About This Culture: Hajj, Ramadan, and Prayer

I don't claim to know very much about Islam, although I have learned a lot over the last 4 years. There are five pillars of Islam and I wanted to mention three of them here.

"The Five Pillars of Islam are the five obligations that every Muslim must satisfy in order to live a good and responsible life according to Islam."

Hajj

I'll start with Hajj, since that's happening right now. Once a year Muslims have an opportunity to make this journey to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. It's the holiest city in Islam.

I have a friend who is on the Hajj right now. She went by bus. There were four busses leaving together full of people who were going on the hajj to fulfill one of the five pillars of Islam. She was telling me that they walk around the ka'aba 7 times. This Monday they will sit on the Mountain of Arafat where Mohammed gave his last sermon. Many Muslims will be fasting on this day.

Ramadan

It's during the month of Ramadan that Muslims fast from food, drink, smoking, and other things from sunrise to sunset. This is the month that the Quran came down to Mohammed. My friends have told me that during this time their prayers have more value.

Culturally it's a time where families gather together. After sunset they break their fast with dates and coffee. There are more prayers in the evenings.

Prayer 
Muslims have five manditory prayers each day. These prayers are prescribed; they pray a specific prayer from the Quran called the Fatiha. They stand, bow and kneel facing Mecca. Even though they don't have to pray in the mosque, the men often go there to pray.






We hear the call to prayer five times a day. In the following video you can hear the call to prayer and see some images from the hajj.