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  Zakat is a highly beneficial practice, both for the society of Muslims and for individuals. As an act of worship, and a required one at that, it is not to be regarded as a favor that the giver does for his or her fellow Muslims. God is the ultimate giver, and the one who makes the right niyya before giving the mandatory alms is aware of that and therefore is engaged in a pure act.

Although women are not required to attend the mosque, they did so during Muhammad’s lifetime and many increasingly choose to do so today to express their devotion to God and to be part of the community of faith.

Not only are the Five Pillars all mentioned in the Qur’an, but they also appear together in a single verse.

Islam calls upon human beings to be doers of the truth, and not just hearers and speakers of it. There are five basic, minimal acts of devotion to God, sometimes called the “pillars of Islam,” but in the Muslim context they are better known as ‘ibadat, “acts of worship” (sing., ‘ibada).

The person who brings charges against another person in a legal action is called the _________.

A’isha was the first convert to Islam and supported his ministry, even through times of persecution and starvation. During their twenty-five year marriage, Muhammad had no other wives.

There is a special procedure to follow when water is not available. It is called tayammum and means using clean sand, soil, or dust. One simply pats the dry, clean material and proceeds with the motions of the wudu, or minor ablution, with the exception that the feet are not treated.  

The zakat is a legal, obligatory act and considered part of one’s service to God, as a technical part of worship in the sense of ‘ibada. Zakat is not to be confused with charity, which is known as sadaqa. Muslims are commanded to give Zakat often and freely, with emphasis on discretion and concern for the feelings of the recipients.

Reasonable and prudent care that any dental professional would do in the same circumstances is defined as _____________.

As home to the Grand Mosque, believed to house the original altar built to the One God by Abraham and Ismail (Ishmael), Jerusalem is considered the holiest city in Islam. So vital is this concept that Muslims are buried facing Jerusalem to symbolize ongoing prayer. The second holiest city is Mecca, the birthplace of the ummah and where Muhammad died. The third is Medina, which was the original direction for prayer. According to Muslim tradition, God changed the direction of prayer during Muham­mad’s Night Journey, reflecting Islam’s shared origin as an Abrahamic faith and the particularity of Islam.