The Fundemantals of Islam

With the aid of and the strength given by Allâhu ta’âlâ, who keeps all ’âlams in existence and gives all the favours and gifts and who never sleeps, now we begin to explain the blessed saying of our Prophet (sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam).

Our beloved superior Hadrat ’Umar ibn al-Khattâb (radî-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anh), who was a gallant leader of Muslims, one of the highest of the Prophet’s Companions, and was famous for his truthfulness, said:

“It was such a day that a few of us, the Companions, were in the presence and service of Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam).” That day, that hour was so blessed, so precious a day that one could hardly have the chance to live it once again. On that day, it fell to his lot to be honoured with being in the Prophet’s company, near him, and to see his beautiful face, which was food for spirits and pleasure and comfort to souls. To emphasize the value, the honour of that day, he said, “It was such a day…” Could there be another time as honourable and precious as the one at which it fell to his lot to see Jabrâ’îl (Jibrîl, Archangel Gabriel, ’alaihi ’s-salâm) in the guise of a human being, to hear his voice and to hear the knowledge men needed as beautifully and clearly as possible through the blessed mouth of Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam)?

“That hour, a man came near us like the rising of the moon. His clothes were extremely white and his hair was very black. Signs of travel, such as dust or perspiration were not seen on him. None of us, the Companions of the Prophet (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam), recognized him, that is, he was not one of the people we had seen or known before. He sat down in the Presence of Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam). He placed his knees near the Prophet’s blessed knees.” This person, in the guise of a human figure, was the angel named Jabrâ’îl. Though his way of sitting seems to be incompatible with manners (âdâb), it showed us a very important fact that, in learning religious knowledge, there is no such thing as shyness, nor does pride or arrogance become a master. Hadrat Jabrâ’îl wanted to show the Prophet’s Companions that everybody should ask what he wanted to know about Islam freely from teachers without feeling shy, for there should not be shyness in learning the religion or embarrassment in paying, teaching or learning one’s debt to Allâhu ta’âlâ.

“That noble person put his hands on Rasûlullah’s (sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam) blessed knees. He asked Rasûlullah, ‘O Rasûl-Allâh! Tell me what Islam is and how to be a Muslim.’ ”

The literal meaning of ‘Islam’ is ‘to yield and submit.’ Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam) explained that the word ‘islam’ was the name of the five basic pillars in Islam, as follows:

1. Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ alaihi wa sallam) said that the first of the five fundamentals of Islam was “to say the kalimat ash-shahâda”;that is, one should say,“Ash’hadu an lâ ilâha illa’llâh wa ash’hadu anna Muhammadan ’abdûhu wa rasûluhû.” In other words, a discreet person who has reached the age of puberty and who can talk has to say vocally, “On the earth or in the sky, there is no one but Allâhu ta’âlâ worthy of worship. The real being to be worshipped is Allâhu ta’âlâ alone. He is the Wâjib al-wujûd. Every kind of superiority exists in Him. No defect exists in Him. His name is Allah,” and to believe in this absolutely with all his heart. And also one should say and believe: “The exalted person who had a rose-pink skin, a white-reddish, bright and lovely face, black eyes and eye-brows; who had a blessed wide forehead, with a good temper; who shed no shadow on the ground, was soft-spoken and was called Arab because he was born in Mecca of Hashemite-descent, named Muhammad ibn ’Abdullah, is Allâhu ta’âlâ’s human slave (’abd) and messenger (rasûl).” The Prophet’s mother was Hadrat Âmina bint Wahab. He was born in Mekka [at the dawn of Monday, 20th of April, 571]. When he was forty, in the year called the ‘Bi’that’ year, he was informed that he was the Prophet. After this, he invited people to Islam for thirteen years in Mecca. Then he emigrated to Medina on the command of Allâhu ta’âlâ. There he spread Islam everywhere. Ten years later, he passed away in Medina on Monday 12, Rabî’ al-Awwal (July, 632).

2. The second fundamental of Islam is “to perform the ritual prayer (namâz, salât) [five times a day in accordance with its conditions and fards] when the time for prayer comes.” It is fard for every Muslim to perform salât five times every day after each time of salât starts and to know that he or she performs it in due time. Performing it before its time by adapting wrong calendars prepared by ignoramuses or non-madhhabite people is a grave sin and such a salât is not sahîh. Such calendars also cause one to perform the initial sunna salât of early afternoon prayer and the fard salât of evening prayer in a makrûh time. The ritual prayer has to be performend paying attention to its fards, wâjibs and sunnas, submitting the heart to Allâhu ta’âlâ and before the due time is over. In the Qur’ân al-kerîm the ritual prayer is called ‘salât’. Salât means man’s praying, angel’s doing istighfâr, and Allâhu ta’âlâ’s having compassion and pitying. In Islam, salât means to do certain actions, to recite certain things as shown in ’ilm al-hâl books. Salât is started with the words ‘Allâhu akbar,’ called the ‘takbîr al-iftitâh,’and said after raising the hands up to the ears till putting the hands under the navel (for men). It ends with the salâm by turning the head to the right and left shoulders at the end of the last sitting posture.

3. The third fundamental of Islam is “to give the zakât of one’s property.” The literal meaning of zakât is ‘purity, to praise, and become good and beautiful.’ In Islam, zakât means ‘for a person who has property of zakât more than he needs and at a certain amount called nisâb to separate a certain amount of his property and to give it to Muslims named in the Qur’ân al-kerîm without reproaching them.’ Zakât is given to seven kinds of people. There are four types of zakât in all of the four madhhabs: the zakât of gold and silver, the zakât of commercial goods, the zakât of the stock animals [sheep, goats and cattle] that graze in the fields for more than half a year, and the zakât of all kinds of substances of necessity issuing from the earth. This fourth type of zakât, called ’ushr, is given as soon as the crop is harvested. The other three are given one year after they reach the amount of nisâb.

4. The fourth fundamental of Islam is “to fast every day of the month of Ramadân.” Fasting is called ‘sawm.’ Sawm means to protect something against something else. In Islam, sawm means to protect oneself against three things [during the days] of the month of Ramadân, as they were commanded by Allâhu ta’âlâ: eating, drinking and sexual intercourse. The month of Ramadân begins upon seeing the new moon in the sky. It may not begin at the time calculated in calendars.

5. The fifth fundamental of Islam is “for the able person to perform the hajj(pilgrimage) once in his life.” For an able person who has money enough to go to and come back from the city of Mecca besides the property sufficient for the subsistence of his family he leaves behind until he comes back, it is fard to perform tawâf around the Ka’ba and to perform waqfa on the plain of ’Arafât, provided that the way will be safe and the body healthy, once in his lifetime.

“The person, upon hearing these answers from Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam), said, ‘O Rasûl-Allah! You told the truth.’ ”Hadrat ’Umar (radiy-Allâhu ’anh) said that of the Prophet’s Companions, the ones who were there were astonished at the behaviour of this person who asked a question and confirmed that the answer was correct. One asks with a view to learn what one does not know, but to say, “You told the truth,” indicates that one already knows it.

The highest of the five fundamentals listed above is to say the Kalimat ash-shahâda and believe its meaning. The next highest is to perform salât. Next to this is to fast. Then comes the pilgrimage. The last one is to give zakât. It is unanimously certain that kalimat ash-shahâda is the highest. About the sequence of the other four, most ’ulamâ’ said the same as we said above. Kalimat ash-shahâda became fard first, in the beginning of Islam. Salât five times a day became fard on the Mi’râj Night in the twelfth year of Bi’that, a year and some months before the Hegira. Fasting during Ramadân became fard in the month of Sha’bân, the second year of the Hegira. Giving zakât became fard in the month of Ramadân, in the same year when fasting became fard. And pilgrimage became fard in the ninth year of the Hegira.

If a person denies, disbelieves, refuses, makes fun of or flouts one of these five fundamentals of Islam, he becomes a disbeliever, may Allah protect us! Similarly, he who does not accept any of the things which are unanimously and clearly declared as halâl (permitted) or harâm (forbidden), or who says halâl for harâm or harâm for halâl, becomes a disbeliever. If a person denies or dislikes one of the inevitably known Islamic teachings, that is, teachings that are heard and known even by the common people living in Muslim countries, he becomes a disbeliever. If an ordinary person does not know the teachings that are not so commonly spread or indispensable so as to be known by him, he is not in disbelief (kufr) but sinful (fisq).