One God,
five pillars.
with an open mind.
The world's second-largest religion.
Islam is the faith of roughly two billion people, which makes it the second-largest religion on Earth after Christianity. Someone who follows Islam is called a Muslim. Muslims live in every part of the world — the country with the most is Indonesia, and there are around four million Muslims here in Britain. The word Islam comes from an Arabic root meaning peace, and also submission — a willing turning of one's life towards God.
The single belief at the very heart of Islam is that there is one God, and only one. Muslims use the Arabic word for God, Allah — the same word Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews use for God too. This belief in the absolute oneness of God has its own name: Tawhid. Muslims believe God is the creator of everything, without beginning or end, and that nothing else can stand alongside God or be pictured as God.
Because God is believed to be beyond anything we can see or draw, Muslims do not make pictures or statues of God. In many traditions they avoid images of the Prophet too. Instead, mosques are filled with flowing Arabic calligraphy and intricate geometric patterns — an art of words and shapes rather than faces.
Arabic is written and read from right to left, and the Arabic of the Qur'an is so prized that millions of Muslims who don't speak Arabic as their first language still learn to recite it in the original. Someone who has memorised the entire Qur'an by heart is given a special title — a hafiz.
A final prophet, and a holy book.
Muslims believe that God has sent prophets to guide people throughout history — and that many of these are figures shared with Judaism and Christianity. Muslims honour Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus as prophets of God. In Islam, Jesus (called Isa) is deeply respected as a great prophet, though Muslims do not believe he was God or the son of God.
The last of these prophets, Muslims believe, was the Prophet Muhammad, born in the city of Mecca in Arabia around the year 570. Muslims believe that, beginning when he was about forty, Muhammad received messages from God through the angel Jibril (Gabriel) over many years. They believe he was the final prophet — the last in the long line — and they speak of him with respect, often adding the words "peace be upon him" after his name.
The messages Muhammad received were gathered into the holy book of Islam, the Qur'an (the name means "the recitation"). Muslims believe the Qur'an is the word of God, revealed in Arabic, and kept unchanged ever since. It is treated with great care, and reciting it aloud is itself an act of worship. Alongside the Qur'an, Muslims also look to the Sunnah — the recorded example of how the Prophet Muhammad lived, taught and behaved.
Many Muslims describe their core faith as six beliefs: belief in one God; in God's angels; in the holy books (including the Qur'an); in God's prophets; in a Day of Judgement, when each life is weighed; and in God's will shaping all things. The Five Pillars, which come next, are how this belief is lived out day by day.
Abraham — known in Arabic as Ibrahim — is honoured as a prophet in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Because all three faiths trace a connection back to him, scholars sometimes group them together as the Abrahamic religions.
The Five Pillars.
Islam asks its followers to build their lives on five practices, usually called the Five Pillars — because, like the pillars of a building, they hold the whole faith up. Each one asks something different, and together they thread belief through a Muslim's day, year and life.
A short statement of belief: that there is one God, and that Muhammad is the messenger of God. Saying it sincerely is what makes someone a Muslim — the foundation the other four rest on.
Muslims pray five times daily — at dawn, midday, afternoon, sunset and night — facing the city of Mecca, in a set pattern of words and movements. Salah marks the whole day with turning towards God.
Muslims who can afford to give a fixed share of their wealth each year to people in need. It is seen not as charity given out of pity, but as a duty — wealth shared so the community is cared for.
During the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims fast — going without food and drink during the hours of daylight. It is a time for self-discipline, prayer, and feeling for those who go hungry.
A pilgrimage to the city of Mecca, in Saudi Arabia. Muslims who are able try to make this journey at least once in a lifetime, joining millions of others from all over the world in the same acts of worship. At its centre stands the Kaaba — a cube-shaped building Muslims believe was first raised by Abraham — which pilgrims walk around together.
During Ramadan, the daily fast is broken each evening with a meal called iftar. Many Muslims follow the tradition of the Prophet by breaking the fast with a few dates and some water before the main meal — a small habit shared by well over a billion people, on the same evenings, every year.
The mosque, the festivals, and one family with branches.
The Muslim place of worship is the mosque — in Arabic, masjid, meaning a place of prostration. Inside, there are no chairs and no images of living things; people pray in rows on the floor, facing a niche in the wall called the mihrab, which points towards Mecca. Before praying, Muslims wash in a set way, called wudu. Many mosques have a tall tower, a minaret, from which the call to prayer is traditionally given. The main weekly gathering is at midday on Friday.
Two great festivals
- Eid al-Fitr — marks the end of Ramadan: a joyful day of prayer, special food, new clothes, gifts and family.
- Eid al-Adha — at the time of the Hajj; remembers the Prophet Abraham's devotion to God. The greater of the two.
Some key words
- Imam — the person who leads the prayers.
- Mihrab — the niche showing the way to Mecca.
- Minaret — the tower for the call to prayer.
- Halal — what is permitted under Islamic rules.
Like every large religion, Islam is not all one shape. The two main branches are Sunni and Shia (sometimes spelled Shi'a). The great majority of Muslims — around nine in ten — are Sunni. The split goes back to a disagreement, soon after the Prophet died, about who would lead the community next. Sunni and Shia Muslims share the same core beliefs — one God, the Qur'an, the Prophet Muhammad, the Five Pillars — but differ in some practices, in their religious leadership, and in parts of their history.
Islam is followed by a vast range of people, across many countries and cultures, who hold and practise their faith in different ways. When we say "Muslims believe…", we are describing widely shared teachings — not a claim that every Muslim thinks or lives in exactly the same way.
The first mosque built in Britain is usually said to be the Shah Jahan Mosque in Woking, Surrey, opened in 1889. For a time it was the only purpose-built mosque in the country; today there are well over a thousand.
The oneness of God.
The holy book.
How many daily prayers?
Which pillar is fasting?
The pilgrimage.
The final prophet.
The festival after Ramadan.
The two main branches.
The place of worship.
Why are they called the Five Pillars?
Have a go at this in your own words. Explain what the Five Pillars are, and why Muslims describe them using the picture of pillars holding up a building. You don't need to remember every detail of all five — describe what a pillar does for a building, and what these five practices do for a Muslim's faith. Three or four sentences is plenty, Florence. No rush.
A few thoughts on what you wrote, Florence
strong The pillar picture is doing real work in your answer — you've spotted that a pillar holds something up, and carried that across to how these five practices support a Muslim's faith. That is exactly the move the question is reaching for.
try this You named two or three of the pillars clearly. If you have room, try to glance at all five — even a word each: declaring faith, praying, giving, fasting, the pilgrimage. A list that touches each one shows the whole shape of it.
to add One small thing that lifts RE writing: phrasing beliefs as beliefs. "Muslims believe…" or "Muslims try to…" keeps it fair and descriptive — and it's the habit examiners notice and value.
Ways into a faith followed by a quarter of the world.
Sit down with Dad for any of these, or pick one up to read. They open a window onto how Islam is lived — across history and across the world today. Heavier titles flagged for a chat first.
The Five Pillars, one by one.
Select each pillar to see its Arabic name, its meaning, and what it asks of a Muslim's day, year, and lifetime.
You have now looked at all five pillars. Together, many Muslims describe them as the framework that holds up a life of faith — words said, prayers kept, wealth shared, fasting observed, and a journey made once in a lifetime if one is able.
These five practices are drawn from Islamic teaching. They are described here as what Muslims hold and do, not as claims you are asked to share. Around the world Muslims keep them in many different ways, shaped by place, custom and circumstance.
My Life, My Religion: Islam.
Follow how Sara explains the Five Pillars in her own words — and which beliefs shape her ordinary days.
The words from today.
- Tawhid
- The belief in the absolute oneness of God — that God is one, with no equal and nothing sharing in being God.
- Qur'an
- The holy book of Islam, which Muslims believe is the word of God revealed in Arabic to the Prophet Muhammad.
- Five Pillars
- The five core practices of Islam: Shahada, Salah, Zakah, Sawm and Hajj.
- Ramadan
- The holy month during which Muslims fast (Sawm) from food and drink in daylight hours.
- Mosque
- A Muslim place of worship (in Arabic, masjid), where people pray in rows facing Mecca.
- Sunni & Shia
- The two main branches of Islam; they share the core beliefs but differ in some practices and leadership.
You've met a faith of one God and five pillars.
You learned who Muslims are, and the belief in one God at the centre of Islam — Tawhid. You met the Prophet Muhammad and the Qur'an, the Six Beliefs in brief, and the Five Pillars in full: Shahada, Salah, Zakah, Sawm and Hajj. You looked inside the mosque, met the two Eid festivals, and saw that Islam, like every great religion, has its branches. Hold it lightly and fairly, Florence — that is what RE asks of all of us.
Watch & read recommendations are factual reference only — see each title's own copyright owner.