Monday 

Five Days - Five Pillars

In one minute you can't explain the Shahada to a large audience of non-believers, so I thought my best shot was to link God with goodness, which everyone has some understanding of, and identification with.

Stop anyone in Argylle Street and ask them if they are Christian and the chances are they will say yes. They may not go to church, but they understand that being Christian is something to do with being a good person, and that's what they try to be.

Muslims are much the same when they are talking about Islam. Almost a fifth of the world's population is muslim, not just Arabs and Pakistanis, but Chinese and Russians, Turks and Nigerians, Americans and Malaysians. They may not all go to the mosque, but they know that being a muslim involves choosing to do good to your fellow humans rather than bad, and that the ability to recognize the difference between good and bad is given to us by God our Creator.

Christians can agree with that, which is why you have a common language of moral values with your muslim neighbour. Muhammad said that goodness is to worship God as though you see Him with you all the time, and because you don't, to remember all the time that He sees you.