The salat-the five obligatory daily prayers-is alsoknown as the namez in Iran, India, and Turkey. Theseprayers are only performed after ritual bathing andtake place before sunrise, at noon, in themid-afternoon, immediately after sunset, and beforemidnight. Mainstream Shiites combine the noon andafternoon prayers and also the sunset and midnightprayers so that they need only pray three times a day.Praying in Islam is also associated with a specifiedset of postures, such as standing, bowing, andprostrating. The saum is a fast prescribed only for healthy, adultMuslims during the 30 days of Ramadan; the ninth monthis the Islamic calendar. From dawn until dusk, nofood, drink, or sexual relations are permitted. Illindividuals and nursing women are excused, but theyare expected to make up for missing the fast at othertimes in the year when they are healthy again or nolonger nursing.The zakat or alms tax is levied annually on the crops,livestock, precious metals, and cash of all thoseliving above subsistence and whose debts do not exceedtheir assets. In theory it is to be collected onbehalf of, and then distributed to, the poor. However,many Islamic leaders have collected the zakat to addto their royal treasuries. For this reason, theidentity of the zakat collector and distributor hasoften been a mystery. Since the late Middle Ages (AD476-1453), mainstream Shiites have had the taxcollected by their jurists, legal scholars of Islamiclaw, who act according to their self-styled role asgovernors of the imam.The hajj is the “greater� of the two pilgrimages toMecca required of all Muslims.
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