Our religion has 10 acts that are obligatory upon each Muslim when he of she reaches the age of maturity, known as the ‘Furu-e-Deen’ or the ‘Branches of Religion’.
Each Furu-e-Deen has its own conditions, and each Muslim must act upon them based on their specific situation. Some acts are wajib (obligatory) every day, like Salat, while some become wajib once in a Muslims lifetime, if certain condition are met, like Hajj (pilgrimage).
One should keep in mind that no act in Islam is purely physical, and each of these acts hold spiritual meaning, and the primary goal by performing these acts is to attain piety or closeness to Allah (swt). They are referred to as ‘branches’ because the branches of a tree tell us whether it’s roots are strong or not. If the roots of our faith are not strong and lack understanding and spirituality, the branches of our tree will most certainly reflect it.
