1. The statement of faith called the shahadat. “There is no God but the one God and Muhammad is the messenger of God.”
2. Prayer (salat) five times a day. This may be performed anywhere that is clean, normally at home or n a mosque.
Before prayer, a Muslim must have the right intention and wash hands, mouth, nostrils, face and forearms, then wipe the head, ears and neck and finally wash the feet. The times of prayer are dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, just after sunset, and before going to sleep. These are flexible if people are traveling, ill or cannot stop work.
3. Alms (zakat) should be given to the poor or anyone in need at least once a year.
4. Fasting (sawn) between dawn and dusk especially throughout the month of Ramadan. This helps self-discipline, bring s your closer to God, gives you more time for religious things and sympathy for the poor. Children, pregnant women and the sick need not fast.
5. Pilgrimage (hajj) once in a lifetime if one can afford to travel to Mecca.