Step 1 of 6
Built on Five
'Abdullah ibn 'Umar reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Islam is built on five: testifying that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, establishing the prayer, giving zakah, the pilgrimage, and fasting Ramadan." The image is of a building: these five are its pillars, and the rest of a Muslim's faith and good deeds are raised upon them.
The same five appear in the famous hadith of Jibril. 'Umar ibn al-Khattab described a man in brilliant white clothes, with no trace of travel on him, who sat before the Prophet ﷺ and asked about Islam, iman and ihsan. Islam, the Prophet ﷺ told him, is to bear witness to the shahadah, establish the prayer, give zakah, fast Ramadan and make the pilgrimage if you are able. Afterwards he explained that the visitor was Jibril, who had come to teach the people their religion.
The first pillar is a testimony of the heart and tongue; the other four are acts of worship that give that testimony a shape in daily life, across the year and, for those able, once in a lifetime. Together they are the minimum every Muslim is responsible for, and the beginning, not the end, of drawing near to Allah.
All four schools agree on this step.
- Sahih al-Bukhari 8 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 16Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 8Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 50 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Qur'an 3:19
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
The positions of the four schools are summarised from their standard references and are pending review by a qualified scholar. Follow the school you were taught, and for your own situation, ask a scholar.
Create a free account to keep your place as you go. Create a free account · Sign in