Foundations of Islamic
Beliefs
Global History I: Spiconardi
The Five Pillars of Islam
 Faith (shahada)  “La
ilah illa Allah wa
Muhammad rasul
Allah,” meaning
“There is no God but
the one God and
Muhammad is His
prophet.”
 Prayer (salat) 
Muslims must recite 5
daily prayers
 Muslims must perform
a ritual bathing before
prayer (wudu)
The Five Pillars of Islam
 Prayer (Salat)
 Muezzin – Person who calls Muslims to the
mosque for prayer or Friday services
The Five Pillars of Islam
 Almsgiving (zakat) 
a tax is levied on
those living above
subsistence and the
tax is then supposed
to be redistributed to
the poor
 Fasting (saum)  No
food, drink, smoking
or sex from sunrise to
sunset during the holy
month of Ramadan
The Five Pillars of Islam
 Pilgrimage (Hajj)  Every able-bodied
Muslim must make a pilgrimage to Mecca
at least once in their lifetime
The Five Pillars of Islam:
The Hajj
Ramadan
 Ramadan  month of fasting and
worshipping that evokes piety
 Fasting promotes self-discipline and spiritual
awareness
 Celebrates when the Qur’an was first
revealed to Muhammad
 New crescent moon starts Ramadan, while
new moon ends Ramadan
 Eid al-Fitr – feast that ends Ramadan
Qur’an (Koran)
 Qur’an  Islamic holy book
 Considered the very word of Allah
 Arabic for “recitation” since Muhammad
recited what the angel Gabriel told him
 Difficult to translate
 No one version
Hadith
 Hadith  collection of the sayings and
traditions of Muhammad
 Sunna  The example of Muhammad
(“What would Muhammad do?”)
The Shari’ah
 The Shari’ah  “The way”
 Body of laws and rules that regulate Islamic
life
 No alcohol
 No pork
 Not allowed to depict living things
 Countries like Iran base their laws on the
Shari’ah
 Mufti  experts on Islamic law