From India to Spain, the brilliant civilization of Islam flourished. What was lost to Christendom at this time was not lost to civilization, but quite the contrary… To us it seems that West-European civilization is civilization; but this is a narrow view.
Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy- Holy Spirit
- Muslims believe that Islam is the complete and universal version of a primordial faith that was revealed many times through earlier prophets and messengers, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.
- Muslims consider the Quran to be the verbatim word of God and the unaltered, final revelation.
- Alongside the Quran, Muslims also believe in previous revelations, such as the Tawrat (the Torah), the Zabur (Psalms), and the Injil (Gospel).
- They believe that Muhammad is the main and final Islamic prophet, through whom the religion was completed.
- The teachings and normative examples of Muhammad, called the sunnah, documented in accounts called the hadith, provide a constitutional model for Muslims.
- Islam teaches that God (Allah) is one and incomparable.
- It states that there will be a “Final Judgment” wherein the righteous will be rewarded in paradise (jannah) and the unrighteous will be punished in hell (jahannam).
- The Five Pillars—considered obligatory acts of worship—comprise the Islamic oath and creed (shahada); daily prayers (salah); almsgiving (zakat); fasting (sawm) in the month of Ramadan; and a pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca.
- Islamic law, sharia, touches on virtually every aspect of life, from banking and finance and welfare to men’s and women’s roles and the environment.
- The religion of Islam originated in Mecca about 610 CE.
- Islam (Wikipedia)
Islam (/ˈɪslɑːm/; Arabic: ۘالِإسلَام, al-ʾIslām [ɪsˈlaːm], transl. “Submission [to God]”) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centered on the Quran and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam, called Muslims, number approximately 1.9 billion globally and are the world’s second-largest religious population after Christians.