Overview

Islam is a religion founded and based on faith in one supreme God, Allah.

Every follower of Islam believes in this central doctrine and in Prophet Muhammad being the last messenger of God. The Quran, the holy book of the religion is a compilation of all of God's revelations to the Prophet. God revealed his message to the Prophet Muhammad through the archangel Gabriel, about the onenness of God, how to worship him, and the perfected way of life. Therefore the Quran is considered the unchanged word of God and the constitution and the guide for Muslims in this life.

The following sites provide details about the fundamental beliefs, principles and tenets of Islam.

A brief history of Islam

Islam originated around 600 AD in the Central Asian Arabian desert and soon spread to east Asia, Central Europe and North Africa. The religion started with the teachings of Prophet Muhammad who is considered to be the messenger of the one and only, formless, all-powerful God, Allah.

Islam spread rapidly from the Arabian peninsula in less than 30 years. The Persian and Roman Empires were defeated by the much less equipped and out-numbered Muslim armies. Over the next several centuries, Islam reached as far as India in the east, and to Spain in the west. The spread continued through traders to southeast Asia, where for example, Indonesia, today's largest Muslim country, received the message of Islam through Arab traders.

During the peak of Islam's rule, when Europe was in the Dark Ages, the sciences of mathematics, algebra, astronomy, medicine, physics and other disciplines were developed and are still in use today based on the principles of the early Muslim scholars.

Today, Islam is considered to be the fastest growing religion in the world.