Islam
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Table of Contents
- Islam
- Islam - Basic Beliefs
- Islam - Its Creed
- The Five Pillars of Islam
- Do Muslims, Jews and Christians worship the same God?
- Islam - Research Resources
Next: Islam - Basic Beliefs
Note: In preparation for an update to our entry on Islam, we are in the process of moving the exisiting entry from its old place into our current format.
Islam is the world’s second largest religion, with an estimated 1.5 billion followers. [Source: Major Religions of the World Ranked by Number of Adherents, at Adherents.com -- last accessed Sep. 20, 2007)
In the USA, Islam is among the fastest growing religions (1998). America is said to have 1200 mosques and Islamic centers, and 6-7 million adherents. However, these numbers are being disputed. (See also: Statistics).
Islam also claims significant growth in Africa and is growing - largely through immigration and a higher-than-average birthrate, in Europe (example: Netherlands).
The term "Arab" describes an ethnic or cultural identity. Not all Arabs are Muslims, and not all Muslims are Arabs. The terms are not interchangeable. (Matter of fact, Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation).
The word 'Islam' is derived from the Arabic 'Islama', which means 'submission.' The religion was founded by Muhammad, whom Muslims consider to be the last prophet of the one God, Allah.
Muhammad was born in Mecca in 570 AD. "At the age of 40 he had a visitation from the Archangel Gabriel, who revealed to him the contents of the Qur'an, the Muslim holy book, and gave him the task of cleansing Mecca of pagan shrines." (Source
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According to the Quran, "[T]he only religion acceptable to God is Submission” (to Allah). (Quran 3:19)
Note: During the update of this entry, most resources on this topic will still be available here.
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• This page was first posted: Sep. 20, 2007
• This page was last updated: Sep. 22, 2007
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