I wasn’t aware that those who practice the Islamic faith had “five pillars” or five duties that are required of them in order to be a Muslim. These are: 1) shahadah, or the profession of faith in one God (Allah) only and in Muhammad as the Messenger of God, 2) salah is second and refers to daily, ritual prayer five times a day, 3) the third is sawm, which is fasting during the Islamic month of Ramadan, a time that usually falls around April, 4) the next is zakah, or a charity tax, is number four and requires Muslims to give at least 2.5 percent of their wealth to charities, 5) the last pillar is the Hajj, which asks that every Muslim make a pilgrimage to Mecca, the birth place of the Prophet Muhammad. The most surprising part of this for me was the fact that a charity tax is required, and sometimes taken out of your income in Islamic countries, which I thought was a very interesting concept. I also thought the Hajj was an interesting pillar to include and the fact that so many Muslims never get to make the Hajj in their lifetime because they are too poor, as the text pointed out, was very sad to read. Overall, I thought it was incredibly interesting to learn that the Islamic faith has five pillars which it requires Muslims to accept, and it made me wonder if other religions have similar pillars which their adherents must follow as well.