Principle Tenets of Islam
It is related by Abdullah bin Omar that the Apostle of God said:
“Islam is built upon five things: the testimony that there is no deity but Allah and Muhammad (PBUH) is his bondman and apostle; and the observance of prayer, and the paying of the poor-due, and the pilgrimage to Mecca, and the fast of Ramadhan.” (Bukhari and Muslim)
Commentary:
In the above tradition the Prophet has compared Islam to a building that is built upon pillars and said that the structure of Islam is raised upon the five fundamental tenets it is, therefore, inconceivable for a Muslim to be negligent in the observance of these principles which, in fact are the foundational pillars of Islam.
It should, however be remembered that duties in Islam are not confined only by the five basic principles but extended to other matters as well, such as the sanctioning of what is rights and prohibiting of that is wrong, and Jihad in the path of Allah. Since the importance that they enjoy is not equalled by any other tenet they have been elevated to the status of fundamental doctrines ad this is identical to what been pointed out in the commentary of the proceeding tradition.
The five points are to Islam that body is to soul. Moreover they exemplify the principal aspects of worship that are an end in themselves and whose obligator-ness is not lasting only for a limited time of related to a particular situation. These are binding and compulsory at all times and in all conditions as against Jihad and the sanctioning of what is allowed and the forbidding of what in prohibited which are an obligatory duty only on certain occasions and in certain circumstances.
