What are the Main Pillars of al-Islam?

What are the Main Pillars of al-Islam?

The Islamic Belief System is founded upon fundamental pillars that every Muslim needs to understand and believe in voluntarily.

Tawhid (Oneness of God)

Tawhid refers to believing in the One God who is the Creator of all existence, the Sustainer.

Prophethood

God has chosen selected people as messengers to send to mankind. These prophets (p) brought religions and scriptures. A Muslim believes in all prophets, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, and that the final divine prophet is Prophet Muhammad (pbuh&hp). He brought the religion of Islam with God’s final message to humanity, the Holy Quran, and no divine prophet would come after him. 

Resurrection

Life after death is an integral pillar of Islam. Believing in the hereafter includes the belief in the events at the time of death, life between death and the Day of Judgement, the reckoning on Judgement Day, and Hellfire and Paradise.

From these 3 main Islamic pillars of belief, further essential beliefs can be derived. For example:

God’s Justice

After ascertaining the intelligence and power of the Creator of this universe, one certifies that God will not oppress any of his creation—therefore, He is also Just.

Successorship

Common sense as well as textual evidence from scriptures dictate that those who succeed prophets and messengers must also be appointed and chosen by God as opposed to being elected by society. Thus, these successors must also possess the virtues and qualities of the prophets as well as fulfill a similar role by continuing and preserving their message. 

Since the belief in Prophets, their scriptures, and messages forms is a fundamental aspect of a believer’s faith, it follows that obeying the commands of this message is also an essential aspect of belief. God’s final message to humanity, the Holy Quran, brought at the hands of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh&hp) contains a system of practices, such as the five daily prayers, fasting in the Month of Ramadan, giving charity (called Zakat), pilgrimage to Mecca (called Hajj), women observing Hijab clothing, and giving allegiance to the twelve successors (Ahl al-Bayt, the blessed progeny of the Prophet) by loving and following them.