Ming Li needs to do a project for school. Her class is learning about the world’s religions, and she chose Islam.

Let's do presentations!

Ming Li is worried because she doesn’t know anything about Islam. “Oh no, what do I do?” she wonders.

Oh no!

At lunch, she eats with her friend Haji. “Haji, I need to do learn about Islam, but I don’t know what to do!” She cries.

Haji thinks for a bit, then says, "Don't worry Ming Li! I know what to do!"

Haji said to Ming Li "You should come to our mosque on Friday to learn about Islam from the Imam! He's our teacher and knows everything about it."

"Really? Thank you so much!" Ming Li cried. "I can't wait!"

That Friday, Ming Li went with Haji to the mosque to see the Imam.

"Hello Mister Imam!" Ming Li shouted, "Haji said you could teach me about Islam!"

Hello!

"Sure thing!" the Imam replied. "Let me show you the Five Pillars of Islam!"

The Imam took Haji and Ming Li to a room with five pillars and started explaining each one.

This first pillar is Shahadah.

Shahadah is faith. It means believing in God and Muhammad, his messenger. Believing in one God and no one else is very important to us Muslims. We also chant it when praying to God, to let Him know our faith ("Shahadah (Faith) - The First Pillar of Islam").

This next pillar is Salah.

Salah is the prayer that we do five times a day. We must pray at certain times through the day every day. It is also the time when we think about God's teachings in his book, the Quran, and about our faith in Him ("Salah (Prayer)-The Second Pillar of Islam").

After that is Zakat.

Zakat or almsgiving, is sharing. When we have enough money, we give some of it to help others. We want to make people happy by helping them and sharing our wealth. ("The Five Pillars of Islam").