Five pillars of Islam

The building of Islam stands upon five basic pillars even if one of them will be missing then the building cannot stand. Which means that if a person claims to be a Muslim he should obey these five pillars of Islam otherwise in practice he will named as a hypocrite. The five basic pillars of Islam are:

Testimony

If one declares himself as a Muslim and accepts ISLAM as his religion then he has to declare this in front of at least two or more witnesses and this declaration comprises of recitation of KALMA in which the one accept sovereignty of Allah and he will be accountable to Allah at the day of judgment and also that Muhammad (PBUH) are the last prophet of Allah, he lives his life according to the teachings of ISLAM in the light of QURAN and SUNNAH.

Prayers

Once a man has declared himself as a Muslim and has recited the KALMA then he should have to offer prayers five times a day. The thing which makes ISLAM unique from other religions is its prayers in these prayers a Muslim directly address to ALLAH without any mediator and this is only in ISLAM in which a man can directly address to his creator ALLAH.

Zakah

A Muslim believes that ALLAH owns heavens and earth as well he own each and every thing a man possess including a man himself is owned by ALLAH. So he should do whatever ALLAH wants him to do. ALLAH demands that if a person has a certain amount of money or wealth over a year so he should spend some fixed amount in the name of ALLAH yearly.

Fasting

Fasting in the month of Ramadan that is the ninth month according to Islamic calendar is the forth pillar of ISLAM. A Muslim fast from sunrise till dawn during this time period he is not allowed to drink or eat anything and he cannot indulge himself into lawful sex, once the sunset he is allowed to eat and drink all lawful food and can have lawful sex. The person who holds fast should keep special care of following the rules of fast otherwise he would be violating the moral code of ISLAM as well as his fast will be nullified .

Hajj

Hajj, pilgrimage to Makah. One should perform hajj once in a lifetime provided that he should have good health, enough money to bear the expenses without owing any money to any one or without borrowing it. Hajj lasts for five days. Hajj is performed during 8th till 12th of the twelfth month according to the Islamic calendar that is Dhu al-Hajj.