The five pillars are the main acts of worship that every Muslim does: the declaration of faith (shahada), the five daily prayers (salah), giving charity (zakat), fasting in Ramadan (sawm) and pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj) once in a lifetime for those who are able.
The fuller answer
The shahada is to say, and believe, that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is His messenger. Prayer is performed five times a day at set times. Zakat is a yearly charity of 2.5% of savings above a minimum, given to those in need. Fasting means no food, drink or marital relations from dawn to sunset during the month of Ramadan.
Hajj is the pilgrimage to the Kaaba in Mecca, required once if a person has the health and the money for it. The Prophet ﷺ compared Islam to a building resting on these five pillars. They are the framework of a Muslim's practice, and good character and good deeds fill the rest of the building.
Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but [true] righteousness is [in] one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets and gives wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask [for help], and for freeing slaves; [and who] establishes prayer and gives zakah; [those who] fulfill their promise when they promise; and [those who] are patient in poverty and hardship and during battle. Those are the ones who have been true, and it is those who are the righteous.
This answer follows the mainstream Sunni understanding and is general learning, not a fatwa. Where Muslims differ, the answer says so. Have a question of your own? Write to us.
