Pillars

Sahih Muslim 8 (the hadith of Jibril)Sahih (Muslim)

“Al-Islam implies that you testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, and you establish prayer, pay Zakat, observe the fast of Ramadan, and perform pilgrimage to the (House) if you are solvent enough (to bear the expense of) the journey. … That you affirm your faith in Allah, in His angels, in His Books, in His Apostles, in the Day of Judgment, and you affirm your faith in the Divine Decree about good and evil.”

The angel Gabriel, in the form of a man, asks the Prophet (ﷺ) about Islam and then about Iman. The first answer lists the five pillars of Islam; the second lists the six articles of Iman. The same hadith is in Bukhari 50, in shorter form. Narrated by Umar ibn al-Khattab. English as shown on sunnah.com.

Sahih al-Bukhari 8Sahih (Bukhari)

“Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said: Islam is based on (the following) five (principles): 1. To testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and Muhammad is Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ). 2. To offer the (compulsory congregational) prayers dutifully and perfectly. 3. To pay Zakat (i.e. obligatory charity) . 4. To perform Hajj. (i.e. Pilgrimage to Mecca) 5. To observe fast during the month of Ramadan.”

Narrated by Ibn Umar. English as shown on sunnah.com.

Sahih al-Bukhari 50Sahih (Bukhari)

“Faith is to believe in Allah, His angels, (the) meeting with Him, His Apostles, and to believe in Resurrection. … That was Gabriel who came to teach the people their religion.”

Narrated by Abu Huraira. English as shown on sunnah.com.

Quran 2:177

“but [true] righteousness is [in] one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets”

Quran 4:136

“O you who have believed, believe in Allah and His Messenger and the Book that He sent down upon His Messenger and the Scripture which He sent down before. And whoever disbelieves in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day has certainly gone far astray.”

The pillars of practice. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that Islam is built on five, and the hadith of Jibril above gives the same five.

The articles of faith. The Quran lists most of them in 2:177 and 4:136, and the hadith of Jibril gives all six.

The thesis

One faith, taught by every prophet

The Quran says the same core message came to every messenger. If that is so, traces of it should still be found in the earlier scriptures. Each pillar page tests this passage by passage: where the earlier text says the same thing, we show it, and where it does not, we say so.

Quran 21:25

“And We sent not before you any messenger except that We revealed to him that, ‘There is no deity except Me, so worship Me.’”

Quran 42:13

“He has ordained for you of religion what He enjoined upon Noah and that which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], and what We enjoined upon Abraham and Moses and Jesus - to establish the religion and not be divided therein.”

Quran 3:84

“Say, ‘We have believed in Allah and in what was revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Descendants, and in what was given to Moses and Jesus and to the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and we are Muslims [submitting] to Him.’”

Quran 2:136

“Say, [O believers], ‘We have believed in Allah and what has been revealed to us and what has been revealed to Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the Descendants and what was given to Moses and Jesus and what was given to the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and we are Muslims [in submission] to Him.’”

Sahih al-Bukhari 3443Sahih (Bukhari)

“The prophets are paternal brothers; their mothers are different, but their religion is one.”

Narrated by Abu Huraira. English as shown on sunnah.com.

How to read these pages

Quran verses are Sahih International, with links to quran.com. Hadith are from Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, in the English shown on sunnah.com. Each is marked Sahih (Bukhari) or Sahih (Muslim), because both collections are accepted as authentic.
Hebrew Bible and New Testament passages are the King James Version. Samaritan passages are from Florentin and Tal’s English translation of the Samaritan Pentateuch (Open Book Publishers, 2024). We include Samaritan text only where we could check it against that translation.
We found no Mandaean passage we could verify against a reliable translation, so none is included.
A tag on each passage says whether it is a close parallel, a shared principle, an interpretation, or the Islamic position. An interpretation is a reading we offer as a reading, and not as a proven fact.
Where an earlier scripture says something Islam does not accept, such as the Trinity, the passage is shown together with the Quran’s own words.

Sources

One faith, taught by every prophet

Quran (Sahih International, via api.alquran.cloud; links go to quran.com)

Hadith (English from sunnah.com)