Pilgrimage (Hajj)

The final requirement is that all who can afford to and are physically able must, at least once, travel to Mecca, where the Kaba is located. The Kaba is the house of worship built by Abraham and his son Ishmael. This is where Ishmael made his covenant with God, and in Moslem belief, since they are all descendants of Abraham and Ishmael, that covenant applies to them equally (Hodge, 2005). This pilgrimage must be made during the 12th lunar month, Hajj. Pilgrims dress all in white, and are required to keep a prayerful spirit while on this trip, refraining from passion, violence or other "unholy" words or actions (Huda, 2005).

Like most religions, most of these requirements sound simple on the surface, but many Moslems spend their lives trying to follow Islam's rules as completely as possible. For myself, I think most of the Pillars would not be too hard to follow. Many religions require its followers to...

When one believes in a religion, one often wants to proclaim it. The prayers would, I think, soon become a normal part of every day living, as intended. It might be hard to get used to the fast, but I would just have to make sure I got enough food and water when the sun was down. Millions of people follow this rule and I think I could learn to do so either.
I think the hardest rule to follow might be to take the Hajj, not because it would be difficult -- it probably is not in this day of air travel. I think it would be easy to postpone it, letting other things take more importance.

SOURCES

Hodge, David R. 2005. "Social Work and the House of Islam: orienting practitioners to the beliefs and values of Muslims in the United States." Social Work, April.

Huda. Last update, 2005. "The Five Pillars of Islam, in Islam." Accessed via the Internet 7/5/05. http://islam.about.com/blintroc.htm