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Practices
The "Five Pillars" of Faith
Witness:
The first "Pillar" of Islam is SHAHADAH: witness. This is a statement of faith simply:
There is no god but THE God [Allah]and Muhammad is the messenger of God
Declaring this statement with profound sincerity is the very simply way that one declares oneself to be a Muslim. Conversion to Islam is that simple. The implication of the second half of the statement (that Muhammad is the messenger of God) is that one accepts the Qur'an as the word of God. Another implication of this statement of faith is that Muhammad is not the "son" of God or in any way divine. In Islam, to be a prophet or messenger implies that one is human. Sometimes this religion is referred to as "Mohammedanism" but this is a misnomer for it implies that they worship Muhammad. Muslims do not worship Muhammad and would never refer to their religion in by this name although it was used by earlier Western scholars who did not know better!
Prayer:
SALAT - prayer - is the second of the Five Pillars. There is no sacred day of rest or Sabbath in Islam. Every day is equal. Muhammad and the Qur'an directed Muslims to pray five times every day. These times are determined by the position of the sun: at dawn, midday, mid-afternoon, sundown, and night. Specific times will vary with the seasons as the length of daylight changes. Prayer takes a very unique form in Islam. Each prayer time takes no more than 10 to 15 minutes and consists of a series of movements along with statements of faith that "God is greater [than anything else]" and recitation from Qur'an. Muslims pray with their entire bodies: bowing, kneeling, and prostrating as they humble themselves before God. All Muslims pray in Arabic, no matter the language they use in the culture from which they come. All Muslims also pray facing toward Mecca and the Ka'ba no matter where in the world they may be.
The Mosque: Prayer may be done anywhere and is often done at home or in a quiet corner at schools and places of business where a Muslim will take a few minutes break during the busy day to remember God. It is preferable for a Muslim to pray in community with other Muslims and this is best done in a mosque but, if one is unable to get to a mosque at the specified time, it is advisable to simply pray wherever one may be. The prayer hall in a mosque is a large, open space with plenty of room for Muslims to line up toe to toe, shoulder to shoulder and make the prayer movements in unison as one body. Women will take a position behind the men or in a balcony not because they are inferior but to protect their modesty and to avoid distractions during prayer (in prostration a woman would be revealing her rear end to a man should there be one behind her and, in such a situation, both might be distracted from their concentration on God - the man from attraction to the woman's form and the woman from concern that a man might be staring at her form).
The Imam: The prayer leader is called "Imam". In many mosques the Imam fulfills the functions of a spiritual director much as a Rabbi or Minister does in Jewish and Christian faiths. However, any knowledgeable Muslim may lead other Muslims in prayer. A Muslim woman may lead a group of women. The Iman stands in front of the other Muslims and, like them, faces toward Mecca, not toward the worshippers. The Imam will begin the prayers and movements and the entire group will follow his lead. As the time for prayer approaches, a call to prayer - the Adhan - will be chanted calling all Muslims in earshot to attend to prayer. Listen to the call to prayer (using RealPlayer)
Wudu: Muslims are to perform a ritual ablution and remove their shoes before entering the prayer hall. This ritual cleanliness maintains the sanctity of the prayer space by leaving the worldliness outside (it also maintains the cleanliness of the carpets upon which the worshippers will be putting their face as they prostrate before God).
Although there is no Sabbath day, the Friday noon prayer is a special time for communal prayer. Mosques are most crowded at this time and the Imam will take the opportunity to add a speech or lesson to the regular prayers - the Muslim equivalent of a sermon.
Charity:
ZAKAT (alms, charity) is the giving of at least 2.5% of ones excess income to the poor and needy. The idea behind this principle is that extremes of wealth and poverty are to be avoid in a righteous society. The rich should share the wealth with the poor. This is not a "tithe" to support the mosque. Nor is it a tax. It is to be a freewill offering directly to those in need. Funds come from ones excess net income after one has provided modestly for ones own family. Those among the poor who have no excess are the ones who receive the funds.
Fasting:
SWAM is the annual fasting during the Arabic month of Ramadan. Muslims fast from sunup to sundown for the entire month. It was during this month that Muhammad began to receive the revelations of Qu'ran. Fasting includes no eating, no drinking (not even water), no smoking, no sexual activity during daylight hours. The practice of fasting is universal amongst all religions and serves the purpose of spiritual purification and renewal. For Muslims, the fast reminds them of what it means to go hungry, thus allowing them to better empathize with the poor. Fasting is required of all able bodied Muslims from the age of puberty up. Those who are ill or elderly and pregnant and nursing women are not required to participate in the fast but should at least give food or money to assist those in need to get a meal.
At sundown each day during the month, Muslims will gather to break the fast with the sundown prayer and a light meal. At the end of the month, the final break-fast is one of two major festivals (eids) within Islam - Eid-al-Fitr is the festival of breaking the fast. This is a joyous celebratory time for Muslims. Since the Muslim calendar is strictly lunar with no consideration for the solar cycle, the year is eleven days shorter than the solar cycle. Each year the fast and all other Muslim occasions, such as the annual pilgrimage period, will came eleven days earlier. Whether Ramadan falls during the short days of winter or the lengthy days of summer, the fast remains from sunup to sundown. This may prove a hardship but it is one that Muslims willingly withstand for the sake of their faith. Though it is a special time for Muslims, they will continue to work and attend school even while fasting.
Pilgrimage: 
The HAJJ is the great pilgrimage to Mecca that all Muslims are expected to make at least once in their lives if they are financially and physically able. There is a specific time frame for this pilgrimage which takes place over a period of days during the last month of the Arabic calendar. Mecca and the Ka'ba are the center of the Islamic world. The ka'ba represents a focus on God as the center of one's life. Over a million Muslims will converge upon Mecca from all corners of the globe. Once there, they will remove their cultural and ethnic clothing and all will don the same simple white robes. Thus it is that Muslims on pilgrimage do not know how they differ; rather, they recognize their unity as Muslims, ignorant of who is rich and who is poor or where in the world they may come from.
The pilgrimage rituals involve emulating the actions of Muhammad, Abraham, Ishmael and Hagar as they walk seven times around the Ka'ba, run between two hills near the Great Mosque of Mecca, pray and meditate for an entire day on the plain of Arafat, toss pebbles at three ancient stone pillars (representing the stoning of the devil), and return once again to the Ka'ba for a final circumambulation (walking around). The pilgrimage ends with a great feast: Eid-al-Adha, the second major festival of the Muslim year. All Muslims, whether they went to Mecca that year or not, will celebrate this Eid with the ritual slaughter of a lamb or goat (which commemorates Abraham's near sacrifice of his son at the command of God). This offering is eaten by the Muslims in community feasts and those who can afford an offering will share with those who cannot afford their own.
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