The Five Pillars of Islam refer to the basic mandates expected of Islamic believers. The first is the profession of faith; believers accept as fundamental that “there is no almighty god except Allah and Muhammad is his messenger”. The second pillar is the formal act of worship (in words and deeds) which they practice five times a day. The third pillar includes the obligation to donate 10% of one's wealth to help disadvantaged and needy people. The fourth refers to the annual fasting month of Ramadan, when Muslims (to demonstrate their willingness to sacrifice for their faith) practice abstinence from eating, drinking and sexual intercourse during daylight hours. The last pillar is the ultimate individual goal of all Muslims, to make at least one pilgrimage (haj) to the city of Mecca. The opportunity to visit the holy city is the opportunity to worship their god among believers from all over the world, from all walks of life. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay After the murder of Ali, son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, the nation of Islam was divided into two main branches after controversies arose over the nature of the ummah and interpretations of Muhammad's revelations. The most populous branch, the Sunni, accepted “the tradition” or practices of the Prophet as well as his succession of caliphs. Currently, about 85% of all Muslims (this includes the majority of Arabs and those in North Africa, Turkey, the Balkans, and parts of Asia) are Sunni. Sunni encompasses a wide assortment of practices and viewpoints; follows one of the four basic schools of Islamic law and has a rather broad view of who qualifies for political power. Their particular view is that the religious or political leader need not necessarily be descended from Muhammad; they should simply be the best Muslims. In sharp contrast, the Shiites (the other major Islamic branch) held that the true and rightly ordained successors of the Prophet were only those religious leaders descended from Muhammad through Ali. Over time the alternative religious vision of the Shiites would branch out into a new visionary direction and the cities of Karbala and Najaf would be converted into sacred Shiite pilgrimage centers. Central concentrations of Shiites live today in what is modern Iran. Quite similar to some members of the Christian, Jewish, or Hindu faith, Shiites were inclined to follow strong religious leaders and model their religious practices and understanding of Islamic law after them. Due to the participation of the Sunni majority in the persecution of Shia minorities, there has been a long tradition of Shia publicly disagreeing with Sunni leaders and being martyred as a result.