The Water
Practices — The Water
Four practices, given by God, that feed the soul the way water feeds a plant.
And worship your Lord, in order to attain certainty.
[15:99]
A belief that never becomes practice is only an opinion.
Good soil and sunlight are not enough for a plant. Something has to arrive at the roots, again and again. That is what this section is.
Four practices: the Contact Prayers, the obligatory charity (Zakat), fasting in Ramadan, and pilgrimage. Five pages cover them, and this page says what each one is and where to start.
Why the Practices Matter
They are not payments. God needs nothing from us, and nothing we do adds to Him.
Appendix 15 calls the religious duties a gift from God. It says they are the nourishment a soul needs in order to grow. Without them, belief sits in a person and does very little.
Each one costs us something different. Prayer costs time. The obligatory charity costs money. Fasting costs comfort. Pilgrimage costs all three at once. As we see it, that spread is not an accident. Left to ourselves, we would each give whichever one we have plenty of, and call it devotion.
God says the practices were already ours through Abraham: “We made them imams who guided in accordance with our commandments, and we taught them how to work righteousness, and how to observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) and the obligatory charity (Zakat).” [21:73]
And He tells us plainly that this is not meant to be hard: “He has chosen you and has placed no hardship on you in practicing your religion.” [22:78]
The Four at a Glance
What each practice asks, and how often.
| Practice | How often | What it asks | Where in the Quran |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact Prayers (Salat) | Five times a day | A few minutes, at set times | [24:58], [11:114], [17:78], [2:238] |
| Obligatory charity (Zakat) | Every time income arrives | 2.5% of net income | [6:141], [2:215] |
| Fasting (Siyam) | One month a year | Dawn to sunset in Ramadan | [2:183-187] |
| Pilgrimage (Hajj and 'Umrah) | Once in a lifetime | The journey, if we can afford it | [3:97], [2:196-197] |
The Five Pages
Start with Contact Prayers if you are starting from nothing. Everything else gets easier once the daily rhythm is there.
Religious Duties Overview
How the four fit together as one cycle, and what happens when one is left out.
Read moreContact Prayers
Where the five prayers are in the Quran, the ablution, and how to pray, step by step.
Read moreObligatory Charity (Zakat)
How much is due, when to give it, and who receives it, in order.
Read moreFasting
The whole practice in five verses, a fasting day, who is excused, and a 30-day plan.
Read morePilgrimage
The four Sacred Months, the rites in order, and keeping the journey for God alone.
Read moreWhere to Begin
Our own suggestion, for anyone starting from nothing. One step at a time beats four at once.
1. Start with one prayer a day
Pick the one that fits the day best and keep it for two weeks. Then add a second.
2. Work out the obligatory charity
Take 2.5% of the next net income that arrives and give it away. It takes a calculator and five minutes.
3. Get to five prayers
Add the remaining prayers one at a time, not all together.
4. Plan for the next Ramadan
Know the dates in advance, and make one change to the week before it starts.
5. Think about the pilgrimage
It is once in a lifetime, and only for those who can afford it. Four Sacred Months are open, not a few days.
Where the Quran Names Them Together
The practices appear side by side again and again.
Righteousness is not turning your faces towards the east or the west. Righteous are those who believe in GOD, the Last Day, the angels, the scripture, and the prophets; and they give the money, cheerfully, to the relatives, the orphans, the needy, the traveling alien, the beggars, and to free the slaves; and they observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) and give the obligatory charity (Zakat); and they keep their word whenever they make a promise; and they steadfastly persevere in the face of persecution, hardship, and war. These are the truthful; these are the righteous.[2:177]
Righteousness is belief, then giving, then the prayers and the obligatory charity, then keeping our word.
You shall strive for the cause of GOD as you should strive for His cause. He has chosen you and has placed no hardship on you in practicing your religion—the religion of your father Abraham. He is the one who named you "Submitters" originally. Thus, the messenger shall serve as a witness among you, and you shall serve as witnesses among the people. Therefore, you shall observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) and give the obligatory charity (Zakat), and hold fast to GOD; He is your Lord, the best Lord and the best Supporter.[22:78]
The religion of Abraham, with no hardship placed on us.
The only people to frequent GOD's masjids are those who believe in GOD and the Last Day, and observe the Contact Prayers (Salat), and give the obligatory charity (Zakat), and do not fear except GOD. These will surely be among the guided ones.[9:18]
Who belongs in God's masjids: belief, the prayers, the obligatory charity, and fear of God alone.
And worship your Lord, in order to attain certainty.[15:99]
Why we keep at it. The footnote calls the practices of worship our means of attaining certainty.
Where the Water Leads
This section is the how. It sits on top of the sections that answer the why.
It rests on the GOD section. Every practice here is addressed to One, and that is where to begin.
It follows on from Submission. The Religious Duties page there says why the duties exist at all.
It is checked against the Quran. Every verse on these pages can be looked up in the Quran section.
And it grows in the Grow section. The prompts at the end of each page become a journal we can keep.
Questions People Ask
Do we need to read these pages in order?
No. Each page stands on its own, and any of them can be read first. The Overview is the one that shows how the four fit together, so it is a good opening if the whole subject is new. After that, the page that matters most today is the right one to read. One order does help in practice. Start with the Contact Prayers, because the daily rhythm makes everything else easier to keep.
Why is this section called The Water?
Because practice is what reaches the roots. A plant with good soil and full sun still dies without it. The site is laid out as a growing thing. GOD is the root, Submission is the soil, the Quran is the sunlight, and the practices are the water that has to arrive again and again. Appendix 15 puts it in its own way, calling the religious duties the nourishment a soul needs in order to grow.
Are these four practices in the Quran, or were they added later?
All four are in the Quran, and they reach us through Abraham. What was added later is the extra detail people built around them. God names the prayers and the obligatory charity together many times [2:110], sets out fasting in five verses [2:183-187], and commands the pilgrimage [3:97]. Of Abraham and his family He says: “we taught them how to work righteousness, and how to observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) and the obligatory charity (Zakat).” [21:73] Each page here says where every part of a practice comes from. Where something is our own reading and not a verse, the page says so.
How much time does all this actually take?
Less than most people expect. The five prayers together come to well under an hour a day. The obligatory charity takes a calculator and a few minutes each time income arrives. Fasting takes no extra time at all, only a month of going without. Pilgrimage is the one that needs real planning, and it is asked once in a lifetime. God's own description of the religion is worth holding on to: “He has chosen you and has placed no hardship on you in practicing your religion.” [22:78]
Learn, then live it
Every page on this site follows the same five steps, so reading always turns into growing.
Growth Prompt
Answer about the next seven days, not about intentions in general. Name the practice, the days and the time. Then look back at the end of the week and write what actually happened.
Which of the four have I been treating as optional, and what would this week look like if I stopped?
Keep growing
Every topic on this site connects to the others. Here is where this page leads next.