Islam is derived from the Arabic root "Salema": peace, purity, submission and obedience. In the religious sense, Islam means submission to the will of God and obedience to His law.

Everything and every phenomenon in the world other than man is administered totally by God-made laws, ie. they are obedient to God and submissive to his laws, they are in the State of Islam. Man possesses the qualities of intelligence and choice, thus he is invited to submit to the good will of God and obey His law, ie, become a Muslim.

Submission to the good will of God, together with obedience to His beneficial Law, ie, becoming a Muslim, is the best safeguard for man's peace and harmony.

Islam dates back to the age of Adam and its message has been conveyed to man by God's prophets and messengers, including Abrahim, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad.

Islam's message has been restored and enforced in the last stage of the religious evolution by God's last prophet and messenger, Muhammad.

The word Allah in the Arabic language means God, or more accurately, The One and Only Eternal God, Creator of the Universe, Lord of all lords, King of all kings, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful. The word Allah to mean God is also used by Arabic speaking Jews and Christians.

The word Islam means 'submission to the will of God'. Islam is the second largest religion in the world with over 1 billion followers. The 2001 census recorded 1,591,000 Muslims in the UK, around 2.7% of the population. Muslims believe that Islam was revealed over 1400 years ago in Mecca, Arabia. Followers of Islam are called Muslims. Muslims believe that there is only One God. The Arabic word for God is Allah. According to Muslims, God sent a number of prophets to mankind to teach them how to live according to His law. Jesus, Moses and Abraham are respected as prophets of God. They believe that the final Prophet was Muhammad. Muslims believe that Islam has always existed, but for practical purposes, date their religion from the time of the migration of Muhammad. Muslims base their laws on their holy book the Qur'an, and the Sunnah. Muslims believe the Sunnah is the practical example of Prophet Muhammad and that there are five basic Pillars of Islam. These pillars are the declaration of faith, praying five times a day, giving money to charity, fasting and a pilgrimage to Mecca (atleast once).

Basic articles of faith

Muslims have six main beliefs.

• Belief in Allah as the one and only God
• Belief in angels
• Belief in the holy books
• Belief in the Prophets...
  • e.g. Adam, Ibrahim (Abraham), Musa (Moses), Dawud (David), Isa (Jesus).
  • Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the final prophet.
• Belief in the Day of Judgement...
  • The day when the life of every human being will be assessed to decide whether they go to heaven or hell.
• Belief in Predestination...
  • That Allah has the knowlege of all that will happen.
  • Muslims believe that this doesn't stop human beings making free choices.

Allah

Allah is the name Muslims use for the supreme and unique God, who created and rules everything.
The heart of faith for all Muslims is obedience to Allah's will.

• Allah is eternal, omniscient, and omnipotent...
  • Allah has always existed and will always exist.
  • Allah knows everything that can be known.
  • Allah can do anything that can be done.
• Allah has no shape or form...
  • Allah can't be seen.
  • Allah can't be heard.
  • Allah is neither male nor female.
• Allah is just...
  • Allah rewards and punishes fairly.
  • But Allah is also merciful.
• A believer can approach Allah by praying, and by reciting the Qur'an.
• Muslims worship only Allah...
  • because only Allah is worthy of worship.

The one and only God

All Muslims believe that God is one alone:

• There is only one God.
• God has no children, no parents, and no partners.
• God was not created by a being.
• There are no equal, superior, or lesser Gods.