What are the five pillars of Islam?

The hadith they come from

The pillars are not a later summary; they are the Prophet's ﷺ own words, narrated by Ibn Umar رضي الله عنه and recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

"Islam is built upon five: the testimony that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah; the establishing of the prayer; the giving of zakat; the fast of Ramadan; and the pilgrimage to the House."— Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, from Ibn Umar

The same five appear in the well-known hadith of Jibril, narrated by Umar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله عنه, where the Angel asked the Prophet ﷺ about Islam and he answered with these acts, adding the condition of ability for the pilgrimage. That narration is in Sahih Muslim.

Why they are called pillars

Shaykh Abd al-Muhsin al-Abbad explains that the Prophet's ﷺ image of a building is deliberate: these five are the supports, and everything else in the religion, though required, follows from them. He notes that the comparison of something abstract to something physical brings it closer to the mind, because a person can picture a structure standing on columns — and can picture what happens when those columns give way.

The five are not equal in rank. Al-Abbad points out that their order in the hadith of Jibril reflects their relative importance, and that a Muslim should give them the attention their position deserves.

The five, one by one

1. The two testimonies

This is the first pillar and the greatest of them. It is itself made of two parts.

The first testimony — la ilaha illa Allah — means that a person affirms with heart and tongue that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah alone, with no partner, and that every other object of worship is false. As the scholars put it, the phrase contains a negation and an affirmation: "there is no god" removes everything worshipped besides Allah, and "except Allah" establishes worship for Him alone.

The second testimony — that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah — means affirming with heart and tongue that he is truly Allah's Messenger, obeying him in what he commanded, believing him in what he reported, avoiding what he forbade, and worshipping Allah only as he legislated. It carries with it love for him, support of him, submission to his rulings, and contentment with what he brought.

Shaykh Ibn Baz lists the conditions of la ilaha illa Allah: knowledge, certainty, sincerity, truthfulness, love, submission, acceptance, and rejection of everything worshipped besides Allah.

2. The prayer

The second pillar is the establishing of the five daily prayers. Ibn Baz names it as the second of the five, and it is the first act of worship a new Muslim is asked about after the testimony.

3. The zakat

The third is the obligatory charity due on wealth. It is an act of the limbs, like the prayer, and it is named in the hadith immediately after it.

4. The fast of Ramadan

The fourth is fasting the month of Ramadan.

5. The pilgrimage

The fifth is the Hajj to the Sacred House. The hadith of Jibril and the wording in several narrations attach a condition to it: for the one who is able to make the journey. IslamWeb states it as "the pilgrimage to the House, for whoever has the means to reach it."

The pillars of Islam and the pillars of faith

These are not the same list, and the scholars keep them apart. IslamWeb explains the difference clearly: the pillars of Islam are outward acts performed by the limbs — prayer, zakat, fasting, pilgrimage — while the pillars of faith are inward acts located in the heart. The pillars of faith are six: belief in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and the divine decree, its good and its bad.

The two are not interchangeable. A person may be a Muslim without being a believer in the full sense, as the Qur'an says of the desert Arabs who claimed faith and were told to say instead that they had submitted, since faith had not yet entered their hearts.

What is not among them

Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen was asked whether jihad is a pillar of Islam. He answered that jihad is among the greatest obligations of the religion and carries immense virtue in the Book and the Sunnah, but it is not one of the pillars — the pillars on which Islam is built are the five well known ones, and jihad is not among them.

Key takeaways

• The five pillars are the testimony of faith, the prayer, the zakat, the fast of Ramadan, and the Hajj for the one who is able.
• They are the foundation of the religion; other obligations follow from them rather than standing alongside them as supports.
• The first pillar is the greatest, and it consists of two testimonies, not one.
• The pillars of Islam are five outward acts; the pillars of faith are six inward acts of the heart, and the two lists must not be merged.
• The Hajj carries the explicit condition of ability, stated in the hadith itself.

Further reading

• al-Arba'in al-Nawawiyyah with the commentary of Abd al-Muhsin al-Abbad
• Mukhtasar al-Fiqh al-Islami by Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Tuwaijri
• al-Durus al-Muhimmah li 'Ammat al-Ummah by Shaykh Ibn Baz

And Allah knows best.