MUHAMMAD

The religion of Islam was founded by Prophet Muhammad; he lived from around 570 until 632; he was born in Mecca and passed away in Medina.
When he was around 40 years of age, he began receiving messages from Allah, giving directions, through him, for people to live a life of social justice and ethical conduct.
I have read a story about Muhammad before the revelations began; I do not know whether it is true, but here it is.
Muhammad was passing through some narrow alleys on the way to the market; he came every day at the same time and the same place. One person, who disliked his teachings, emptied the dustpan onto his head when he was passing. He did nothing; just brushed it off and carried on with his day.
One day he realised there had been no dust on his head for a couple of days, and he inquired in the area, who that person was and what happened. It turned out to be an elderly citizen, who had fallen ill and was all alone. Muhammad went there, consoled the person, went to get tea and medicine and kept visiting until the person was well again. Wonderful, isn't it?
As Islam took form "The Five Pillars" came into being. They are: faith, prayer, charity, fasting and pilgrimage. They form a life-long obligation for people of Muslim faith.
They all five have three purposes: worship and spiritual practise are the five-times-a-day prayers Muslims are supposed to practise, facing Mecca and having a private moment in their hearts as well as the once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage there; community building efforts are aimed at making sure wealth is fairly distributed among the faithful.
We should respect those guidelines and know, they are taken very seriously by Muslims, and as such honour their faith in what the Prophet gave to them; that is just my feeling and attitude.. even though we are not Muslims ourselves we can still be respectful...