Word Count: 928
HRS 71
Unit Reflection 1
March 2005

1. According to Bradley Hawkins, Islam's core can be observed within "the five pillars of the faith"(IAR. 67). The second pillar of Islam, which I've chosen to address, refers to the five daily ritual prayers that Muslims offer to Allah, otherwise known as the practice of salah. Performed in Arabic language, "the Muslim is enjoined to pray five times a day"(IAR. 68) by a "member of the community, for Islam has no priests"(IAR, 69). These daily prayers are performed from sunrise until sunset, within congregations, and "take some ten to fifteen minutes"(IAR. 68). After proper cleansing of the body (wudu), prayer begins with an intention to pray, following `'selected verses of the Qur'an"(IAR. 68). specificly the first chapter/surah. Salah also "involves prostration and other movement"(IAR, 68), the Muslim kneels and stands upright, and then reaching the prayer mat he sits on his legs. Placing hands and face on the mat, he then repeats this once more before standing up and repeating the entire sequence, with something being said in each sequence. The entire session ends after the practitioner looks right and then left saying, "Peace be unto you, and on you be peace".

2. The practice of salah helps to strengthen the bond between the individual and Allah. Though Allah is definitely an "unseen realityprayer in recognition of His power commands a certain ritualistic and heartfelt approach. Salah is seen as a necessity, one that brings the community of Islam closer, while also giving the individual peace of mind, yet without the Qur'an this practice would not exist. The Qur'an is "held by Muslims to be Allah's final communication to human beings, and the religion revealed in it. Islam is the definitive word on what must be believed''(IAR, 67). Revealed to the prophet Muhammad, the "Holy Qur'an is the perfect expression of Allah's will for humanity"(IAR, 67), and among them the importance of prayer, salah is discovered. The purpose of salah has always been, and will always be, the Muslim's way of showing his or her full submission to Allah; one is Allah's creation, and therefore nothing takes precedence over Him. One way the relationship between Allah and the individual has also been strengthened and developed is through Sufism. Sufism "is the tradition of mystical Islam"(IAR, 70) and it's main concern regards the "personal experience of the divine over sterile formulaic observances"(IAR. 71). While the five pillars were seen as necessary by Sufis, and while they were dedicated in every other respect of the religion, they found that "it was the personal interaction with Allah that mattered"(IAR, 71). They "engaged in rituals and customs", a "Sufi path"(IAR, 71), which was made up of seven certain physical and mental ways of living which "were accomplished through human effort and 'Allah granted' confidence in salvation"(IAR, 72). One of the greatest Sufism philosophical thinkers would definitely have to be Al-Ghazali. Al-Ghazali found that education interrupted "religious development"(IAR, 72), and he eventually found refuge with Sufism. He wrote numerous works regarding his `'exploration of the divine and his central point was that Allah was the only true object of knowledge, and that He could only be known through faith"(IAR, 72). In his book The Nonsense of Philosophers he finds fault with reason. finding it inferior to divine revelation. and ultimately this became "the "official" philosophy of Islam"(IAR, 72).

3. Daily practice of my recitation, a simple 30-second task, was actually much harder than it seemed. I chose to recite an undemanding Shel Silverstein poem, Ations, in the morning as I awoke, and like the Muslims who awake at sunrise for their initial prayers. I used my alarm clock to "call me to prayer". At first, I simply read my small printout with the straightforward words, and as time went by. I found myself doing it with little care, and rapid speeds. Yet as weeks went by. and I begin to memorize the lines, I found myself actually taking interest in what was coming out of my mouth. I began to like the poem much more, and actually saw much more meaning within it, regarding words not only of —ation ending, but the true significance of what it means to interact, to be part of a civilization. The Muslims who practice salah are probably 100 times more dedicated than I, and in the speedy, go-go-go world that I happen to live in, I feel great respect for not only their dedication. but also their ability to stop everything (at certain times of the day), and take time to place importance in something spiritual, not self-rewarding, mechanical, or consumer-driven, but something to strengthen a relationship with an unseen force. Words have such great power when the heart agrees with what is being said, yet sometimes, when a lackluster approach is taken, words are just words. Unless importance is found within the practice, prayer, what is the point? The Sufis took it one step further, they saw words, or prayers, institutionalized community rituals as necessary. but not as vital as the individual 's personal relationship with Allah. The individual was seen to have an intimate bond with Allah, and this spiritual relationship was the true way to fully submit ones self to Allah, living primarily to submit fully to Allah. Ultimately, at this point. I do feel that my relationship with the poem has deepened, I find meaning in the words, and though I do not have a congregation of fellow community members reciting alongside me. the knowledge that I myself, as an individual, have a personal relationship with the words, is much more meaningful and momentous.

In the attached drawing, I am trying to display the relationship between a dedicated Muslim and me. A Muslim who is on the other side of the world, and who happens to be reciting the sacred words of salah underneath the same sun that I will be reciting my poem many hours later. Both individuals recite words at a similar time, and though in different corners of the world, both similarly under a massive gaseous celestial body in outer space. [Teacher's Note: this is a very high quality drawing! Even if you can't pull off something this skillful, though, you could still use stickfigures and words to convey the same visual message.]