Prayer
A Muslim should stop 5 times a day, whether it be
work, play or sleep, and pray to Allah. These prayers are so important
that they are the second Pillar. When they pray, they face the Kabba in
Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Muslims are encouraged to fix their lives around
the prayers, like holding off a errand, or rising earlier for the dawn
prayer. The prayer times are before dawn, noon, afternoon, after sunset,
and evening. Each time is flexible, with about an hour to pray during
each time.
When the prayer is performed properly, with humility
and remembrance of Allah, it fills has a lasting affect on the person
praying. It also fills the heart with fear, hope and remembrance of
Allah.
The prayers are compared by Muhammad (peace and
blessings be upon him) like having a river in front of your house. Then,
if you bathed in that river five times a day, no dirt would remain.
Marriage
In Islam, marriage is meant to be
permanent, with no thought of divorce, although they are allowed when
the marriage is irrevocably damaged.
When they get married, the groom gives the bride a
gift, called a mahr. It is usually money, but it could be anything. In
one case, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) gave permission for
a poor man to teach his wife a few verses of the Qur’an.
Neither the bride or groom can be forced in a
marriage. Also, many women do not work outside the house, and they don’t
have to spend any money on kids or household expenses, because the
husband pays all household expenses and other expenses. The husband is
the leader of the house, and his wife has to obey him, although that
does not mean that the wife is the slave.
Abortion is forbidden because every child has the
right to live. No child is favored over another, and if the father dies
before the child is born, the child has the right to the inheritance.
Calander
The Islamic calendar starts each month when a lunar cresent can be
seen, after a new moon. It depends on where the veiwer is and what the
weather is like. The twelve months are:
- Muharram
- Safar
- Rabi’ al-awwal (Rabi’ I)
- Rabi’ al-awwal (Rabi’ II)
- Jumada al-awwal (Jumada I)
- Jumada al-awwal (Jumada II)
- Rajab
- Sha’ban
- Ramadan
- Shawwal
- Dhu al-Qi’dah
- Dhu al-Hijjah
