Sunset And Midnight Prayers example essay topic
358 words
The sal at-the five obligatory daily prayers-is also known as the name in Iran, India, and Turkey. These prayers are only performed after ritual bathing and take place before sunrise, at noon, in the mid-afternoon, immediately after sunset, and before midnight. Mainstream Shiites combine the noon and afternoon prayers and also the sunset and midnight prayers so that they need only pray three times a day. Praying in Islam is also associated with a specified set of postures, such as standing, bowing, and prostrating. The sum is a fast prescribed only for healthy, adult Muslims during the 30 days of Ramadan; the ninth month is the Islamic calendar. From dawn until dusk, no food, drink, or sexual relations are permitted. Ill individuals and nursing women are excused, but the yare expected to make up for missing the fast at other times in the year when they are healthy again or no longer nursing. The or alms tax is levied annually on the crops, livestock, precious metals, and cash of all those living above subsistence and whose debts do not exceed their assets. In theory it is to be collected on behalf of, and then distributed to, the poor. However, many Islamic leaders have collected the to add to their royal treasuries. For this reason, the identity of the collector and distributor has often been a mystery. Since the late Middle Ages (AD 476-1453), mainstream Shiites have had the tax collected by their jurists, legal scholars of Islamic law, who act according to their self-styled role as governors of the imam.
The hajj is the "greater" of the two pilgrimages to Mecca required of all Muslims. All healthy adult Muslim men and women should perform it at least once in their lifetime if they have sufficient means and safe transport. Unlike the lesser pilgrimage, , Muslims must perform the hajj during the first half of the month of Dhu al-Hijjah, the last month of the lunar year. Those who perform the hajj can use the honorific title Hajji if male and Hajj if female.
