Muslim version of a primordial faith that has been revealed before through many prophets including Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Moses, and Jesus; that these previous messages and revelations have been partially changed or corrupted over time ("tahrif") and that the Qur'an is the final unaltered revelation from God (Final Testament). The religious practices of Muslims are enumerated in the Five Pillars of Islam: the declaration of faith ("shahadah"), daily prayers ("salat"), fasting during the month of Ramadan ("sawm"), almsgiving ("zakat"), and the pilgrimage to Mecca ("hajj") at least once in a lifetime. To become a Muslim and to convert to Islam, it
The Pillars of Hercules (book) of eighteen chapters: The Pillars of Hercules (book) The Pillars of Hercules: A Grand Tour of the Mediterranean is a travelogue written by the American travel writer and novelist Paul Theroux, first published 1995. It concerns a year-and-a-half long expedition around the shoreline of the Mediterranean Sea from one of Hercules' Pillars (Gibraltar) to the other (Ceuta) undertaken during 1993-94. Theroux recounts his experiences from the many diverse countries that border the shores of the sea, including the war-torn Yugoslavia (this was shortly before the break-up of the former republic), the troubled Levant and the recently liberated Albania. The Pillars