Expressions of religious identity

What you'll learn

• What it means to be a Muslim, and how Sunni and Shi’a Muslims understand this similarly and differently.
• How the Five Pillars of Islam express religious identity through belief, worship and community life.
• Why salah, Jummah and Hajj matter as both outward actions and inward devotion.
• How the mosque has developed as a community hub, especially through London Central Mosque.

Expressions of religious identity: the big idea

An expression of religious identity is a visible or lived way in which belief is shown: words, rituals, clothing, worship, community life, moral action and shared institutions. In Islam, identity is not only “what I believe privately”; it is also “how I submit to Allah in daily life”.

This topic is best understood as a movement from belief to practice to community.

1. The concept of Muslim

All Muslims share core foundations: tawhid means the oneness of Allah; the Qur’an is understood as Allah’s revelation; Muhammad is the final prophet; and the ummah is the worldwide Muslim community. The Shahadah, “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,” expresses this shared identity.

Sunni and Shi’a: shared Islam, different authority

Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. “Sunni” comes from Sunnah, the example and practice of Muhammad, preserved in hadith reports. Sunni Muslims accept the first four caliphs as rightly guided leaders after Muhammad. A caliph is a successor-leader, but not a prophet.

Shi’a Islam began from the belief that leadership after Muhammad should have passed to Ali, Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law, and then through the Prophet’s family, the Ahl al-Bayt. In Shi’a thought, the Imamate is central: the Imams are divinely guided authorities. For Twelver Shi’a Muslims, the twelfth Imam is in occultation, meaning hidden from ordinary human sight until his return.

2. The Pillars of Islam

A pillar is a support: something that holds a structure up. The Five Pillars of Islam are the main practices that support Muslim life, especially in Sunni Islam:

• Shahadah: declaration of faith.
• Salah: prescribed ritual prayer.
• Zakah: giving wealth for purification and support of the needy.
• Sawm: fasting during Ramadan.
• Hajj: pilgrimage to Makkah for those able to perform it.

Shi’a Muslims practise these core duties too, but often organise teaching differently, using the Roots of Religion and Branches of Religion. For example, Twelver Shi’a Islam includes Imamah among the roots, and also includes duties such as khums, a religious tax.

The purpose of the Pillars is not just to create a checklist. They train the whole person: belief through Shahadah, discipline through salah and sawm, justice through zakah, and unity through Hajj.

3. Salah: prayer as embodied identity

Salah shows that Muslim identity is both outward and inward. The outward actions matter because they train the body in submission: standing before Allah, bowing in humility, and prostrating in surrender. But the inner state also matters. Niyyah means intention, and khushu means humble concentration or attentiveness in prayer.

A famous hadith says that “actions are judged by intentions.” This means salah is not meant to be empty performance. Qur’an 20:14 also links prayer to remembrance: “establish prayer for My remembrance.”

Sunni and Shi’a differences in salah

Both Sunni and Shi’a Muslims pray to Allah, face Makkah and recognise five obligatory prayers. However, there are differences in practice.

Many Sunni Muslims pray the five prayers at five separate times and fold their hands during standing, though practice varies between legal schools. Shi’a Muslims often combine the noon and afternoon prayers, and the sunset and night prayers, so five prayers may be performed in three prayer periods. Shi’a Muslims also commonly prostrate on a small clay tablet called a turbah, often made from natural earth, because prostration should be on earth or natural material.

Daily prayer and Jummah

Daily salah structures time around Allah rather than around work, school or personal convenience. It repeatedly returns the believer to taqwa, God-consciousness.

Jummah is the Friday congregational prayer, including a khutbah, or sermon. Qur’an 62:9 calls believers to leave trade and come to the remembrance of Allah when the Friday call is made. Jummah strengthens public Muslim identity because the ummah gathers, listens, prays and receives guidance together.

4. Hajj: pilgrimage and global identity

Hajj includes entering ihram, a sacred state marked by simple clothing; circling the Ka‘bah in tawaf; travelling between Safa and Marwah; standing at Arafat; and rituals connected with Ibrahim, Hajar and Isma‘il. It expresses equality because rich and poor stand together before Allah.

In the 20th century, Hajj changed dramatically. Air travel, passports, visas, vaccination systems, Saudi administration, roads, hospitals, crowd-control measures and expanded facilities made pilgrimage possible for far greater numbers. Hajj became more global, more organised and more visible.

5. The mosque: from prayer space to community hub

The Prophet Muhammad’s mosque in Madinah was not simply a worship space; it was also a place of teaching, leadership and community decision-making. In Britain today, many mosques continue this wider role through Qur’an classes, youth work, marriage services, funeral support, counselling, charity collections and interfaith work.

London Central Mosque, linked with the Islamic Cultural Centre in Regent’s Park, is a useful AQA example. The Islamic Cultural Centre was established in 1944, planning developed in the 1960s, and the mosque was constructed and opened in the 1970s. Today it serves as a major centre for prayer, education, community support, public engagement and cultural services.