Islam essays

Islam essays 1. Define the principle beliefs of Islam. Islam has many important beliefs, which can be categorized into the five pillars. The first pillar is the declaration of faith (shahada). This includes the belief in only one god, Allah. The second pillar is prayer (salat) which includes praying five times daily. The third pillar is fasting (sawm) during Ramadan (the holy month), in which one cannot eat from dawn to dusk. The fourth is Almsgiving (zakat) where, the wealthy take care of the less fortunate and give to charity. The fifth pillar is the Hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca, which includes enduring religious rites for 10 days. All Muslims should experience at least once in a lifetime. 2. Describe the basic ethical system of Islam. Islam ethics are all guided by the Quran and the Hadith. The Quran and Hadith are the two main books or scriptures of the Islam religion, in which all actions and questions can be answered in question of their ethical validity. If these books do not directly speak of the issue at hand, similar topics are looked at in the Quran or Haddith, and by the Qurans stated beliefs, changes are made to identify the problem at hand. In addition to the ethical system and use of the books, all actions whether they be individual, social or even political, can be categorized into two different categories, Halal (permitted) or Haram (forbidden). There are four different levels to what is considered Halal. There is 1) obligatory 2) recommended 3) permissible and 4) discouraged but allowed. Therefore, based on these rules all actions can be decided whether they are ethically right or wrong. In addition to this, all Muslims have two types of duties. The first of which is their duties to Alla h, which included utter submission to him. The second is their duties to humankind, which includes charity. In conclusion, it is ...