The Five Pillars of Islam

These Five pillars of Islam are to be physically executed, whether the action is attestation in the heart, profession by the tongue or physical action.

Below are the Five Pillars of Islam:

1. The Two Testimonies of Faith.

There is no god worthy of being worshipped except Allah, and Muhammad, son of Abdullah, was a Prophet and Messenger, who was sent by Allah to both men and jinn, to guide them to worship Allah alone, without associating any partners to Him.

2. The Salah (Prayer).

They are five prayers in total during the day and night. The reward the Muslim would attain from performing them would be equal to the reward of fifty prayers…if performed with its necessary conditions, pillars and compulsory acts.

Some of its conditions are that the person who wants to pray be a sane Muslim, who has reached the age of distinction, having made Taharah (ablution) and intention (to pray a certain prayer), and to face the Qiblah while praying.

3. The Third Pillar: Zakat (Poor‐Due).

It is due on every Muslim whose wealth has reached the Nisaab (amount of wealth which renders it incumbent upon its owner to pay Zakat) and has been held in possession for 12 lunar months, to give 2.5% from it to the poor and needy from among his relatives whom he legally does not have to support, and to other poor and needy Muslims, as well.

4. Fasting.

The person should intend to fast from the night. He should abstain from food and drink and sexual intercourse from Fajr till the sunset. The Month of Fasting is called Ramadhan. It is compulsory on every sane, adult Muslim.

5. Hajj (Pilgrimage)

It is the visitation to Makkah and other sacred sites with the intention to perform Umrah and Hajj. It is a duty on every adult, sane Muslim who can afford performing it, once in a lifetime. Women who have no Mahram (guardian) do not have to perform Hajj.

Conclusion

Whoever rejects one of these pillars out of disbelief or due to laziness would become a Kaafir (disbeliever) and would exit the folds of Islam.