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This article is intended primarily for non-Muslims and it will be written in a biographical fashion by closely following Mohammed's life. We will explain in chronological order his 'revelations', his actions, and how they affect the Islamic beliefs. We will rely primarily on Islamic doctrine and on Islamic commentary written by Muslims themselves, with some further explanation whenever necessary.
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Islam is a religion based on the teachings of [[Muhammad]], a man from the 7th century Arabia, who claimed to receive messages from Allah (god) through angel Gabriel. People who believe it are called Muslims and there are 1.5+ billion Muslims, which makes Islam the second most wide-spread religion after Christianity. The holiest text in Islam is the [[Quran|Qur'an]], which contains what Muhammad claims to be revelations made by Allah. After Muhammad received the first revelation, he kept receiving more and more revelations until [[Circumstances Surrounding Muhammad's Death|his death]]. The completion of the Qur'an took over twenty years and it was compiled into a book form many years after Muhammad's death. A great portion of the Qur'an deals with Muhammad's personal life and the early Muslim community. Muslims believe that the Qur'an is the final message from the creator of the universe and people should follow it, today, tomorrow, and forever.


But before we delve into scripture we will start with a basic introduction followed by a discussion about terrorism, and finishing with the topic of religion and Muslims.  
==Teachings==
A great emphasis is placed upon ''"tawheed"'', which means worshiping only Allah and no other gods.<ref>''"...The man asked, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) What is Islam?" The Prophet (ﷺ) replied, "Islam is to worship Allah and not worship anything besides Him..."'' {{Bukhari|6|60|300}}</ref> Muslims repeat phrases like "There is no god, but Allah!" (''la ilaha illa allah'') or "Allah is the greatest!" (''Allahu Akbar'') to emphasize the rejection of other gods. Polytheists are called ''Mushrik مشرك'' and polytheism is called ''[[shirk]]'' شرك and Islam even accuses other monotheistic religions, like Christianity of committing ''shirk'' (claiming Jesus is the son of God is a type of ''shirk''). Similarly fundamental to the religion is the belief in the [[Uswa Hasana|perfection]] of Muhammad in all parts of his life. Muhammad's way of life is called the [[sunnah]], and this is studied through what was alleged to have been transmitted of Muhammad's sayings in the [[Hadith|hadiths]] and [[sira]].


==Introduction==
Islam is considered to be one of Abrahamic religions, as the Qur'an builds on much of the content of the Bible. The Qur'an talks about Abraham, Moses and Jesus (however, Jesus is considered to be only a prophet, and not the son of God). The Qur'an refers frequently to Jewish, Christian and pagan myths which were wide-spread in 7th century Arabia.


Muslims believe '''Islam''' is the last of the Abrahamic [[Monotheism|monotheistic]] religions, which Muslims believe was revealed to [[Muhammad]] by [[Allah]] through the angel Gabriel and written down in the [[Qur'an]]. Muslims believe that Muhammad was Allah's final prophet and the [[Uswa Hasana|perfect human]] being who is to be emulated by all Muslims for all time. The [[Sunnah]], which was Muhammad's way of life and is the prescribed way of life for Muslims, was revealed to Muslims through the biographies of Mohammed, called the [[Hadith]].
The Qur'an contains many verses dealing with Muhammad's personal life (for instance, there is an entire chapter dedicated to stating that the creator of the universe is angry at Muhammad's uncle, Abu Lahab) and the early Muslim community. Islamic law or ''[[Sharia]]'' permits [[Jihad in Islamic Law|war]] against the [[Dar al-Harb and Dar al-Islam (the Abodes of War and Peace)|Dar al Harb]], and as a part of this, raiding, kidnapping and [[Slavery in Islamic Law|enslaving]] non-Muslim [[Kafir (Infidel)|unbelievers]] is also allowed.<ref>{{Citation|url=https://archive.org/details/islamabolitionof0000clar|title=Islam and the Abolition of Slavery|page=27–28|publisher=Oxford University Press|ISBN=978-0-19-522151-0|author=William Gervase Clarence-Smith|year=2006}}</ref> The Qur'an also comprises many other legal and moral commandments for Muslims, and gives direction and guidance to the Muslim polity or caliphate. These commandments are, today, of controversial nature, as many of the Qur'an's legal rulings tend to marginalize, among others, women, [[Kafir (Infidel)|non-Muslims]], homosexuals, and apostates. The political commandments are likewise controversial, as they frequently assert the need for global domination and conquest, not shying away from describing in explicit terms the great multitudes that will need to be slain in the process. Literal readings of the Qur'an's legal and political commandments constitute Islamic orthodoxy, though, in the absence of a "legitimate" caliphate, most orthodox voices suggest the political commandments need not be followed through with (legal commandments, however, are generally promoted for implementation). Islamists, on the other hand, believe that in the absence of a legitimate caliphate, the caliphate must be actively pursued. Indeed, it is the Islamists who are responsible for the great majority of Islamic extremism and Islamic terrorism.
 
There are estimated to be 1.5 billion adherents, making Islam the second-largest religion in the world.<ref>{{cite book |author= Teece, Geoff |title=Religion in Focus: Islam |publisher=Smart Apple Media| year=2005| page=10}}</ref> Under the leadership of Muhammad and his successors, Islam rapidly spread by religious conversion and military conquest ([[Jihad]]).
 
==Etymology==
 
{{Main|The Meaning of Islam}}
 
''Lissan al-Arab'', one of the most authoritative lexicons of the Arabic language, mentions that the word 'Islam' is derived from the root verb ''istaslama'' <font size=4>(استسلاما)</font>; which means 'to submit' or 'give in' or 'surrender', while the term ''salam'' <font size=4>(سلام)</font> means peace, a truce, or a non-warring state.
 
The word ''Islam'' derives from the Arabic triconsonantal root sīn-lām-mīm (SLM [<font size=4> س </font> <font size=4> ل </font> <font size=4> م </font>]). Many different words are created from this root word by inserting different vowels between the three root consonants. Many English speakers wrongly assume that if two Arabic words share the same root word then their meanings are related when in reality the fact that some words share the same root word does not imply a relationship between the meanings of the words. For instance, all of these words are derived from the root S-L-M:
 
{| border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5"
|-
|
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="left" class="wikitable"
! width = 150px  | Word
! width = 80px | Arabic
! width = 210px | Meaning
|-
| Islam
| <font size=5> اسلام </font>
| Submission
|-
| Salam
| <font size=5> سلام</font>
| Well-being/Peace  
|-
| (Derivation of) Salama
| <font size=5> سلما</font>
| The stinging of a snake or the tanning of the leather
|-
| Saleema
| <font size=5> سليما</font>
| To be saved or to escape from danger (when refering to a female)
|-
| Saleem
| <font size=5> سليم</font>
| To be saved or to escape from danger (when refering to a male)
|-
| Aslam
| <font size=5> اسلم</font>
| To submit
|-
| Istaslama
| <font size=5> استسلاما</font>
| To surrender
|-
| Musal
| <font size=5> مسل</font>
|  Undisputed
|-
| Tasleem
| <font size=5> تسليم</font>
|  To receive a salutation or becoming submitted
|}
|-
| Many people have wrongly attempted to equate the word ''Islam'' with peace by showing that ''Islam'', meaning 'submission', shares a root word with ''Salaam'', meaning 'peace'. But if such relationships between the meanings of Arabic words can be created then that would imply that there is a relationship between one of the derivations of the infinitive ''Salama'', meaning the stinging of the snake or tanning the leather, and ''Salam'', meaning peace; a relationship which obviously does not exist.
|}
 
== Jihad ==
{{main|Jihad}}
 
It must first be recognized that not all Muslims are terrorists and that not all terrorists are Muslim. There are terrorists and terrorist organizations that are non-Muslim and there are many Muslims who do not commit terrorist acts. Furthermore, not all terrorist acts that are committed by Muslims are motivated by Islam. What we are interested in is terrorism that has Islam as one of its primary motivations.
 
We will distinguish between terrorism committed by Muslims and Islamic terrorism, that is, terrorism that has Islam as one of its primary motivations. Clearly all Islamic terrorism is terrorism committed by Muslims, but it is not correct to say that all terrorism committed by Muslims is Islamic terrorism. Some terrorist acts that are committed by Muslims do not have Islam as one of their primary motivators.
 
There are many misconceptions about the causes of Islamic terrorism, such as that Islamic terrorism is caused by poverty or geopolitical tensions. Although these are popular beliefs they are not the reality. For instance, poverty is often said to be the cause of Islamic terrorism but this argument ignores the fact that Islamic terrorism transcends economic lines to include the wealthy Osama bin Laden, the middle class like many European Islamic terrorists, and the poor like many Palestinians. Marc Sageman, from the Foreign Policy Research Institute, writes:
 
There is no "war on terrorism"; Islamic terrorism is a symptom of a much deeper problem within Islamic scripture.
 
Modern critiques of Islam include accusations that it is intolerant of criticism and that [[sharia|Islamic law]] is too hard on [[Islam and Apostasy|apostates]]. After a detailed project undertaken to study Islam, Qur'an and Hadiths, the [[w:The Pentagon|Pentagon]] has concluded that "Islam is an ideological engine of war (Jihad)."<ref>{{cite news | last= | first= | title=Suicide bombers follow Quran, concludes Pentagon briefing | date=September 27, 2006 | publisher=worldnetdaily.com | work=World Net Daily News | url=http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52184}}</ref> <ref>{{cite news | last=Sperry | first=Paul | title=The Pentagon Breaks the Islam Taboo | date=December 14, 2005 | publisher=FrontPageMagazine.com | work=FrontPage Magazine | url=http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID={F5505727-0D41-432E-AE50-AF20B242B4B2}}</ref>Critics such as Robert Spencer and Ibn Warraq question the morality of the Qur'an; for example, they say that its contents both justify the ill-treatment of [[Islam and Women|women]] and encourage [[Islamic Antisemitism|antisemitic]] remarks by Muslim theologians.
 
== Pre-Islamic Arabia ==
 
The Arabian peninsula can be divided into two contrasting climatic regions. The South along the coast receives regular rainfall and has abundant plant life, while the north consists of an inhospitable desert with few rivers which resulted in its people living lives that were far more isolated than the lives of the southerners. This Southern region is occupied by Sabaeans who developed successful and advanced civilizations, but by the seventh century this region had fallen into disarray.
 
The North-East is especially inhospitable with little water and little plant life, except for the date palm. It has a barren desert environment with extremes in climate that vary from warm to extremely hot and life is at a subsistence level. Due to its harsh environment this area has been inhabited by Bedouin Arabs who are nomadic pastors that have lived in small tribal groups for most of their history. Further to the West along the coast there existed oases that were occupied by prosperous sedentary Arabs who themselves had once been Bedouins Arabs. Due to the importance of this land, all parts of these oases were possessed by sedentary Arabs thereby forcing the Bedouins Arabs to live in the interior of the peninsula, away from the coasts.
 
In the Bedouin Arab society, women were dehumanized, and child marriages and female infanticide were common. With life as an on-going struggle against the forces of nature that comprise of desert storms and a bleak and monotonous environment, the mental make-up of the Bedouin Arabs has been shaped by the dictum of kill or be killed, even before Islam was founded.
 
This has been the psyche of the Bedouin Arabs who inhabited the inner Arabian peninsula. The people who came from the same stock and who lived further north in Mesopotamia had a different geographic and climatic environment. They developed advanced riparian civilizations on the banks of the Farath (Euphrates) and Tigra (Tigris) rivers. The Babylonian and Assyrian civilizations of Hamm-ur-rabi, Assur-bin-ipal and Nabu-chad-nazar, were developed by the same Semitic people who lived in peninsular Arabia. So the temperament of a same ethnic people (the Arabs) could be entirely different, depending on the environment in which they resided.
 
===Arabian Religions, Mecca, and the Quraysh===
 
One of the most important economic and religious cities in pre-Islamic Arabia was the city of Mecca. Mecca was home to the Ka'bah, a giant cube that was central to pagan worship and which once housed dozens of pagan Gods, the most prominent of which were Allah and his three daughters al-Uzza, al-Lat, and Manat. Mecca's central role in Arabian pagan religion supplied the city with many pilgrims and traders and allowed it to become a prosperous center of trade. The pagan Quraysh tribe was the most prominent and influential tribe in Mecca, and it was to this tribe that Mohammed was born.
 
Christians and Jews also lived in Arabia. Christians lived around Najran, modern day Yemen, and groups of Christians who had left the Byzantine Empire were scattered around Arabia. The Lakhid kingdom in Norther Arabia and the Ghassanid kingdom in northwestern Arabia were also Christian; and there were powerful and important Jewish tribes in the Khaybar oasis and Yemen. In Medina there were three powerful Jewish tribes: Banu Nadir, Banu Qurayzah and Banu Qaynuqa.


==See Also==
==See Also==
===Components of Islam===
*[[Muhammad]]
*[[Qur'an]]
*[[Allah]]
*[[Kaaba|Ka'aba]]


===Other Articles===
*[[The Meaning of Islam]]
*[[Fastest Growing Religion]] ''- common claim made by Muslims''
*[[Statistics]] ''- statistics relating to Muslims around the world''
*[[Quotations]] ''- quotes from famous Muslims and non-Muslims''
*[[Islam: A Critical Analysis]] ''- is Islam from Allah or a human religion?''
*[[Theism]]
*[[Islamization of Knowledge]]


===Core Articles===
==References==
Core articles contain an overview of other articles related to a specific issue, and serve as a starting point for anyone wishing to learn about Islam:
* [[Islam and Apostasy]]
* [[Islam and Homosexuality]]
* [[Islam and Miracles]]
* [[Islam and Pedophilia]]
* [[Islam and Propaganda]]
* [[Islam and Science]]
* [[Islam and Scripture]]
* [[Islam and the People of the Book]]
* [[Islam and Women]]
 
== References and Citations==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
 
[[Category:Allah]]
[[Category:General Analysis]]
[[Category:Slavery]]
[[Category:Articles needing to be rewritten]]
[[Category:Muhammad]]
[[Category:Islamic History]]
[[Category:Sacred history]]
[[Category:Society and human nature]]
[[Category:Revelation]]
[[Category:Abrogation]]

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Islam is a religion based on the teachings of Muhammad, a man from the 7th century Arabia, who claimed to receive messages from Allah (god) through angel Gabriel. People who believe it are called Muslims and there are 1.5+ billion Muslims, which makes Islam the second most wide-spread religion after Christianity. The holiest text in Islam is the Qur'an, which contains what Muhammad claims to be revelations made by Allah. After Muhammad received the first revelation, he kept receiving more and more revelations until his death. The completion of the Qur'an took over twenty years and it was compiled into a book form many years after Muhammad's death. A great portion of the Qur'an deals with Muhammad's personal life and the early Muslim community. Muslims believe that the Qur'an is the final message from the creator of the universe and people should follow it, today, tomorrow, and forever.

Teachings

A great emphasis is placed upon "tawheed", which means worshiping only Allah and no other gods.[1] Muslims repeat phrases like "There is no god, but Allah!" (la ilaha illa allah) or "Allah is the greatest!" (Allahu Akbar) to emphasize the rejection of other gods. Polytheists are called Mushrik مشرك and polytheism is called shirk شرك and Islam even accuses other monotheistic religions, like Christianity of committing shirk (claiming Jesus is the son of God is a type of shirk). Similarly fundamental to the religion is the belief in the perfection of Muhammad in all parts of his life. Muhammad's way of life is called the sunnah, and this is studied through what was alleged to have been transmitted of Muhammad's sayings in the hadiths and sira.

Islam is considered to be one of Abrahamic religions, as the Qur'an builds on much of the content of the Bible. The Qur'an talks about Abraham, Moses and Jesus (however, Jesus is considered to be only a prophet, and not the son of God). The Qur'an refers frequently to Jewish, Christian and pagan myths which were wide-spread in 7th century Arabia.

The Qur'an contains many verses dealing with Muhammad's personal life (for instance, there is an entire chapter dedicated to stating that the creator of the universe is angry at Muhammad's uncle, Abu Lahab) and the early Muslim community. Islamic law or Sharia permits war against the Dar al Harb, and as a part of this, raiding, kidnapping and enslaving non-Muslim unbelievers is also allowed.[2] The Qur'an also comprises many other legal and moral commandments for Muslims, and gives direction and guidance to the Muslim polity or caliphate. These commandments are, today, of controversial nature, as many of the Qur'an's legal rulings tend to marginalize, among others, women, non-Muslims, homosexuals, and apostates. The political commandments are likewise controversial, as they frequently assert the need for global domination and conquest, not shying away from describing in explicit terms the great multitudes that will need to be slain in the process. Literal readings of the Qur'an's legal and political commandments constitute Islamic orthodoxy, though, in the absence of a "legitimate" caliphate, most orthodox voices suggest the political commandments need not be followed through with (legal commandments, however, are generally promoted for implementation). Islamists, on the other hand, believe that in the absence of a legitimate caliphate, the caliphate must be actively pursued. Indeed, it is the Islamists who are responsible for the great majority of Islamic extremism and Islamic terrorism.

See Also

References

  1. ↑ "...The man asked, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) What is Islam?" The Prophet (ﷺ) replied, "Islam is to worship Allah and not worship anything besides Him..." Sahih Bukhari 6:60:300
  2. ↑ William Gervase Clarence-Smith, Islam and the Abolition of Slavery, Oxford University Press, p. 27–28, ISBN 978-0-19-522151-0, 2006, https://archive.org/details/islamabolitionof0000clar 
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