The Five Pillars
The five pillars and the Muslim testimony
The “five pillars” are things Muslims believe they must do to be good Muslims. Muslims believe that someone who has done enough good things will go to heaven. Only on Judgment Day will they know if they have done enough. The first pillar is to recite, “There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger.” Muslims worship Allah as the creator of the universe. According to Muslim beliefs, Muhammad is the prophet who received messages from an angel of Allah. The messages were later written in the Quran, the Muslim holy book.
Prayer
Muslims believe they should pray five times a day at certain times. They pray facing the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, where Muhammad was born. Muslims recite the same phrases and Quran passages in all their daily prayers. They may pray in their own words in additional prayers.
Charity
Muslims believe it is important to share what they have with the poor and needy.
Fasting
Muslims believe it is good to fast from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan. Ramadan is a month on the Muslim calendar.
Pilgrimage
Muslims believe in taking a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime if they can afford it. A pilgrimage is a trip to a holy place.
Christian Beliefs
Christians do not believe that any deeds they do will make them good enough to be saved. For salvation, they trust in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for the sins of the world. Christians do good deeds so that God will be honored (Matthew 5:16).
Jesus taught His followers to think of God and talk to God as their “heavenly Father.” The Bible says Christians should not pray in public in order to show off or pray with extra unnecessary words (Matthew 6).
Jesus said those who help the needy are also serving Him (Matthew 25:40). He said those who give to the needy should do so in secret, not for the praise of men (Matthew 6:2,3).
Jesus said that God rewards those who fast, if they do it in secret and not for the purpose of getting praise from others (Matthew 6:16–18).
Christians may take trips to places that inspire them. But God does not require Christians to make an earthly pilgrimage to please Him. John Bunyan’s book, Pilgrim’s Progress, describes a Christian’s pilgrimage through life. The Bible tells about heroes of the faith who were looking forward to “a city without foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” (See Hebrews 11:10,16.)
