Take Home Exam, - Two Essays - Example

Take Home Exam, - Two Essays - Example Take Home Exam, - Two Essays - â€" Essay Example > SECTION A Q 1 - What are the main features of Islamic faith, practice and spirituality, and how are these features balanced within the religion? Features of Islamic Faith, Practice and Spirituality and Their BalanceIslam brought a new concept and ideal of religion. Muslims, the follower of Islam believe in Allah who is the possessor of all dimensions of highest excellence and of absolute perfection (Shipp, 1999, 45). He is the fountainhead of all values and ideals. He is the omnipotent, the omniscient, the infinite, the one and indivisible God, who has no partner, son or compeer. He is the Creator, the Sustainer, the Giver and the Evolver of everything that constitutes the cosmos (J. Jurji, 2003, 75). Allah Himself provided Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him) all the knowledge to preach Muslims. According to Islamic faith, Allah is one and Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him) is His Prophet. According to Quran, “It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces to the East and the West; but righ teous is he who believeth in Allah and the last day and the angels and the scripture and the Prophets; and giveth his wealth, for love of Him, to kins folk and to orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and to those who ask, and to set slaves free; and observeth proper worship and payeth the poor due (Zakat). And those who keep their treaty (or promise) when they make one, and the patient in tribulation and adversity and time of stress. ” (2:17)There are five pillars of Islam, which can also be called as practices that the Muslims are asked to perform as compulsions. They are Shahadah: It is the declaration that no one should be worshipped except Allah and Muhammad (Peace Be upon Him) is his messenger. Salah: The Muslims should pray to Allah five times a day. Zakat: Zakat means charity. Every Muslim has to pay Zakat at the ratio of 2.5 % over the possessions he/she has. Sawm: Sawm means fasting. Muslims are asked to fast from dawn to dusk during the month of Ramadan. Hajj: Hajj m eans Pilgrimage. Muslims are asked to perform Hajj if they are capable to, once in their lifetime. During the month of Zil-Hajj, Muslims reach Mecca for Hajj. The scripture of Islam, the Quran, is not a collection of dogmas, but a code of life. It is not voluminous treatise on theism, but a social, penal, commercial, civil, military, judicial, international and yet a religious code, which regulates everything that a human being has to do for its welfare from the cradle to the grave (Shipp, 1999, 65). Though it provides for every contingency of human affairs, it is wonderfully laconic. It is the masterpiece of Arabic language and is extolled through out the world for the simple grandeur of its diction, the chaste elegance of its style and the variety and magnificence of its imageries (King, 2000, 119). The three basic unities on which the entire structure of the Quranic message may be said to have been founded areTauhid-i-Ummah: Oneness of the nationality and mankind. Tauhid-i-Rabu biat: Oneness of the Rab, the Creator, Sustainer, Evolver and Guardian of all. Tauhid-i-Ibadat: Oneness of worship and the singleness of Almighty to Whom all should submit and surrender their entire selves.