Major world religion founded by Muhammad in Arabia in the early
7th century AD. The Arabic word islam means
surrenderspecifically, surrender to the will of the one God,
called Allah in Arabic. Islam is a strictly monotheistic
religion, and its adherents, called Muslims, regard the Prophet
Muhammad as the last and most perfect of God's messengers, who
include Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and others. The sacred
scripture of Islam is the Qur'an, which contains God's
revelations to Muhammad. The sayings and deeds of the Prophet
recounted in the sunna are also an important source of belief
and practice in Islam. The religious obligations of all Muslims
are summed up in the Five Pillars of Islam, which include belief
in God and his Prophet and obligations of prayer, charity,
pilgrimage, and fasting. The fundamental concept in Islam is the
Shari'ah, or Law, which embraces the total way of life commanded
by God. Observant Muslims pray five times a day and join in
community worship on Fridays at the mosque, where wors