What are the Five Pillars of Islam?

1. Shahadah (Testimony)

There are five pillars of Islam, the first being the declaration of faith, the shahadah, a simple formula that all the faithful pronounce: “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the servant and Messenger of Allah.” These words are to be uttered with sincere conviction and under no coercion. The significance of this testimony is the belief that the only purpose of life is to serve and obey God, and this is achieved through following the example of Prophet Muhammad, the messenger to all human beings until the Day of Judgment. Anyone who declares the shahadah is a Muslim even if s/he does not observe other duties required from Muslims in Islam.

Daily prayers are offered five times a day as a duty towards Allah. They strengthen and enhance the belief in Allah and inspire man to a higher morality. Salah purifies the heart and prevents temptation towards wrongdoings and evils. Male Muslims are greatly encouraged to perform their five daily prayers in the mosque in congregation. Female Muslims are free to pray where it is most convenient.

Muslims keep Ramadan, the fasting month, not only by abstaining from food, drink, and marital intercourse from dawn to sunset but also from evil intentions and desires. It teaches love, sincerity, and devotion. It develops a sound social conscience, patience, unselfishness, and will power. It also helps the wealthy to understand the difficulties of those who suffer from hunger.

Islamic worship is not limited to the spiritual realm alone. Material obligations apply to those who can afford. Zakah is the annual payment of 2.5% of one’s net savings and commercial assets held for a year as a religious duty and a purification of one’s wealth. The sum is to be spent directly on poorer sections of the community. Muslims are required to help the poor, orphans, and the needy by providing them with at least a fixed amount of money in order to facilitate their lives in an attempt to get rid of inequality. Islam always encourages Muslims to share their material opportunities with those less fortunate. The minimum of this sharing is to give zakah

This duty is to be performed once in a lifetime having that one has the health conditions and financial means to do so. Over the last 1,400 years, the Islamic miracle of real brotherhood of all races and nations has been seen in action as Muslims gather for pilgrimage, Hajj, annually in the sacred city of Mecca where the House of Allah, the Ka’bah, is located. As the only pilgrimage site and the direction to be faced for the five daily prayers, the Ka’bah, an ancient cubic shaped building dating from Abraham’s time, is now circumambulated by around three million Muslims each year, all in white gowns, during the Hajj period.