Islam

Islam is an Abrahamic religion based on the Quran and the teachings of Muhammad. The monotheistic religion has an estimated 2 billion worldwide adherents, called Muslims. Islam is the world's second-largest religion, after Christianity. Muslims believe that the primordial faith was revealed many times through successive prophets and messengers, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, and that Islam is the universal and complete form of this faith. It teaches that God is one, merciful, omnipotent, without equal, and that he has guided humanity through various prophets, scriptures, and natural signs. Muslims consider the Quran to be the verbatim word of God and the unaltered, universal, final revelation. Alongside the Quran, Muslims also believe in previous revelations, including the Tawrat (Torah), the Zabur (Psalms), and the Injil (Gospel). They believe that Muhammad is the Seal of the Prophets and final prophet of God, through whom the religion was completed, and after whom no new prophet or divine law will come. The teachings and normative examples of Muhammad (Sunnah), documented in accounts called Hadith, provide a constitutional model for Muslims. Islam is based on the uniqueness of God (Tawhid), and belief in the afterlife (Akhirah) with the Last 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, are the profession of faith (Shahada), daily prayers (Salah), almsgiving (Zakat), fasting in the month of Ramadan (Sawm), and a pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj). Islamic law (Sharia) touches on virtually every aspect of life, from banking and finance and welfare to men's roles and women's roles and the environment. The two main religious festivals are Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. The three holiest sites are Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, and Al-Aqsa Mosque...