compare both of the most recited prayers from Islam and Christianity:


"Our Father, Who art in heaven
Hallowed be Thy Name;
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.
- Bible, Matthew 6:9-13

"In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Praise be to God, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the World
Most Gracious, most Merciful
Master of the Day of Judgement
We worship You and we seek Your help.
Show us the straight way.
The way of those on whom you have bestowed Your Grace, those whose [portion] is not wrath and who do not go astray"
- Qu'ran, Al-Fatiha 1:1-7

Okay, looking at both those prayers, we can see one very obvious pattern: we both are seeking righteousness and trying to be steered away from evil/wrath. Praying to me is more than requests and demands to God, it's also submission and love for God. "Our Father", "Beneficent and Merciful" those are characteristic of love!

Regardless of all of this, it's going to be a pain to wake up early in the morning and pray late at night, but I can do this. Can't I? I'll get back to you on this once I've actually tried!

Five pillars examined: 1 - Shahada

As Ramadan is fast approaching, with it is my conversion to Islam. In my public declaration of faith, I will be declaring my belief in the five pillars of Islam, the first one of which is the Shahadah: the declaration that "God is the only God and that Mohammed is His prophet" (in Arabic: La ilaha ilalah, Mohammad-ur Rasule lilah).

This declaration, while I do believe in it, has always bothered me. To me, it ressembles the Catholic's apostle's creed "I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ, His only son, our Lord" Why must prophets be mentioned in what I believe is the most important declaration of all: that we believe in God? Many Muslims believe that Christians worship Jesus and many Christians believe that Muslims worship Mohammed, and when we look at some's behaviour: they do! They try and emmulate these men throughout their life, while forgetting important teachings that God sent for us. Forgiveness, Love, Charity; those divine characteristics which better our world are much more important than chastity, following specific fashion or berating others about not following "the right" religion! What happened to that?!

For my non-Muslim friends, believe it or not, Jesus is mentioned in the Qu'ran more times than Mohammed. My belief in the words passed from God to ArchAngel Gabriel, to us via Prophet Mohammed is great, but so is my belief in the actions of Jesus. The Qu'ran speaks of love, mercy, kindness, etc. Jesus preached the same. So why focus so much on the earthly traits of either of these men - yes, they were men - rather than on the Holy Message of God!

So for my Shahada, my declaration of faith, I will say the entire declaration, but inside me, in my heart, I will be reciting the first part louder and and more genuinely because His message is the message I follow. None other.