Islam is a religion and a complete way of life. Historically, Islam came into being in the 7th century Ce with the prophet Muhammad. However, Islam teaches that Allah, or God, had always intended humans to follow thedin,or way of life as taught by Muhammad and other prophets. These prophets include Moses (or Musa in Islam) Abraham (or Ibrahim) Jacob (or Yacob) Isaac (or Isak) and Jesus who is known as Isa.

The Prophet Muhammad


Angel Honoring Muhammad
With a Robe and Cap

Muhammad is regarded by Muslims as the very last Prophet in a long line of prophets sent by God to all people. Islam teaches that Muhammad's message is not just to those declared Muslims but to people of all faiths.

Muhammad was called by Allah to deliver his message. The word Islam has roots in the word salam which means peace. Islam is therefore the religion or message of peace. Islam is also translated into English as "submission." Submission, however, does not fully communicate the full meaning of the word Islam which entails a relationship with God's peace and security through loyalty and submission to his will.

Muhammad was born in 570 CE in Makkah, Arabia into a time where there were many rival contentions as to the nature of God. Muhammad received his revelation on Mount Hira, an area close to Mecca while meditating on the nature of God. God's revelation was made to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel who urged him to repeat or recite the name of "your Lord who has created--created man from a drop." Over time, the teachings of Muhammad were gathered together in the Qur'an the Islamic sacred book.

Muhammad and his community of followers were initially persecuted for their beliefs. They had to flee to Yathrib in 622 CE. Here, Muhammad and his followers settled in oasis called Medina. The Arabic word medina means city, but from Muhammad's time the word has come to mean the city of the prophet Muhammad. The flight to Medina is known as the hijira. The hijira marks the beginning of the new Islamic era, hence the Islamic calendar begins with the hijira.

Islam and the teachings of Islam permeate life in its entirety. Reverence of Allah and the indisputable law of his teachings as manifest in the Qur'an ultimately mean that Muslims must bear witness to this. As such, virtue and morality form an integral part of everyday life and Islamic culture. Likewise, artistic efforts, architecture, and scientific investigation are all informed with the motivation of reflecting Allah's supreme presence in the universe.

Islam also teaches the unity of all people--the principle belief is that all humans are part of the same community or umma. Racial differences are regarded as less important than morality and virtue. Hence, while many people believe, mistakenly, that all Muslims are Arab, Muslims in fact may come from may parts of the world and be from different ethnic and national backgrounds.

Islamic Influence on World Cultures

Following the death of Muhammad, his teachings were continued by his caliphs or follower. Islam spread rapidly within a few decades after Muhammad's death through Arabia, Palestine, Syria and the Byzantine Empire. Through brilliant military strategies,Iraq and Iran would were taken by Islamic armies by the seventh century CE. Within a century after Muhammad's death, Islam had spread to North Africa, Spain and Asia.
Today, over a quarter of the world's population are Muslims. There are Muslims not only in the Middle East and North Africa, but in China, Southeast Asia, India, Australia, Europe as well as the United States.

Historically, Islamic culture has made major contributions to every aspect of life across world civilizations. These contributions include mathematics, pharmacology, medicine geography, literature, chemistry, and astronomy and higher education to name only a few areas of life that we take very much for granted today.

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