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Islam

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• The name of the religion is "Islam", meaning "peace" or "submission" (a peace which comes from surrendering one�s life to God). A "Muslim" is one who submits, referring to a follower of Islam. The community of the faithful is called Ummah.

Poster: What Is Islam And Who Are Muslims?

The Prophet:

• Muhammad understood Islam as the pure, original state of Judaism and Christianity, a restoration to the original state of faith as followed by Abraham and his son Ishmael (origin of the Arabian people). Abraham and Ishmael are of particular importance for Muslims.

• Muhammad is seen as a fully human prophet. Islam is not "Mohammadenism" - there is no worship of Muhammad. Muhammad compares to Moses, not Jesus.

The Holy Book:

• Quran compares to Torah and Jesus as place of importance in each respective tradition. Unlike the Bible, the format of the Quran is not a historical or chronological text. Arranged in 114 chapters called surahs from longest to shortest in length. (show text)

• "Quran" means "recitation" and is truly only the Quran as recited in the original Arabic (as the angel presented it to Muhammad). Technically, a translation is not Quran. Even the written Arabic is not the pure Quran, which is said to be ethereal and remains in heaven.

Poster: What Is The Qur'an?

Listen to the first surah: The Fatiha:

Explore more of the Qur'an: see and hear in Arabic, translation into countless languages

Sacred Places:

• The Kaaba in Mecca is where Abraham and Ishmael built an alter to God. 

• The Ka'ba is actually the cubical structure in the center of the Great Mosque of Mecca.

• It is draped with a black cloth and, in one corner, is an ancient black stone said to be a remnant from the original alter built on this site by Abraham and Ishmael.

• On pilgrimage (the Hajj) to this site Muslims circle the Ka'ba seven times and attempt to get close enough to touch the black stone.

• The stone is believed by scholars to perhaps be a meteorite. If this is the case, it is not surprising that an ancient people believed this to be a sacred stone since it was dropped to earth from the heavens (i.e., from God).

• Medina (originally Yathrib), "the city [of the Prophet]," to which Muhammad and his followers migrated in 622 CE.

• The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem (located on the "Temple Mount" of the ruins of the ancient Jewish Temple)  is where, Islam teaches, Abraham almost sacrificed Ishmael (Isaac in Biblical tradition) as an act of faith. This is also the site from which Muhammad made his mystical ascent into the heavens on his "Night Journey"