| Islam is
a major world religion belonging to the
Semitic family; it was promulgated by the Prophet Muhammad in Arabia in
the 7th century AD. The Arabic term islam, literally means 'surrender,'
illuminates the fundamental religious idea of Islam - that the believer
(called a Muslim, from the active particle of islam) accepts 'surrender
to the will of Allah (Arabic: God)." Allah is viewed as the sole God -
creator, sustainer, and restorer of the world. The will of Allah, to which
man must submit, is made known through the sacred scriptures, the Quran
(Koran), which Allah revealed to his messenger, Muhammad. In Islam Muhammad
is considred the last of a series of prophets (including Adam, Noah, Jesus,
and others), and his message simultanesouly consumates and abrogates the
'revelations' attributed to earlier prophets.
-- Encyclopaedia
Britannica |
