Islam- began in Arabia and was revealed to humanity by the Prophet Muhammad. Those who follow Islam are called Muslims.
Beliefs
Muslim
The day when the life of every human being will be assessed to decide whether they go to heaven or hell.
That Allah has the knowlege of all that will happen.
Muslims believe that this doesn't stop human beings making free choices.
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.
Muslims
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.
Muslims worship only Allah...
because only Allah is worthy of worship.
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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.
Muslims believe that there is only one God. The Arabic word for God is Allah.
The Quran
The Qur'an is the holy book for Muslims, revealed in stages to the Prophet Muhammad over 23 years.
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The Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad by God in Arabic.
Some Qur'anic fragments have been dated as far back as the eighth, and possibly even the seventh, century. The oldest existing copy of the full text is from the ninth century.
Although early variants of the Qur'an are known to have existed, Muslims believe that the text we have today was established shortly after the death of the Prophet by the Caliph Uthman.
Translations of the Qur'an exist in over 40 languages but Muslims are still taught to learn and recite it in Arabic, even if this is not their native language and they cannot converse in it.
The Qur'an is treated with immense respect by Muslims because it is the sacred word of God.
While the Qur'an is recited aloud, Muslims should behave with reverence and refrain from speaking, eating or drinking, or making distracting noise.
In addition to the Qur'an, the other sacred sources are the Sunnah, the practise and examples of the Prophet Muhammad's life, and the Hadith, reports of what the prophet Muhammad said or approved.
History
Abraham is called Ibrahim by Muslims. They see him as the father of the Arab people as well as the Jewish people through his two sons, Isaac and Ishmael (Isma'il in Arabic).
Muslims believe that Islam is a faith that has always existed and that it was gradually revealed to humanity by a number of prophets, but the final and complete revelation of the faith was made through the Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century CE.
Islamic Spain was a multi-cultural mix of the people of three great monotheistic religions: Muslims, Christians, and Jews.
The Ottoman Empire was the one of the largest and longest lasting Empires in history.
The Safavid Empire was based in what is today Iran.
This Islamic Empire was strong enough to challenge the Ottomans in the west and the Mughals in the east.
Moses is an important prophet in the Muslim faith as well as in Judaism and Christianity. Muslims call him Musa.
The Muslim community spread through the Middle East through conquest, and the resulting growth of the Muslim state provided the ground in which the recently revealed faith could take root and flourish.
The Mughal (or Mogul) Empire ruled most of India and Pakistan in the 16th and 17th centuries.