The First Refuge

The First RefugeThe faith

The Faith They Carried

Omar ibn Said began the story of his life with the Quran. To understand the people in these pages, it helps to know what they believed and practiced. This is the short version.

Islam rests on five acts of worship, called the pillars. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, listed them in one sentence.

Islam is based on (the following) five (principles): 1. To testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and Muhammad is Allah's Messenger (ﷺ). 2. To offer the (compulsory congregational) prayers dutifully and perfectly. 3. To pay Zakat (i.e. obligatory charity). 4. To perform Hajj. (i.e. Pilgrimage to Mecca) 5. To observe fast during the month of Ramadan.

The first pillarShahadah, the testimony الشهادة

A person enters Islam by saying one sentence and meaning it:

أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وأشهد أن محمدا رسول الله

Ashhadu an la ilaha illa Allah, wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan rasul Allah. I bear witness that there is no god but God, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God.

Everything else follows from it. It is the word Bilal kept repeating under the stone: One.

The second pillarSalah, the prayer الصلاة

Muslims pray five times a day, at times set by the sun: Fajr before sunrise, Dhuhr after midday, Asr in the afternoon, Maghrib just after sunset, and Isha at night. Each prayer is short, a few minutes of standing, bowing and prostrating, facing the Kaaba in Makkah. That direction is called the qibla.

Before praying, a Muslim washes: hands, mouth, nose, face, arms, head and feet. This is wudu. It is what Bilali Muhammad was writing about on Sapelo Island.

The older notebook pages walk through the prayer step by step: Salaat (Prayer) and Bismillah.

The third pillarZakat, the due on wealth الزكاة

Zakat is an obligatory share of one’s wealth given to those in need: 2.5 percent, once a lunar year, on savings that have stayed above a minimum amount called the nisab. Muslims understand it as purifying what remains. Many pay it in Ramadan.

The Quran names eight groups who may receive it (Surat al-Tawbah, 9:60): the poor, the destitute, those who collect and distribute it, those whose hearts are to be reconciled, people in bondage, people crushed by debt, the cause of God, and the stranded traveler.

Zakat can be given directly to people who qualify, or through a mosque or a charity that distributes it, such as the Zakat Foundation of America. Choose one you trust. It is usually paid in one sum, and the giver makes the intention, the niyyah, that this payment is zakat. That intention is what sets it apart from other giving.

Zakat is different from sadaqah, which is voluntary charity of any amount at any time. Sadaqah is the word that survived on Sapelo Island as saraka, the rice cakes given to children.

A note from the keeper. What I do: every time money comes in, whether it is a paycheck, money for school, or someone paying me back, I move 2.5 percent into an account kept only for zakat. That is a habit, not a ruling. How zakat applies to your own situation is a question for a scholar you trust.

The fourth pillarSawm, the fast of Ramadan الصوم

In Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, Muslims fast from dawn to sunset: no food, no drink, and no marital relations during those hours. The calendar is lunar, so Ramadan moves about ten or eleven days earlier each year and passes through every season.

The fast is meant to reach the tongue and the temper as well as the stomach.

Whoever does not give up forged speech and evil actions, Allah is not in need of his leaving his food and drink (i.e. Allah will not accept his fasting).

Before the Eid prayer at the end of the month, each household gives zakat al-fitr, a small charity of food, so that nobody is hungry on the day of celebration. The men and women who rose in Bahia in 1835 did so in Ramadan.

More in the notebook: Ramadan.

The fifth pillarHajj, the pilgrimage الحج

Once in a lifetime, every Muslim who is able must travel to Makkah for the Hajj (Surat Al Imran, 3:97). Its rites run from the eighth to the twelfth or thirteenth day of Dhul Hijjah, the last month of the Islamic year.

It is the road Mansa Musa took from Mali in 1324, and Askia Muhammad in 1496, and that Omar ibn Said, by his own account, had hoped to take before he was captured.

Words you will hear

When Muslims mention God or the Prophet, they add a few words of respect. You will see them on this site too.

After the name of God
Subhanahu wa ta’ala. Glory to Him, the Exalted.
Also after the name of God
‘Azza wa Jall. Mighty and Majestic.
After the name of the Prophet Muhammad
Salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam. May God’s blessings and peace be upon him.
Insha’Allah إن شاء الله
If God wills. Said of anything in the future: “I will see you tomorrow, insha’Allah.”
Masha’Allah ما شاء الله
What God has willed. Said in admiration, to give the credit for a good thing to God.
Alhamdulillah الحمد لله
All praise is due to God. Said in thanks, in good times and hard ones. It is also the answer to “How are you?”

From the notebook

These pages were written in 2024, when this site was a new Muslim’s notebook. They are being rebuilt one at a time to the standard of the rest of the room.