Islam’s Five Pillars include five foundational duties for Muslims: the profession of faith, prayer, almsgiving, fasting, and pilgrimage.
The framework is commonly presented as Shahada, Salat, Zakat, Sawm, and Hajj. Together, these practices express core beliefs and recurring acts of worship in Islam. The word “pillar” is a metaphor for essential supports of religious life, not a claim that every Muslim’s experience is identical.
The Five Pillars are described in widely used Sunni and many general introductory accounts of Islam. Muslim traditions may organize religious duties and teachings in additional ways, and the pillars do not represent every obligation in Islamic law or ethics.
A common mix-up is confusing the Five Pillars with the six Articles of Faith, which summarize beliefs such as belief in God, angels, revealed books, prophets, the Last Day, and divine decree. The pillars concern central practices, while the Articles of Faith concern central beliefs.