Islam

Overview
- Islam (Arabic: ‫ ;السلم‬al-'islām (help·info)) is a monotheistic Abrahamic
religion originating with the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century
Arab religious and political figure
- A Muslim is one who follows Islam practices and means, literally, “one
who submits to God”
- There are 1.61 billion Muslims, making Islam the second-largest
religion in the world, after Christianity
- Muslims believe that God revealed the Qur'an to Muhammad, God's
final prophet, and regard the Qur'an and the Sunnah (words and deeds
of Muhammad) as the fundamental sources of Islam.
God(s)

- God is Allah
- Muhammad is God's messenger
- God is beyond all comprehension; Muslims are not expected to
visualize God but to worship and adore him as a protector
- According to the Qur'an all Muslims have to believe in God, his
revelations, his angels, his messengers, and in the "Day of Judgment".
- The Day of Judgment is the belief in Qiyâmah is part of Aqidah and is
a fundamental tenet of faith in Islam
- Muslims believe that God revealed his final message to humanity
through the Islamic prophet Muhammad via the angel Gabriel

Scriptures

- Muslims consider the Qur'an to be the literal word of God; it is the

central religious text of Islam
- The Qur'an is divided into 114 suras, or chapters, which combined,
contain 6,236 āyāt, or poetic verses
- To Muslims, the Qur'an is perfect only as revealed in the original
Arabic; translations are necessarily deficient because of language
differences, the fallibility of translators, and the impossibility of
preserving the original's inspired style

Beliefs
- In Islam, prophets are men selected by God to be his messengers
- Muslims believe that prophets are human and not divine, though some
are able to perform miracles to prove their claim
- Islamic prophets are considered to be the closest to perfection of all
humans
- Five Pillars of Islam:
- 1. The shahadah, which is the basic creed or tenet of Islam, Muslims
must repeat the shahadah in prayer, and non-Muslims wishing to
convert to Islam are required to recite the creed.
- 2. Salah, or ritual prayer, which must be performed five times a day.
The prayers are recited in the Arabic language, and consist of verses
from the Qur'an
- 3. Zakat, or alms-giving. This is the practice of giving based on
accumulated wealth, and is obligatory for all Muslims who can afford it.
- 4. Sawm, or fasting during the month of Ramadan. Muslims must not
eat or drink (among other things) from dawn to dusk during this
month, and must be mindful of other sins. For others, flexibility is
allowed depending on circumstances, but missed fasts usually must be
made up quickly
- The Hajj, which is the pilgrimage during the Islamic month of Dhu al-
Hijjah in the city of Mecca. Every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it
must make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in his or her lifetime.
- Muslims, like Jews, are restricted in their diet, and prohibited foods
include pig products, blood, carrion, and alcohol. All meat must come
from a herbivorous animal slaughtered in the name of God by a
Muslim, Jew, or Christian, with the exception of game that one has
hunted or fished for oneself. Food permissible for Muslims is known as
halal food.