Islam
It is estimated that there are over 900 million Muslims today. Many live in the Arab World (estimated at 120 million), but many more live in countries such as Iran, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, China, the USSR, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and Sudan.
Islam is the complete submission and obedience to Allah (God).
Shahadah
The first pillar of Islam is that a Muslim believe and declare his faith by saying the Shahadah (witness). This declaration contains two parts. The first part refers to God Almighty, the Creator of everything, the Lord of the Worlds; the second part refers to the Messenger, Muhammad (pbuh) a prophet and a human being, who received the revelation through the Archangel Gabriel, and taught it to mankind.
Salah
Prayer (Salah), in the sense of worship, is the second pillar of Islam. Prayer is obligatory and must be performed five times a day. These five times are dawn (Fajr), immediately after noon (Dhuhr), mid-afternoon ('Asr), sunset (Maghrib), and early night (Isha'). Ritual cleanliness and ablution are required before prayer, as are clean clothes and location, and the removal of shoes. One may pray individually or communally, at home, outside, virtually any clean place, as well as in a mosque, though the latter is preferred. On Friday, the noon prayer, called Jum'ah is obligatory and is to be practiced in a mosque with a congregation.
Zakah
The third pillar of Islam is the alms-tax (Zakah). It is a tax on wealth, payable on various categories of property, notably savings and investments, produce, inventory of goods, salable crops and cattle, and precious metals, and is to be used for the various categories of distribution specified by Islamic law. It is also an act of purification through sharing what one has with others.
For most purposes this involves the payment each year of 2.5% of one's capital.
Sawm
The fourth pillar of Islam is fasting. Allah prescribes daily fasting for all able, adult Muslims during the whole of the month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the lunar calendar, beginning with the sighting of the new moon. Fasting begins from the first light of dawn until sundown, abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations. One must also abstain from lying, malicious gossip, quarreling and trivial nonsense. Those who are sick, elderly, or on a journey, and women who are menstruating, pregnant, or nursing are permitted to break the fast, but must make up an equal number of days later in the year. Children begin to fast (and to observe the prayers) from puberty, although many start earlier.
Hajj
The fifth pillar of Islam is to make a pilgrimage (Hajj) to Makkah, in Saudi Arabia, at least once in one's lifetime. This pillar is obligatory for every Muslim, male or female, provided that he/she is a Muslim, an adult, of sound mind, and to have the ability to afford the journey and maintain one's dependents back home for the duration. The reward for the Hajj is nothing less than Paradise.
Muhammad (pbuh) was an illiterate but a well-respected man who was born in Makkah in the year 570 C.E., at a time when Christianity was not yet fully established in Europe. At the age of 40, while engaged in a meditative retreat, Muhammad (pbuh) received his first revelation from God through the Angel Gabriel. This revelation, known as the Qur'an, is the recording of the entire revelation of God.
After several years and some significant battles, Muhammad and his followers established Islam definitively. By the time the Prophet died at the age of 63, the greater part of Arabia had accepted Islam, and within a century of his death, Islam had spread as far west as Spain and as far east as China.
The concept of Jihad (struggling in the cause of Allah) is stated in the Qur'an. Jihad is waged to protect the right to freedom of religious choice. Therefore, if there is a force in the world that tries to prevent a person from practicing this right, Jihad may lead to fighting the force that is trying to prevent one from exercising free will.
Islamic women - Portrays the roles of Islamic Women in the Muslim culture.
Islam For Today - Provides information, articles and events pertaining to Islam.