The Five Pillars of Islam are easy and beneficial

And so the primary relationship that a human should have with the Creator is one of Islam, one of submission.

Now, somebody might ask, what is Islam about?

what is required of us if we choose to submit to our Creator? And my reply is that Islam is very simple. Islam is a very simple religion, even though, even though Islam teaches that the purpose of life is to worship our Creator, this worship is not

20th, four hours ritual.

If you look at the five pillars of Islam, the first one is to believe

new rituals involved. The second one is to pray five times a day, these prayers take between two to five minutes, most 10 minutes, you added up, it's only 45 minutes of the entire day. So even though our purpose in life is to pray to our Creator, and to worship Him, He only asked us for less than an hour every day. Is that too much? Is this something difficult? No. The other pillars is to give charity once a year, too fast for one month, a year, and to make pilgrimage once in your lifetime. That's what he's asking for. On a daily basis, there's not much you're being asked to do. On a daily basis, you need to pray five times a day,

and to be a good person to others. And there are a few small issues like dressing modestly according to the Islamic principles, and being good to people, but

in general is not a lot of rituals. So the five pillars of Islam are very simple. And by the way, each of these five pillars are not rituals. They have a major impact on the character of a Muslim, a Muslim who does all five pillars properly becomes the best of humanity. Because the Muslim prayer, in essence is supposed to bring a person closer to the Creator. When you are praying islamically you are communicating with Allah, you are talking to your Creator. So when you play islamically our Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him told us that when you fold your hands you see a hamdulillahi Rabbil aalameen or please do to Allah, the Lord of the universe, the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon

him told us when you say that, Allah replies, he replies to you, and he says Hamid any Abdi my slave has praised me.

Then when you see the other verses of the, of the opening chapter to every verse, there is a reply from Allah until you reach the verse, he can Abu he can Stein,

you alone, we worship and You alone, we ask for help shoeing Allah, what your relationship with him is. Allah replies. And he says, They asked me for whatever you want, I will give it to you.

And then we say he, we say, if Dena sirata mustafi Guide us to the straight path. And allowances, this prayer.

So every day, what type of prayer we asked to make a prayer for guidance, because we all make mistakes, and we all have errors. So every day we ask God to guide us. Does this sound like something we can't do? Does this sound like something illogical, something impractical? No, this is something very practical. And this prayer, it creates God consciousness in you. So that when you pray five times a day, it lowers the amount of sins that you commit. Somebody who prays five times a day properly, will not commit as many sins and make as many mistakes as somebody who does not pray, because he's being reminded of his creator, at every interval.

So that's the prayer, very practical, it shapes your character, it makes you God conscious. And it gives you a chance to speak to your Creator on daily basis.

The second, the third pillar was charity. Now, I don't think anybody will argue and see charity is a bad thing. No, everybody agrees charity is good. So Islam says that if you are rich, if you have savings, then once a year, minimum two and a half percent of your money give it to the poor. Isn't that a good thing? minimum Either you are encouraged to give more, but give it this helps to sustain a balanced economy, where the rich don't just keep getting richer and the poor get poorer. Rather the rich worry about the poorer members of the community and give them charity and help them out. Furthermore, this charity makes you a better person, because he purifies your heart of that

stinginess. And then miserliness and agreed when you share your money with those who Allah has not blessed with the same amount of money

so the challenge is

Very practical thing, at least once a year.

First thing in the month of Ramadan. Now many non Muslims feel sorry for us Muslims really fast in Ramadan. They feel this for Muslims for 30 days not eating and drinking.

But let me tell you something, almost any Muslim you meet, if you ask them about Ramadan, they will say I can't wait for Ramadan. It's my favorite time of the year. Because this fast is not as scary as you think it is. This fasting in Ramadan is a very spiritual experience. You feel close to God when you first you feel that God consciousness. Allah says in the Quran that he has prescribed fasting that Allah contact upon so that you can increase in your consciousness of your Creator. So you can grow closer to Allah. And Muslims, they feel this in Ramadan. Even Muslims who don't pray five times a day in Ramadan, they start praying five times a day, even Muslims who might sway people

and talk badly with people in Ramadan, they learn to control their tongues. This is the effects of the fast it makes us a bit makes us better people. It makes us more God conscious. And once a year Last of Us, again, something very practical, that helps us become better people. And finally, once in a lifetime, you are required to go for pilgrimage to Makkah only if you can afford it. If you can afford it you need to go if you go to Makkah for this once in a lifetime pilgrimage, which occurs every year, you will be surrounded with literally millions of people have the same belief doing the same thing as you

the power and the spirituality you feel during the Hajj, there is no experience like it, you will meet people from really from races that you have never heard of, who speak languages that you have never heard of. But they have the same beliefs as you and they are there for the same purpose as you to worship your Creator.

And this hij brings you closer together with people from across the world. It breaks down all boundaries, the boundaries of racism, tribalism,

poverty, and the difference between the wealthy and the poor. All of these divide are broken down and everybody becomes equal before Allah during the Hajj. In this way, it helps you become more sociable and helps you to treat people well. Regardless of the really day of the race, regardless of the social class, you become a better person. So these are not just rituals, these are very, very practical, and they make us better people.

So this is what Allah asks of us. Is this something difficult? because Islam sound like a difficult religion to practice. So even to the Muslims who don't pray five times a day or fulfill some of the other pillars Think about this. Allah is not asking you for much. He's asking you for something which you will benefit from or which is good for you. So we all should strive to become true Muslims.