The five pillars

Arabic

بُنِيَ الْإِسْلَامُ عَلَى خَمْسٍ: شَهَادَةِ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ، وَإِقَامِ الصَّلَاةِ، وَإِيتَاءِ الزَّكَاةِ، وَحَجِّ الْبَيْتِ، وَصَوْمِ رَمَضَانَ.

Translation

Islam is built on five: the testimony that none is worthy of worship but Allah and that Muḥammad is His Messenger, establishing ṣalāh, giving zakāh, ḥajj to the House, and fasting Ramadan.

Narrator

ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar

Source

Bukhārī 8 · Muslim 16

Commentary

The five pillars are the load-bearing columns. Remove any and the building collapses. Nawawī pairs this with the previous hadith so the reader sees Islam's anatomy twice — first as three layers, then as five supports.