Welcome back to the land of Turkey! In my previous articles I introduced you to this beautiful country (taking place in both Europe and Asia), its language (Turkish) and its traditional cuisine. What is more, I also talked about the differences between the western and the eastern parts of Turkey (Balıkesir vs. Van). If you have not read these articles yet and are interested, please, be free to find them in my blog and soak up the Turkish culture and atmosphere.

In this article I am going to focus on the religion of Islam, one of the mostly practised religions in the world and the one that is of considerable importance in Turkey, too.

5 PILLARS OF ISLAM:

1. FAITH: Muslims believe in one God (Allah) and in God’s messenger (Muhammad).

2. PRAYER: Muslims have to pray five times a day preceded by purification before contacting God.

3. CHARITY: Muslims should be eager to donate money to charities, help the poor and thus eliminate inequality.

4. FASTING: Muslims are obliged to fast (abstain from food and drink from dawn to dusk) during the Holy month of Ramadan. However, pregnant women, children, elderly people and the ones that are working very hard or have some problems with their health are exempt from fasting.
   One of the reasons of fasting is to better understand how poor people, who do not have enough food, feel and therefore to develop more appreciation for the food and become even more thankful to God for that.
   During the month of Ramadan Muslims are supposed to get rid of negative emotions such as hatred and jealousy and get on well with each other.

5. PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA: Muslims are obliged to go to Mecca at least once in their life and in this way show their devotion to God.
   
   

ISLAM: PROS AND CONS

Religion is a complicated phenomenon and like everything else in the world, Islam is not only black or white. On the one hand, we are aware of the fact that there were and still are a large number of religious wars, which shatter the peace in the world. Also, it may seem that in some ways the religion of Islam is too extreme as there are so many rules to follow. What is more, some of us might be questioning how it is possible to make sacrifices for the higher power that cannot be seen and which is only a matter of faith.

On the other hand, in spite of how extreme Islam may seem, when living in Turkey, I also learned that it has a lot of virtues. Firstly, the daily prayer makes Muslims more responsible as they have a duty to fulfil. Secondly, as the charity plays an important role in a life of a Muslim, it makes them more generous and sensitive towards the problems of poverty. Moreover, in some way fasting may be seen as purification of body and it also has a noble purpose: to evoke sympathy for the unfortunate ones who are not able to have the basic thing we all need - food. Lastly, a lot of us may still be searching for the purpose of life. I believe that the majority of Muslims have already found it: to be devoted to God as well as to put effort into visiting Mecca.

All in all, in this article I discussed only a tiny part of what Islam is. What do you think about this religion? I would love to hear from you. Please, leave a comment below. See you in the next article!