The five pillars of Islam

"The five pillars of Islam" are the deeds upon which Islam was built in the Prophet's hadith: "Islam is built on five: the testimony that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is God's messenger, establishing the prayer, giving the zakat, the pilgrimage, and fasting Ramadan" ¹.

• The two testimonies: testifying that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is God's messenger ¹.
• The prayer: establishing the prayer ¹ — five prayers in the day and night, as in the hadith of the Najdi man ².
• The zakat: giving the zakat ¹.
• The hajj ¹.
• Fasting Ramadan ¹.

The order of the pillars differs between accounts: in this account the hajj comes before the fast, while in Gabriel's hadith the Prophet mentions prayer, zakat and fasting when defining Islam ³.

Al-Bukhari recorded this hadith in the Book of Faith; the editor notes that Muslim also recorded it in the chapter "the pillars of Islam and its great supports" as number 16 ¹. The editor explains "supports" as being to the building in the place of pillars — it does not stand without them ¹.