The Five Pillars

Same duties, different lists

This part of your course is usually called the Five Pillars, and it is worth knowing straight away that the name belongs to one tradition rather than to all of Islam. Sunni Muslims describe five duties as the pillars on which a Muslim life rests: the Shahadah, Salah, Sawm, Zakah and Hajj. Shi'a Muslims keep the same practices but organise them differently, as the Ten Obligatory Acts, a longer list which includes those duties and others alongside them. So the honest summary, and the one your specification is asking for, is that the two traditions largely share the practices and arrange them into different lists. You may have met that idea already when you studied beliefs, where the six articles of faith and the five roots of Usul ad-Din turned out to be more a difference of framing than of substance. The same is true here. If you can say what each practice is, and then say accurately how each tradition organises them, you have the whole of this topic.

The five that are named

The five duties your specification names, plus the term for how Shi'a Muslims organise them. Two of these have modules of their own on this course, so they are named here and studied in depth there.

Match the pillar to what it is

Why the title needs a qualifier

A revision guide is headed "The Five Pillars of Islam". What should be added for the heading to be accurate?

• That the Five Pillars are how Sunni Muslims organise these duties, and that Shi'a Muslims use the Ten Obligatory Acts
• Nothing: all Muslims describe five pillars
• That Shi'a Muslims do not perform these practices
• That the pillars are optional for some Muslims

Five pillars, ten acts

Set the two out side by side and the relationship becomes clear. Notice that these are two ways of organising duties, not two sets of duties.

Which two describe the relationship

Select the TWO statements that accurately describe how Sunni and Shi'a practice relate.

• Both traditions perform prayer, fasting, charitable giving and pilgrimage
• The difference lies mainly in how the duties are grouped and listed
• Shi'a Muslims do not undertake Hajj
• The Five Pillars are the beliefs and the Ten Obligatory Acts are the practices

The one that comes first

It is worth asking why the Shahadah heads the list, because the answer explains the shape of the whole topic. The other four duties are things a person does: praying, fasting, giving, travelling. The Shahadah is a declaration, and Muslims hold that saying it sincerely is what makes somebody a Muslim in the first place. So it is not simply the first item on a list of five: it is the thing the other four follow from. That is why it appears at the head of the Sunni Five Pillars and why Shi'a Muslims treat it as fundamental rather than as one obligatory act among ten. Notice how much that single observation lets you say in an answer. It explains the ordering. It explains why both traditions treat it as central despite organising the rest differently. And it lets you make a point about the relationship between belief and practice in Islam, which examiners reward: the practices are not separate from the beliefs but follow from a declaration about them. When you write about this, keep reporting rather than asserting. Muslims believe the Shahadah has that significance; it is not the module's job, or yours in an exam, to say whether they are right.

Naming the five

Sunni Muslims describe five duties as pillars. The _____ is the declaration of faith and is listed first. _____ is prayer at set times through the day. _____ is fasting during the month of Ramadan. _____ is the giving of a set share of one's wealth to those in need. And _____ is the pilgrimage to Makkah, undertaken by those able to do so. Shi'a Muslims keep these practices and organise them within the Ten Obligatory Acts.

The sentence that makes one standard

Four sentences from an answer about Muslim practice. Select the ONE that treats one tradition as the norm and the other as a departure from it.

• Sunni Muslims organise these duties as the Five Pillars.
• Shi'a Muslims organise them within the Ten Obligatory Acts.
• Normal Muslims follow the Five Pillars, while Shi'a Muslims have their own version.
• Both traditions perform prayer, fasting, charitable giving and pilgrimage.

Pillars drill

Five quick questions on the terms this topic expects you to have exactly. Three lives.

Writing about practice fairly

A question asks you to explain how Muslims put their faith into practice, referring to both Sunni and Shi'a traditions. Here is an answer that would score well. Muslims express their faith through a set of duties that both traditions largely share, though they organise them differently. Sunni Muslims describe five of these as pillars: the Shahadah, the declaration of faith, which Muslims hold makes a person a Muslim and from which the others follow; Salah, prayer at set times through the day; Sawm, fasting from dawn to sunset during Ramadan, with recognised exemptions for those who are ill or travelling; Zakah, the giving of a set share of one's wealth to those in need, understood as an obligation rather than as charity; and Hajj, the pilgrimage to Makkah undertaken by those able to do so. Shi'a Muslims perform these same practices but organise them within a longer list, the Ten Obligatory Acts, which includes further duties alongside them. It would therefore be inaccurate to say that the two traditions practise their faith differently in substance; the clearer statement is that they share the practices and arrange them into different frameworks. Notice four things that answer does. It names the practices using the specification's own terms. It attributes belief rather than asserting it. It gives each tradition the same weight and register. And it corrects the misunderstanding directly rather than leaving it standing.

State it as practice

Assemble a sentence that reports practice accurately rather than asserting doctrine.

Answering on Muslim practice

A question asks you to describe the Five Pillars and refer to both traditions. Take the decisions in order.

• How should you introduce the term Five Pillars?
• You describe Sawm. What should you include for accuracy?
• You want to explain the significance of the Shahadah. How should you phrase it?
• How should the two traditions be balanced in your answer?

Explain the Five Pillars

Explain the duties Muslims undertake, referring to how both Sunni and Shi'a traditions organise them.

• Name all five duties, using the terms your specification uses
• Explain what the Shahadah is and why it is listed first
• Explain what Sawm involves, including that there are recognised exemptions
• Explain what Zakah is, and why it is an obligation rather than a voluntary gift
• Explain how Shi'a Muslims organise these duties
• Make clear that the practices are largely shared and the arrangement differs
• Report beliefs as beliefs rather than asserting them as fact
• Give both traditions the same weight, without treating either as the standard