RSB13Living the Muslim Life: the Ten Obligatory Acts, Shahadah, Salah and Sawm

Most British Muslims are Sunni; a minority are Shi’a. Sunni Muslims usually describe their core duties as the Five Pillars; Shi’a Muslims describe theirs as the Ten Obligatory Acts. Both are practices, not beliefs.

• The Five Pillars: Shahadah (declaration of faith), Salah (prayer), Zakah (giving to the poor), Sawm (fasting in Ramadan) and Hajj (pilgrimage to Makkah). A well-known hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari says Islam is built on these five.
• The Ten Obligatory Acts: Salah, Sawm, Zakah, Khums, Hajj, Jihad, amr bil-ma’ruf, nahi anil-munkar, tawalla and tabarra.
• Shared: Salah, Sawm, Zakah and Hajj are on both lists. The Shahadah is a Pillar but not one of the Ten Acts: Shi’a Muslims say it too, but place belief in Allah and the Prophet among the Five Roots of ’Usul ad-Din (beliefs).
• Basis in the Qur’an: Surah 9:71–73 (named in the specification) describes believers who ‘enjoin the right and forbid the wrong, and they establish worship and they pay the poor-due, and they obey Allah and His messenger’ (9:71, Pickthall’s translation), and promises them Allah’s mercy and paradise (9:72).
• History: Shi’a scholars drew the Ten Acts from the Qur’an and from the teaching of the Prophet Muhammad and the Imams, the leaders Shi’a Muslims believe he chose from his family, starting with Ali.

Four duties appear in both lists.

Five Pillars

The five basic duties of Islam in Sunni teaching: Shahadah, Salah, Zakah, Sawm and Hajj.

Ten Obligatory Acts

The ten duties of Shi’a Islam: Salah, Sawm, Zakah, Khums, Hajj, Jihad, amr bil-ma’ruf, nahi anil-munkar, tawalla and tabarra.

Five Roots (’Usul ad-Din)

The five basic beliefs of Shi’a Islam. Not to be confused with the Ten Acts.

• Purpose for Shi’a Muslims: the Acts are a complete guide for life, joining worship (Salah, Sawm, Hajj), money (Zakah, Khums), effort (Jihad) and how believers treat others (amr bil-ma’ruf, nahi anil-munkar, tawalla, tabarra).
• Importance today: they make faith public and social, not only private; they keep the community loyal to the Imams’ teaching; and in Britain, Khums funds Shi’a mosques, schools and charities.
• Diversity of practice: Shi’a Muslims differ in how they carry out some Acts, for example how Khums is paid and to which senior scholar (marja’).
• Divergent understandings in Sunni Islam: Sunni Muslims don’t use the list, but they share much of it. Four of the Acts are Pillars; jihad is a duty for Sunni Muslims too; and the Qur’an calls on the whole community to ‘invite to goodness, and enjoin right conduct and forbid indecency’ (3:104, Pickthall’s translation).
• Differences: Sunni Muslims don’t pay Khums on income, and tawalla and tabarra reflect the Shi’a belief that the Prophet’s family should lead, which Sunni Muslims don’t share in the same way.

Amr bil-ma’ruf

Encouraging people to do what is good.

Nahi anil-munkar

Forbidding what is wrong.

Tawalla

Showing love for Allah’s friends: the Prophet, his family and the Imams.

Tabarra

Turning away from the enemies of Allah and his messenger.

Khums

A Shi’a duty to give one-fifth of surplus yearly income.

Shahadah means ‘bearing witness’. It is the Muslim declaration of faith: ‘There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.’ It is said in Arabic.

• Part one declares Tawhid, the oneness of Allah. The Qur’an says ‘Allah (Himself) is Witness that there is no Allah save Him’ (3:18, Pickthall’s translation).
• Part two declares that Muhammad is Allah’s messenger, the final prophet, ‘the Seal of the Prophets’ (33:40), so Muslims follow the Qur’an and his example (Sunnah).
• Surah 3:17–21 (the specification’s passage) adds that ‘religion with Allah (is) the Surrender’ (3:19): the Shahadah is the words of that surrender.
• Shi’a Muslims often add ‘and Ali is the friend (wali) of Allah’, showing their belief that Ali was chosen to lead after the Prophet. Most treat this as a recommended addition, not part of the required words.
• When it is said: whispered into a newborn baby’s ear in the call to prayer; said sincerely before witnesses by someone becoming a Muslim; repeated in the adhan and in every Salah; and, Muslims hope, as their last words before death.
• Why it matters: it is the first Pillar, the foundation of all the others; it sums up the core beliefs in one sentence; it unites Sunni and Shi’a Muslims; and it reminds Muslims to put Allah first in every choice.

Shahadah

The declaration of faith: there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.

Tawhid

The oneness of Allah.

Adhan

The call to prayer, which includes the Shahadah.

Salah is the set prayer Muslims perform five times a day. It is the second Pillar and one of the Ten Acts.

• History: Muslims believe the five daily prayers were commanded during the Prophet Muhammad’s Night Journey and Ascension (al-Isra wal-Mi’raj), around 621 CE. Hadith say the number was first fifty, reduced to five at the Prophet’s request.
• Surah 15:98–99: ‘hymn the praise of thy Lord, and be of those who make prostration (unto Him). And serve thy Lord till the Inevitable cometh unto thee’ (Pickthall’s translation): worship continues for the whole of life.
• Surah 29:45: ‘establish worship. Lo! worship preserveth from lewdness and iniquity’ (Pickthall’s translation): prayer keeps Muslims away from wrongdoing.
• Times: Fajr (dawn, 2 rak’ahs), Zuhr (just after midday, 4), Asr (afternoon, 4), Maghrib (just after sunset, 3) and Isha (night, 4). ‘Worship at fixed times hath been enjoined on the believers’ (4:103).
• Wudu: ritual washing of hands, mouth, nose, face, arms, head and ears, and feet, as Surah 5:6 describes, so that the worshipper is pure before Allah. Ghusl is a full wash after major impurity.
• Qiblah: Muslims face the Ka’aba in Makkah (2:144); in Britain that is roughly south-east. A mosque’s mihrab (niche) shows the direction.
• Niyyah: a sincere intention to pray, so that Salah is worship, not habit. The adhan (call to prayer) is called by the mu’adhin.

Salah

The five daily set prayers in Islam.

Wudu

Ritual washing before prayer.

Qiblah

The direction of the Ka’aba in Makkah, which Muslims face to pray.

Niyyah

Intention: the sincere purpose to carry out an act of worship.

Each prayer is made of rak’ahs: set cycles of movements and words, said in Arabic, the same for Muslims everywhere.

• Takbir: standing, hands raised, saying ‘Allahu Akbar’ (Allah is the greatest).
• Qiyam: standing and reciting al-Fatihah, the first surah, in every rak’ah: ‘Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we ask for help. Show us the straight path’ (1:5–6, Pickthall’s translation). Another passage of the Qur’an often follows.
• Ruku: bowing with the back flat and hands on the knees, praising Allah.
• Sujud: prostrating with forehead, nose, palms, knees and toes on the ground, the position of greatest humility. It is done twice in each rak’ah.
• Julus: sitting back on the heels between the prostrations and at the end.
• Ending: the worshipper recites the tashahhud, which includes the Shahadah, then turns the head right and left saying ‘peace be upon you’ (taslim).
• Afterwards, many Muslims add personal prayers (du’a) in any language, and remember Allah (dhikr), sometimes using prayer beads.

One rak’ah, step by step

Rak’ah

One cycle of set movements and recitations in Salah.

Al-Fatihah

The opening surah of the Qur’an, recited in every rak’ah.

Sujud

Prostration: forehead, nose, palms, knees and toes touching the ground.

Du’a

Personal prayer, in any language, outside the set words of Salah.

• At home: Salah can be said anywhere clean, using a prayer mat facing the qiblah. Families often pray together, and many women pray at home, which is fully valid.
• In the mosque: worshippers stand shoulder to shoulder in straight rows behind an imam, rich and poor side by side, which shows equality before Allah. Many Muslims believe praying in congregation brings a greater reward.
• Jummah is the Friday congregational prayer, held at midday in place of Zuhr. The Qur’an says that when the call to Friday prayer is heard, believers should ‘haste unto remembrance of Allah and leave your trading’ (62:9, Pickthall’s translation).
• The khutbah: at Jummah the imam gives a sermon from the minbar (pulpit), often applying the Qur’an to life today, for example honesty at work, family life or helping neighbours.
• Who must attend: for Sunni Muslims, Jummah is compulsory for adult men who are able; women may attend. Shi’a scholars differ on whether it is compulsory while the twelfth Imam is hidden, and many Shi’a Muslims attend.
• Why Jummah matters: it obeys a direct command in the Qur’an (62:9); it brings the whole local ummah together each week; the khutbah teaches and guides; and many Muslims wash (ghusl), dress in clean clothes and arrive early, making it a weekly fresh start.
• In Britain, Friday is a working day, so Muslims may need time off from school or work; many schools and workplaces give space and time for Jummah.

Jummah

The Friday midday congregational prayer, with a sermon.

Khutbah

The sermon given by the imam at Jummah.

Imam

In a mosque, the person who leads the prayer. (In Shi’a belief, the Imams are also the Prophet’s chosen successors.)

Minbar

The raised platform from which the khutbah is given.

Both traditions share the essentials of Salah. The differences are real but smaller, and they vary within each tradition too.

• What unites them: the same five prayers; wudu; the same qiblah, the Ka’aba; the same rak’ahs with standing, bowing and prostration; al-Fatihah in Arabic; the same command in the Qur’an. At Hajj, Sunni and Shi’a pilgrims pray around the same Ka’aba.
• Why the three times? Shi’a scholars read the Qur’an’s verses on prayer times (11:114; 17:78) as allowing three, and point to hadith that the Prophet sometimes joined prayers in Madinah when he wasn’t travelling.
• Why the turbah? Many Shi’a Muslims believe prostration should be on earth or something natural, not on woven cloth. Clay from Karbala recalls the martyrdom of Husayn, the Prophet’s grandson.
• Praying together: in many British mosques Sunni and Shi’a Muslims pray side by side, each in their own way; some communities have separate mosques, and differences can cause tension.
• Practice also varies inside each tradition, for example between the Sunni schools of law. Don’t call either way ‘wrong’.

Turbah

A small tablet of clay, often from Karbala, on which many Shi’a Muslims place their forehead in prostration.

Karbala

The city in Iraq where Husayn was killed in 680 CE.

Salah is an asterisked point, so Pearson may set a 4-mark ‘Describe two differences’ question comparing it with Christianity, the main religious tradition of Great Britain. Describe the Muslim practice, then the contrasting Christian one.

• Similar too: both pray to one God, both can pray alone or together, and both value a weekly gathering. Jesus said, ‘where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the middle of them’ (Matthew 18:20, World English Bible).
• How to write a difference: ‘In Salah, Muslims must face the qiblah towards the Ka’aba in Makkah (1). Christians don’t have to face a set direction when they pray, although many churches face east (1).’
• Christianity must be one side of each difference: comparing Sunni and Shi’a Salah doesn’t answer a Describe question.

Direction is fixed in Salah, but not in Christian worship.

Main religious tradition of Great Britain

Christianity: Pearson’s comparison point in ‘Describe two differences’ questions.

Liturgy

A set form of public worship with fixed words and actions.

Sawm is fasting from dawn to sunset during Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic year. It is the fourth Pillar and one of the Ten Acts.

• What it involves: no food, drink (including water), smoking or sexual relations from dawn to sunset; avoiding lying, anger and unkind words. The day begins with suhur before dawn and ends with iftar at sunset.
• Surah 2:183–185: ‘Fasting is prescribed for you, even as it was prescribed for those before you, that ye may ward off (evil)’ (2:183, Pickthall’s translation); Ramadan is the month ‘in which was revealed the Qur’an’ (2:185).
• Purposes: obedience to Allah; self-discipline and awareness of Allah (taqwa); empathy with people who are hungry; gratitude; more charity and prayer; and community, as families and mosques share iftar.
• Who is excused (2:184–185): children before puberty; people who are ill; travellers; women who are pregnant, breastfeeding or menstruating; older people and the long-term ill who can’t fast.
• What they do instead: those who are ill or travelling for a short time make up the days later; those who can never fast give fidyah, feeding a person in need for each day missed (2:184).
• Why they are excused: ‘Allah desireth for you ease; He desireth not hardship for you’ (2:185, Pickthall’s translation). Fasting should bring people closer to Allah, not harm their health.
• In Britain: Ramadan moves about 11 days earlier each year. In summer the fast can last well over 16 hours.

The fasting day, and the last ten nights

Sawm

Fasting from dawn to sunset during Ramadan.

Ramadan

The ninth month of the Islamic calendar, the month of fasting.

Fidyah

Feeding a person in need for each day of fasting missed, by someone who can’t make the days up.

Iftar

The meal that breaks the fast at sunset.

Laylat al-Qadr, the Night of Power, remembers the night in 610 CE when Muslims believe the angel Jibril first brought the words of the Qur’an to the Prophet Muhammad, in the cave of Hira near Makkah.

• The first words revealed were the start of Surah 96: ‘Read: In the name of thy Lord Who createth’ (96:1, Pickthall’s translation).
• Surah 97 is about this night: ‘Lo! We revealed it on the Night of Predestination’ (97:1); ‘The Night of Power is better than a thousand months’ (97:3); angels descend, and it is ‘Peace until the rising of the dawn’ (97:5) (Pickthall’s translation).
• When: the exact night isn’t known. Muslims seek it in the odd-numbered nights of the last ten nights of Ramadan; many Sunni Muslims mark the 27th, and many Shi’a Muslims the 19th, 21st and 23rd.
• What Muslims do: stay up to pray, read or listen to the whole Qur’an, ask forgiveness, make du’a and give charity; some stay in the mosque for the last ten days (i’tikaf).
• Why it matters today: it marks the start of the Qur’an, Allah’s guidance; worship that night is believed to be worth more than a thousand months; many seek forgiveness and a fresh start; it renews a Muslim’s commitment to the Qur’an.

Laylat al-Qadr

The Night of Power: the night the Qur’an was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad.

I’tikaf

Staying in the mosque for worship, usually in the last ten days of Ramadan.

Al-Qadr

Predestination: a different belief, not the Night of Power.