ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Invitation to Islam Part 2: Islamic Practices Islam is like a tree whose roots are its beliefs and whose branches are its practices. If the roots are not firm and healthy, the tree will not survive - but the roots only form the foundation of the tree. The Islamic Practices are referred to as such because they are the ways in which the theory of Islam - the Beliefs - are turned into reality.

The different forms of outward worship translate a person's inner love and connection with the Almighty into a physical form. Islam has ten fundamental Practices: prayers, fasting, two types of necessary almsgiving, pilgrimage to the holy city of Makkah, jihad, enjoining good, forbidding evil, supporting those who walk in the path of God, and turning away from the enemies of God. Prayers (Salaat) Prayers are the pillar of religion.

Through prayer, people establish communication and dialogue with the Almighty, and they realize that they are not alone in this universe and that they have been created for a legitimate purpose. Allah created human beings to recognize and appreciate His grace and blessings. Just as the body needs food to survive and grow, so does the soul, and the food of the soul is prayer.

So that people receive their necessary spiritual nourishment and maintain a strong connection to Allah, Islam orders them to pray at five particular times of the day: Establish regular prayers from mid-day till the darkness of the night, and recite the Qur'an in the early dawn; verily, the recitation of the Qur'an in the early dawn is an act witnessed.

(17:78-79) The necessity of connection with the Absolute People offer their prayers to Allah for many reasons, the first being the greatness of the Creator. In society, whenever people meet others whom they perceive to be of a high rank - such as celebrities, politicians, doctors, scholars, and so on - they show considerable respect to them at the expense of their own dignity.

If people show so much respect to other human beings who were also created, like themselves, from dust, how much respect should they show before their Creator whose knowledge, superiority, and grandeur is limitless and eternal? Shouldn't they, at least, stand before Him many times a day and bow in respect and gratitude?