FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM The Five Pillars are the core beliefs and practices of Islam: 1. Profession of Faith ( shahada ). The belief that "There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God" is central to Islam. This phrase, written in Arabic, is often prominently featured in architecture and a range of objects, including the Qur'an , Islam's holy book of divine revelations. One becomes a Muslim by reciting this phrase with conviction. 2. Prayer ( salat ). Muslims pray facing Mecca five times a day: at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and after dark. Prayer includes a recitation of the opening chapter ( sura ) of the Qur'an, and is sometimes performed on a small rug or mat used expressly for this purpose (see image 24 ). Muslims can pray individually at any location (fig. 1) or together in a mosque, where a leader in prayer ( imam ) guides the congreg...