Sawm

This is the fourth in a series of posts about the Five Pillars of Islam. The first diary was about shahadah, the second about salat, and the third about zakat.

Sawm is the required fasting during the Islamic month of Ramadan. During this lunar month, nothing may be eaten nor drunk from the break of dawn until sunset. Other prohibitions include no sexual activity nor any smoking. Sawm is the opposite of all the other pillars: with shahadah, salat, zakat and hajj, there is an activity to be performed; with sawm, no activity is done. Instead, while fasting during Ramadan, Muslims focus their day around spiritual matters, using the empty feeling in their stomachs to concentrate their minds.

The month of Ramadan has always been an important month for Muslims. The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), before the first revelation, would retreat to a cave high up on a mountain near Makkah now known as Jabal an-Nur, the Mountain of Light, for prayer and contemplation. It was during the last third of the month of Ramadan that the Angel Jibril (Gabriel) came to Muhammad (pbuh) and revealed the first verses of the Qur'an on the Night of Power:

Read: In the name of thy Lord who createth, -
Createth man from a clot. -
Read: And thy Lord is the Most Bounteous, -
Who teacheth by the pen, -
Teacheth man that which he knew not. - (96:1-5)

While fasting was encouraged in the early Muslim community (and became a necessity during the Makkahn boycott of the Hashemites, when many Muslims went without food because the non-Muslims of Makkah wouldn't trade with the Banu Hashim clan), fasting during the month of Ramadan did not become obligatory until 2 A.H., the second year after the Muslims had moved to Madinah and the fourteenth year of the Prophet's (pbuh) mission:

O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint,- (2:183)

Now, one of the unique features about Ramadan is that the month is not set to any particular season of the year. The Islamic calendar is a true lunar calendar in which no intercalary days or months are included to make the lunar calendar keep in time with the solar calendar. (Leap Day, February 29th, is an example of an intercalary day. Lunisolar calendars include intercalary days; examples include the Jewish, Chinese and Hindu calendars.) Thus, the Islamic calendar is about eleven days shorter than the solar year, making the Islamic calendar roll "forward." For example, my first Ramadan, back in 2000, began just after Thanksgiving and ended just after Christmas. This year, Ramadan begins on July 9th and ends on August 7th. In roughly 33 years, the Islamic calendar will reach the same point in a solar year.

Likewise, because the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar, this means the length of the month may be either 29 or 30 days. In most countries Ramadan starts and finishes based upon the sighting of the crescent moon after a new moon. Once the moon has been sighted, the month will start on the next day. (In a few countries, including Singapore, a calculation method is used. This method is controversial and stirs up debate among Muslims every year; however, in tropical climates, where sighting the moon can be problematic due to cloud cover, the calculation method works well.)

Moreover, because the Islamic calendar adjusts in comparison to the solar calendar, the length of the day in which a Muslim fasts also changes. This is partly due to the latitude at which a person lives and also due to the season. For myself, because I live very near the equator, the amount of time I fast daily is roughly 13 hours per day, regardless of the season. However, as the Islamic calendar moves closer to the summer solstice, Muslims at higher northern latitudes will face longer and longer hours (theoretically up to 24 hours if they lived above the Arctic Circle) and shorter and shorter hours if they live at the higher southern latitudes.

The time at which the fast ends daily is fairly straightforward: at sunset. However, when fasts should begin in the morning is not quite as clean cut. Especially here in Southeast Asia, we actually begin fasting ten minutes prior to the official start time, but what is the official start time? Most Muslims say that it is the break of dawn, meaning when the faintest glow of sunlight first appears in the morning sky. As the Qur'anic verse reads:

Permitted to you, on the night of the fasts, is the approach to your wives. They are your garments and ye are their garments. Allah knoweth what ye used to do secretly among yourselves; but He turned to you and forgave you; so now associate with them, and seek what Allah Hath ordained for you, and eat and drink, until the white thread of dawn appear to you distinct from its black thread; then complete your fast Till the night appears; but do not associate with your wives while ye are in retreat in the mosques. Those are Limits (set by) Allah: Approach not nigh thereto. Thus doth Allah make clear His Signs to men: that they may learn self-restraint. (2:187)

Should the highlighted section of the verse be taken literally or figuratively? Some of the earliest Muslims took the verse literally; however, it really should be taken figuratively:

When the verses were revealed, 'Until the white thread appears to you, distinct from the black thread,' I took two (hair) strings, one black and the other white, and kept them under my pillow and went on looking at them throughout the night but could not make anything out of it. So, the next morning I went to Allah's Apostle and told him the whole story. He explained to me, "That verse means the darkness of the night and the whiteness of the dawn." (Sahih Bukhari; Chapter 31, Fasting, No. 140)

Not everyone is required to fast during Ramadan; there are a number of exemptions. For example, women who are undergoing their menses are exempt. Young children are also exempt, although they must begin fasting by the time they reach puberty. (Actually, many children begin fasting during Ramadan much earlier than that; it's not uncommon for six and seven year olds to try to fast at least until lunch time.) Those who are ill or traveling a significant distance in a day (commuting doesn't count here) are also exempt, although all of these groups with the exception of the children must make up any days they miss fasting later in the year, up through the next Ramadan. For those who can fast but would only be able to do so "with difficulty" (2:184), i.e, women who are pregnant or breast-feeding, or the elderly, they are given the option of either fasting or to feed an indigent person; if they feed the indigent then they are not required to fast. However, for everyone else, fasting is an obligation.

During Ramadan, prayers play a more prominent role during the month than they do the rest of the year. Not only do Muslims pray the five daily prayers (and their associated sunnah prayers), but there are also the nightly tarawih prayers. Tarawih prayers are like regular salat, the formal prayers, except that, instead of a maximum of four raka'at as performed in normal salat, tarawih prayers may be up to eight, twelve or twenty raka'at long. They are also frequently well-attended; in Singapore, tarawih is not only performed at mosques, but also in public spaces (known as void decks) in order to alleviate overcrowding. Tarawih prayers may also include a khutbah (sermon) and the reading of a juz of the Qur'an. (The Qur'an has been split up into 30 juz so that, having recited one juz every night, the entire Qur'an will have been recited during the month of Ramadan.)

Near the end of the month, Muslims are also required to pay a special type of zakat, known as Zakat al-Fitr. This is a small amount of money (frequently about $5 per person) that is collected so that the poorer members of the community may also be to celebrate Eid ul-Fitr. Zakat al-Fitr is obligatory on all Muslims (excepting those who would otherwise be recipients); however, it is not uncommon for the heads of households to pay the zakat on behalf of everyone in that household.

During Ramadan, Muslim communities often celebrate the month with various festivities. Middle Eastern countries are known for their soap operas that play each night during the month. In Singapore, we have an enormous bazaar that springs up in the Geylang Serai neighborhood. This bazaar will have on the order of 1000-1500 merchants setting up booths that sell a wide variety of products to Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Most booths sell one of three basic types of products: food (for breaking the fast that evening), household products (to spruce up the home for the Eid visits to come; "spring cleaning" is normally done during Ramadan in Muslim homes), and clothing for Eid. While this is the commercial side of the month, it doesn't compare to the Christmas shopping season, especially in the US, as gift-giving is not normally done during Eid.

On the first day of the month after Ramadan (Shawwal 1), Muslims worldwide celebrate Eid ul-Fitr. This is one of the few days throughout the Islamic year where fasting is expressly prohibited. In the morning, many Muslims will attend Eid prayers. Because so many people turn out for these prayers, facilities other than mosques may be used to accommodate the turnout. For example, one year in Phoenix, I went to Eid prayers at the convention center; another time in Singapore Eid prayers for the neighborhood was held in the middle of a soccer field.

Once the Eid prayer is finished, people begin going to various homes to celebrate. In Singapore, the custom is go to the home of the most elderly relative first. Families normally wear a color-coordinated outfit, which makes for very colorful celebrations. At each home, various sweets will be served and possibly a meal (many will beg off on the meal if they've already eaten at someone else's home). This type of celebration will go on not only through the day of Eid, but for the remainder of the entire month of Shawwal, particularly on weekends. Considering the number of aunts, uncles and cousins my wife has, it's difficult to meet everyone (and have our own celebrations) within one month's time.

Although Ramadan is the only time during the Islamic year where fasting is required, many Muslims fast at other times of the year as well. After Eid ul-Fitr has passed, Muslims may encourage each other to fast an additional six days during the month of Shawwal (the six days do not need to be consecutive, as they are during Ramadan). Ashura, the tenth day of Muharram (the first month of the Islamic calendar, is also a non-obligatory day of fasting; actually, Muslims normally fast two days at that time: either the 9th and 10th days of Muharram or the 10th and 11th. Finally, many Muslims fast two days of every week during the year, normally on Mondays and Thursdays.

For another diary I've written about Sawm, please see One Day in Ramadan.

Salat

This is the second in a series of posts about the Five Pillars of Islam. The first diary, about shahadah, can be found here.

Salat (sing., salah) are the formal prayers that are required of Muslims five times per day. In addition to these required (fard) prayers, Muslims often perform additional prayers that are optional (sunnah); these latter prayers are not required, but Muslims are encouraged to do them.

Before any salah is performed, fard or sunnah, the person must be in a state of ritual purity. This is done through two different forms of ablutions known as ghusl and wudu. Ghusl is the full-body ablution that is performed less frequently than wudu. Ghusl is required under certain circumstances. For men, this is most commonly after sexual activity; for women, it includes after sexual activity, after menses, and after childbirth. Wudu, on the other hand, is normally done after certain bodily functions; for example, urination, defecation and passing gas. Because of the frequency of these bodily functions, it is not uncommon for Muslims to perform wudu several times a day. Both wudu and ghusl require various parts of the body to be washed in a prescribed order: both hands, a rinsing of the mouth, rinsing the insides of the nostrils (by snuffing up a small amount of water - especially helpful if one's had a recent bloody nose), washing the face, washing the forearms up to the elbows, rinsing the hair, washing the ears and, finally, washing the feet up to the ankles. For all of the above, with the exception of rinsing the hair, everything is performed three times (for the hair, one passes his or her wet hands over his or her hair once). For the hands, forearms, and feet, the right side is always washed first (three times), then the left side. Ghusl, on the other hand, is the same as wudu, except that the entire body, including all of one's hair, must be washed three times after the feet are done. Obviously, ghusl requires the use of a shower to perform, whereas wudu may be done at a footbath or even a sink.

Prior to every communal prayer is the adhan, or call to prayer. There are actually several different versions of the adhan, although the one most commonly used is the one non-Muslims may be most familiar with. This version of the adhan reads as follows in English (although it is always recited in Arabic):

God is most great, God is most great.
God is most great, God is most great.
I testify that there is no god but God.
I testify that there is no god but God.
I testify that Muhammad is the Prophet of God.
I testify that Muhammad is the Prophet of God.
Hurry to prayer, hurry to prayer.
Hurry to success, hurry to success.
God is most great, God is most great.
No god but God!

For the dawn (fajr) prayer, an additional line is spoken after the second "hurry to success"; that is "Prayer is better than sleep, prayer is better than sleep."

After the adhan is recited, salah does not begin immediately, but people are usually given about five minutes to get to the prayer hall. When salah is about to begin, a second recitation of the adhan is done, called the iqama. The iqama is a shorter version of the adhan. It is essentially the adhan halved with the addition of "Stand for prayer, stand for prayer" added after "hurry to success." Once the iqama is said (in a normal voice, not in the sing-songy version that is most people are familiar with), the prayer will begin as soon as everyone is ready. (It should be noted that individuals doing their prayers alone do not have to recite the adhan or iqama, although to do so is sunnah (recommended but not obligatory). Small groups of Muslims praying together may also recite the iqama only, especially if the communal prayer for that time period has already been done.)

When the Muslim is ready to pray, either individually or collectively, he or she speaks quietly his or her niyat, the intention behind the prayer. In Islam, all deeds are judged by their intentions, and salat is no exception. Are you praying a fard prayer or a sunnah prayer? A special prayer (discussed below) or trying to make up for a prayer that was not done at an earlier time? And so, for the niyat, we will briefly state which prayer we are performing at that time.

To actually describe how salat is performed would take some time to do, so I'd rather put in a video that demonstrates the steps involved in performing salat (see below). However, several points should be made. First, due to the number of body postures involved, furniture is not normally used. (For those who need furniture, like the elderly or handicapped, salat may be done as much as possible either sitting or even lying down.) Secondly, each prayer is divided into a number of cycles, called raka'at (sing., raka'ah). Three of the five fard prayers involve four raka'at each, although the dawn prayer only has two and the evening prayer three. Sunnah prayers can be either two or four raka'at in length, two raka'at being the absolute minimum number for any prayer. Moreover, sunnah prayers may be done either before or after (or both) the fard prayers (with the exception of the dawn and late afternoon prayers, in which case no sunnah prayers are allowed after the fard prayer).


In addition to the sunnah prayers mentioned above (those that may be performed just before or after the fard prayer), there are a number of other sunnah prayers that may be done at different times of the day. For example, there is the witr prayer. Witr is a sunnah prayer that is performed at night after the Isha (night) prayer, before going to bed. Unlike the fard prayers, where there is a maximum of four raka'at, the witr prayer always has an odd number of raka'at, anywhere between one raka'ah and eleven raka'at. While witr is not fard, it is considered wajib (necessary) and is especially recommended for those Muslims who fear they may die in their sleep.

Other special prayers include Jumu'ah, Eid, the prayer for the mosque, and the prayer for the dead. Jumu'ah is the Friday congregational prayer held every week in the early afternoon. It is an obligatory prayer for men to attend, but optional for women. (Here in Singapore, women don't attend jumu'ah because there is literally no room for them at almost all mosques. In fact there's often no room for all of the men who attend jumu'ah. While most mosques here can normally hold several thousand people, the crowds of men frequently spill over outside the buildings.) Jumu'ah consists of a khutbah (sermon), followed by set prayers spoken by the imam, followed by a two raka'at salah.

Eid prayers are held early in the mornings of the two Eids, Eid ul Fitr (on the day after the end of Ramadan) and Eid al Adha (to commemorate the end of that year's Hajj). Because everyone in the Muslim community is encouraged to attend Eid prayers, these are frequently held in very large places where thousands of Muslims can be accommodated. As a result, I personally have done Eid prayers on the floor of a convention center and in the middle of a football field (while it was sprinkling), as well as other locations. Eid prayers are also a little unusual in that the salah happens before the khutbah, when it is normally the other way around.

The prayer for the mosque is normally done when one enters the prayer hall of a mosque. It is a two raka'at prayer one makes on behalf of the building. Muslims believe that on the Day of Judgment, everything, regardless of whether it is animate or not, will be given a voice to speak out its testimony for or against a person. (This includes body parts, such as one's eyes, ears, and skin; see the Qur'an, verses 41:19-23.) So Muslims pray for the mosque, which, insha'allah, will testify on behalf of those Muslims who have prayed at that place.

One other prayer to mention is that for the dead, Salat al-Janazah. The steps by which the funeral prayer is done is completely different from how regular salah is performed. However, what makes this prayer distinctive is that it is fard kifayah, meaning that there is a collective obligation upon all Muslims within a community to do this prayer upon the death of a fellow Muslim. This is not to say that all Muslims within a community must do this prayer when someone dies, but as long as some Muslims perform the prayer, then the collective obligation will have been fulfilled. If the body of the deceased is present, then the body will be placed in front of those Muslims performing the prayer; otherwise, the prayer may be performed elsewhere, such as at a mosque. (For my late father-in-law, we did his Salah al-Janazah in the living room of his home before we took him to be buried. For many Muslims who die in Singapore, a Salah al-Janazah is often performed after Jumu'ah has concluded. Personally, I often line up to perform the funeral prayer even though I may not have known the deceased, my thought being that I hope others will do the same for me when I die, insha'allah.)

Salat is very important in Islam. On the Day of Judgment, when every soul is assessed as to whether it should go to Jannah (heaven) or Jahannam (hell), the first thing to be judged will be the number of times a person has prayed:

Narrated Abu Huraira that Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) said, “First of the deeds for which a slave will be called to account (on the Day of Resurrection) will be his (obligatory) prayers. If they are complete (he has prospered and succeeded), otherwise Allah (swt) will say (to the angels): ‘See whether there are any (voluntary) prayers of My slave.’ If any, Allah (swt) will say: ‘Complete his obligatory prayers with them.’”

The number of times a prayer may be rewarded depends upon whether the prayer is done individually or collectively, and on the location. Let's say that one prayer done by an individual earns a reward of one unit. If one prayer is done by two or more persons together, the reward is 27 units. (The exact number rewarded for collective prayer varies from hadith to hadith, usually between 25 and 27, but the most commonly reported number seems to be 27. And God knows best.). However, should one pray at the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah, one prayer is equivalent to 1,000 prayers elsewhere; if the prayer is performed at al-Masjid al-Haram in Makkah, that prayer is equivalent to 100,000 prayers elsewhere. However, regardless of the number of rewards earned, it is always best to pray and often.

Basic Concepts Regarding Prayer and Worship in Islam

Recently I got into a discussion about the differences between prayer and worship in Islam, followed by an additional conversation about whether the concepts of "bless," "exalt" and "worship" in Islam were distinct. I've rearranged my commentary somewhat to improve the flow of thought in this brief essay.

Prayer itself is categorized into two forms within Islam: salah (pl. salat) and dua (pl. du'wat). The former is the formal, ritualized prayer that is performed five times per day, and is what non-Muslims see on the TV when they see Muslims praying. The latter, however, is perhaps even more commonplace. These are the prayers Muslims make under a wide variety of situations. For example, the prayer the proverbial student makes before doing a test is a dua.

Dua: informal and voluntary; salah: formal; may be either required (fard; the five daily prayers) or voluntary (sunnah).

Worship, on the other hand, encompasses both salat and du'wat but also includes other acts. I would define Islamic worship as any act or thought that is made with the intention of trying to please Allah (swt). Thus, working at one's job, farming, taking care of children, all could be considered a form of worship, the key being intention.

The question your post raises is whether bless, exalt, and worship are distinct.

In Islam these three concepts are semi-distinct. Worship I described above; it is a very broad concept and can encompass acts that might seem mundane to an outside observer.

With respect to "bless," most Muslims use this term (barakah) in a specific manner: that Allah (swt) blesses mankind. We do not refer to ourselves blessing Allah (swt), nor do Muslims bless each other. (The Wikipedia article will talk about barakah flowing from "saints" and other people and objects to those who seek barakah, but that is a Sufi concept to which I don't subscribe.)

The concept of "exalt" in Islam is a little ambiguous. First, most translators don't necessarily use "exalt" but "glorify." To glorify Allah (swt) may take several forms. One way is to do additional sunnah prayers (salah), especially at night (e.g., tahajjud, witr). Another way is to do what is known as tasbih, which comes from the same root as "glorify" (sin ba ha). Tasbih may be done at any time of day, but the "canonical form" (as mentioned in the Wikipedia article) is frequently done right after salah.

Now, when I said that the three are semi-distinct, to me, barakah is distinct from worship and glorifying, whereas to glorify Allah (swt) is a subset of the greater set of "worship."

Footsteps in Heaven

It is related by Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (s) once said to Bilal at the time of fajr: "Tell me about your act from which you expect the most in your Islam, for I have heard the sound of your footsteps in heaven."

"I have done nothing," replied Bilal, "which could give me hope, except that when I perform the wudu' in any part of the day or night I try to offer as much of salah with it as I can." (al-Bukhari)
-- from The Four Pillars of Islam by Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi

Is Five Prayers per Day Excessive in Number?

In the Mi’raj fifty daily prayers were prescribed for the believers. However, their number was later reduced to five. This was done to impress upon man that he had been found capable by God of devoting such a large part of his time and energy to His worship. The one who keeps this in mind will never regard the five daily prayers as excessive. In fact, he will realize that he had been found worthy of much more and had the Lord, out of His Grace, not made the concession, he would be carrying out His command dutifully and performing as many as fifty prayers (salāh) every day. God showed his favor to him and made the five prayers equivalent of fifty in reward. However, the original command is there to stir his ambition and urge him on to greater effort.

- Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi (1913-1999), The Four Pillars of Islam, p. 11