Five Pillars of Islam

Islam aims to bring happiness to the lives of human beings in this world and the afterlife by providing them with the most suitable lifestyle for the human condition. Islam is not imposed on individuals; it is practiced by the free will of human kind, and therefore leaves people free and respects their decisions. The religion of Islam has two main categories: the theological and the practical. Kalām, the theoretical aspect, is the belief system. Worship and life make up the practical aspect. Worship includes purification (wudu), the five daily prayers (salah), charity (zakat), fasting (sawm), pilgrimage (hajj) and similar activities. Life, is applying the religion to every aspect of human existence; individual, family, society and so on. This book focuses on worship and its relevant topics. To be able to perform sound and healthy worship, a Muslim must have an accurate knowledge of the religion. Islamic religion is a set of rules conveyed by Allah to human beings through messengers. Allah revealed Islam through Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) giving Muslims two main sources from which to learn their duties and worship: the Qur'an and Sunnah (the behavior and words of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). In order to worship in the most authentic way, a Muslim must know both the Qur'an and Sunnah. Understanding the Qur'an and Sunnah has such an importance in Islam that prominent scholars with exemplary knowledge such as Abū Ḫanīfa (699-767 CE / 80-148 AH), Mālik (c. 711-795 CE / 93-179 AH), Shāfi (767-820 CE / 150-204 AH) and Aḫmad bin Hanbal (780-855 CE / 164-241 AH), established law schools enabling ordinary Muslims to practice Islam correctly in their daily lives by following their instruction.This book addresses the topic of worship from the perspective of the Ḫanafī School of Thought and explains the evidence for their rulings from the Qur'an, Sunnah and other sources. Since the emergence of the Ḫanafī School of Thought, its scholars have controversially been accused of neglecting the Sunnah and giving legal rulings based on personal opinions. During his life, Abū Ḫanīfa was able to successfully defend his position, proving that he followed the way of the Prophet (pbuh) precisely. This book also presents evidence that the Ḫanafī School of Thought gave rulings based on the Qur'an and Sunnah. If there was more than one piece of evidence for a ruling, they chose the strongest, most authentic evidence from the Sunnah and ruled accordingly. Abū Ḫanīfa belongs to the Kūfa School of Thought which goes all the way back to prominent jurists and Companions such as 'Ali bin Abū Tālib and 'Abdullah ibn Masud. Both of these Companions spent most of their time with the Prophet (pbuh) from the beginning of his prophethood until his death, not only did they witness the practices of Islam at first hand, but also had a deep understanding of the whole religion. When giving a ruling, if there were any conflicting pieces of evidence, Abū Ḫanīfa preferred the narration of a Hadith from these Companions over the others. In this book I have covered the pillars of Islam; the book of purification (wudu), the five daily prayers (ṣalah), charity (zakat), fasting (sawm) and pilgrimage (ḫajj). Before explaining these topics, I have described some concepts that are frequently used in fiqh terminology with the aim of making the topic easier to understand for those who are not familiar with such words.