What are the six pillars of iman?

The hadith that lists them

The pillars are not a later summary. They come from the well-known narration of Jibril, who came to the Prophet ﷺ in the form of a man, sat before him, and asked him about Islam, then about iman, then about ihsan. The Prophet ﷺ answered:

"That you believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day, and that you believe in divine decree, its good and its bad."— Sahih Muslim 8, from 'Umar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله عنه

Al-Bukhari records the same encounter from Abu Hurayrah رضي الله عنه. The Permanent Committee and Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen both take this hadith as the definition of the six pillars.

What each pillar means

The pillars are not six slogans; each carries a specific content that the heart must affirm.

Belief in Allah

This is firm conviction in His lordship (rububiyyah) — that He alone creates, owns and commands — in His divinity (uluhiyyah), that He alone deserves worship, and in His names and attributes as He described Himself. Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen adds that it includes believing He is living, knowing, capable, that nothing resembles Him, and that when He wills a thing He says to it "Be," and it is.

Belief in the angels

The angels are a created world of the unseen, made from light, who never disobey Allah and glorify Him night and day without tiring. We know some by name: Jibril is entrusted with revelation, Israfil with blowing the horn, Mika'il with rain and vegetation. Others are charged with protecting people and recording their deeds. They do not eat or drink, and their number is known only to Allah.

Belief in the books

This is to believe the revealed books came from Allah as guidance for creation, and that those to whom they were sent were obliged to follow them. Among them are the Torah, the Gospel, the Psalms, and the scrolls of Ibrahim and Musa. The last and most complete is the Qur'an, revealed to Muhammad ﷺ.

Belief in the messengers

The messengers are men sent by Allah to humanity, subject to the same bodily conditions as other people. We believe in all of them in general, and in those named to us specifically — with Muhammad ibn Abdullah ﷺ at their head as the seal and the best of them.

Belief in the Last Day

This is conviction that the Day of Resurrection will occur, that people will be raised from their graves and recompensed for their deeds — good for good, evil for evil. Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen, quoting Ibn Taymiyyah, notes that it includes everything authentically reported of what follows death: the trial of the grave, its punishment or its bliss — for whoever dies, his resurrection has in effect begun. It also includes the gathering, the scales, the Prophet's ﷺ pool, the bridge over Hell, and Paradise and the Fire.

Belief in divine decree

This is to believe that everything occurring in the universe — good and evil, from the beginning of creation until the Hour — Allah knew, decreed, and wrote in the Preserved Tablet, and that He willed it and brought it into existence at its time.

Why all six together

The pillars form one indivisible whole. Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen explains that whoever believes in some and rejects others is a disbeliever in all of them, because accepting part of the religion and rejecting part is rejection of the whole — and the one who believes in some messengers and rejects others has rejected them all. He cites Allah's rebuke to the Children of Israel:

"Do you believe in part of the Scripture and disbelieve in part?"— Qur'an 2:85

IslamWeb draws the same conclusion from another verse, where Allah describes those who disbelieve in Him, His angels, His books, His messengers and the Last Day as having gone far astray (Qur'an 4:136) — so if rejecting them is disbelief, believing in them is obligatory.

Faith and Islam are not the same thing

IslamWeb explains that the pillars of Islam are five — the testimony of faith, prayer, zakat, fasting Ramadan, and Hajj for those able — and they are outward acts of the limbs. The pillars of iman are inward acts whose place is the heart. A person may be a Muslim without yet being a believer in the full sense, as Allah said to the bedouins who claimed faith:

"The bedouins say, 'We have believed.' Say, 'You have not believed; but say, 'We have submitted,' for faith has not yet entered your hearts.'"— Qur'an 49:14

What the pillars produce

Al-Tuwayjiri lists the fruits of each. Belief in Allah yields love of Him, reverence, gratitude, worship, reliance and obedience. Belief in the angels yields love for them, modesty before them, and taking heed from their obedience. Belief in the books and messengers yields knowledge of Allah's laws and of what He loves and hates. Belief in the Last Day yields eagerness for good deeds and aversion to sin. Belief in divine decree yields tranquillity of soul and contentment with what Allah has apportioned.

Key takeaways

• The six pillars are belief in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and divine decree — good and bad.
• They come from the hadith of Jibril, agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim.
• All six are obligatory together; accepting some and rejecting others is disbelief in all.
• The pillars of Islam are outward acts of the limbs; the pillars of iman are inward acts of the heart.
• Each pillar has a specific content the heart must affirm, not merely a phrase to repeat.

Further reading

• Al-Usool al-Thalatha by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, with the commentary of Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen — recommended by IslamWeb for this topic.
• Mukhtasar al-Fiqh al-Islami by Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Tuwayjiri.

And Allah knows best.