Five Pillars of Islam (Arabic, arkan), five prescribed ritual duties whose performance mainstream Muslims view as central to their faith. These are: (1) pronouncing the confession of faith (kalima or shahada); (2) performing the five daily prayers (salat); (3) fasting during the month of Ramadan (saum); (4) paying the alms tax (zakat); (5) performing, at least once in life, the major pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj). In most Islamic counties - with the exception, for instance, of the Wahhabi state of Saudi Arabia - Muslims are not punished for failing to perform these duties. In many Islamic states, however, any public denial by a Muslim of the validity, importance, or centrality of the five pillars is generally considered an act of apostasy that is punishable.

The salat, also known as namaz in Iran, India, and Turkey, refers to the five obligatory daily prayers. These are only performed after a ritual ablution and in a special order at set times of the day: before sunrise; at noon; in the mid-afternoon; immediately after sunset, and before midnight. Mainstream Shiites consider it permissible to join the noon and afternoon prayers together and also the sunset and midnight prayers so that they need only pray three times a day. Praying in Islam is also associated with a specified set of postures; that is, standing, bowing, and prostrating.