The articles of faith or acts of worship are prescribed at various intervals throughout one’s life – the declaration of faith is to be on one’s mind always; the prayers are offered daily; the fast in a full month once a year; the alms are given once yearly and the pilgrimage is performed annually, once in one’s lifetime.
ALMS:
Zakah – means “purification” (Haneef, 58). It is also translated into English as “poor-due” or “poor tax.” The zakah is assessed on “nonessential property” of the Muslim and is distributed to the poor and needy, those who administer such benevolent programs, to free captives and debtors, evangelization of Islam and travelers.
Haneef writes that the zakah is not paid on property for personal use – clothing, household furniture, the house of primary residence, your car or crops. On everything else, a 2.5% zakah is given in cash or capital. Farmers must give 5% of their crops and a number of animals (Ahmed, 34).
Farah says the zakah is “a means of avoiding the sufferings of the next life, and as an ‘expiation’ or ‘purification’ of what the Muslim retains for himself of material possessions” (138). Esack (176) also writes the zakah “will purify one’s own soul and must comprise of what one really feels attached to.” He mentions it can expiate for a major crime (4:92), nullifying a foolish oath (58:3) or for not being able to fulfill an oath (5:92).
PILGRIMAGE
Also called the hajj – is the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. It is obligatory once in a life-time, involving the “totality” of the Muslim’s being. During the hajj, Muslims commemorate the Prophet Abraham in his willingness to sacrifice what he loved most in the world – Ishmael (37:99-113) – as an example of total submission and obedience.
If, for some reason, you can’t make the hajj in your lifetime, you may get a substitute to do it and you’ll still get credit for it (Farah, 144). If you die before making the hajj, an heir may do it for you postmortem.
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JIHĀD
Defined in Haneef’s glossary (224) as “Earnest striving or effort, either within oneself, in society or in the world at large, for righteousness and against evil, wrongdoing and oppression.”
Farah’s defintion: “The idea of jihād in a military context with its emphasis on the notion of continuous struggle against non-believers in God tended to keep alive the spirit of solidarity in the community over and against outsiders” (Farah, 154). Farah also writes that the hadith “renders [jihād] into a formula for ‘active struggle’ that invariably tended toward a militant expression”.
Clearly many Muslims wage jihād in defense of their faith and in response to aggression – both local – Muslim-initiated aggression – and foreign – perceived American and/or Israeli aggression.
Caner and Caner (185), two Muslims who converted to Protestantism, write: “Despite the explanations of Islamic apologists after the terrorist attacks, jihād does not primarily refer to a ‘struggle of personal piety.’ Jihād is combat on the fronts of politics, warfare, and culture.” They go on to refer to Mohammad as a “militaristic theologian.” From my studies, it seems that Caner and Caner’s view of jihad is closer to true Islamic doctrine.
The only way we’ll have peace with Muslims is to convert them to the Prince of Peace. We should work and pray to that end.
–Paul Holland
