What is Islam?
Islam is the belief that there is one God, and the way of life He taught through His prophets. In Arabic this is called deen: a complete way of life that covers belief, worship, character, family, work, business, law and society. The word Islam means submitting yourself to God (﷾), by your own free choice. It comes from the same Arabic word family as salam, which means peace. A Muslim is simply someone who has freely given themselves to God (﷾). Qur’an 2:256
About two billion people are Muslims, around a quarter of the world. Islam is the fastest-growing major religion in the world: from 2010 to 2020 the number of Muslims grew by 347 million, more than all other religions combined. Pew Research Center, 2025
Who is Allah (﷾)?
Allah (﷾) is the Arabic word for God (﷾). It is not the name of a different god: Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews have long used it too, and Arabic Bibles still use it in their very first verse, 'In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.' Muslims worship the same God (﷾) that Abraham, Moses and Jesus worshipped.
God (﷾) is one. He has no partner, no children and no equal, and nothing is like Him. He created everything, and He alone is to be worshipped. A short chapter of the Qur'an sums it up:
Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him.
Who was Muhammad (ﷺ)?
Muhammad (ﷺ) is the last prophet God (﷾) sent. He was born in Mecca, in Arabia, around the year 570. He was known for his honesty: even the people of Mecca who later opposed him said they had never known him to lie. Sahih al-Bukhari 4770
After his name Muslims say "peace and blessings be upon him", written (ﷺ).
- About 570
He is born in Mecca. His father died before he was born.
- 610
At about 40, the angel Jibril (Gabriel) brings him the first words of the Qur'an. These are God's (﷾) own words, word for word, not the Prophet's (ﷺ) own.
- 610–622
In Mecca he calls people to worship God (﷾) alone. Many turn against him and his followers and treat them harshly.
- 622
The Hijra, his move to Medina: he and his followers leave Mecca for this city to the north. The Islamic calendar counts its years from here.
- 630
He returns to Mecca with his followers, and the city opens to him with little fighting. He pardons the people who had persecuted him for years.
- 632
He dies in Medina, aged 63. The Qur'an is complete, and most of Arabia has accepted Islam. Sahih al-Bukhari 3536
His age, and the twenty-three years of revelation, are counted in years of the Islamic calendar. It follows the moon, so each year is about 11 days shorter.
For twenty-three years he taught people to worship God (﷾) alone and to live justly. He was a man, not divine, and Muslims do not worship him.
Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but (he is) the Messenger of Allah, and the Seal of the Prophets: and Allah has full knowledge of all things.
What is the Qur'an?
The Qur'an is the word of God (﷾), word for word, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) in Arabic over twenty-three years. It has 114 chapters, called surahs. Millions of people know it by heart today.
God (﷾) promised to guard the Qur'an, and He has kept His promise. He did it through people He chose, who learned it by heart and wrote it down, so the Qur'an read today is the one the Prophet (ﷺ) recited.
We have, without doubt, sent down the Message; and We will assuredly guard it (from corruption).
Learned by heart
As each part came, the Prophet's (ﷺ) companions learned it word for word and recited it in their prayers.
Written down as it came
Writers such as Zayd ibn Thabit wrote down each part as soon as the Prophet (ﷺ) recited it.
Gathered into one book
Soon after the Prophet's (ﷺ) death, many who knew the Qur'an by heart were killed in a battle. The Qur'an was still safe: it was written down, and many others knew it by heart. But to make sure it could never be lost, Abu Bakr, the first leader of the Muslims after the Prophet (ﷺ), asked Zayd to write it all out in one volume. Zayd copied it, changing nothing, from the pieces written down in the Prophet's (ﷺ) lifetime and from what people knew by heart.
One Qur'an sent to every region
Later, Uthman, the third leader of the Muslims after the Prophet (ﷺ), ruled from 644 to 656. By then, people far from Medina recited the Qur'an in their own dialects, and some had written their own notes in their personal copies. So Uthman had copies made of the volume written in Abu Bakr's time, in the dialect of the Quraysh, the Prophet's (ﷺ) own tribe, in which the Qur'an was revealed. He sent one to every region. They held only the Qur'an, God's (﷾) own words, just as the angel Jibril brought them to the Prophet (ﷺ).
The prophets Muslims believe in
Islam is not new. It is the faith God (﷾) gave to every prophet: a whole life given over to Him. Muslims believe God (﷾) sent prophets and messengers to every people, all with the same message: worship God (﷾) alone. Muslims believe in every one of them and love them all.
For We assuredly sent amongst every People a messenger, (with the Command), "Serve Allah, and eschew Evil"
The Qur'an names twenty-five of them, and says there were others it does not name. Qur’an 40:78 Many of them are also named in the Bible, because the same God (﷾) sent them all:
- One of the five messengers known for their firm resolve (Qur'an 46:35). Most scholars say they are the five the Qur'an names together in 33:7.
- The last of the prophets (Qur'an 33:40), and also one of the five.
Adam
Idrisoften identified with Enoch
Nuh (one of the five messengers of firm resolve)Noah
Hudsent to the people of 'Ad
Salihsent to the people of Thamud
Ibrahim (one of the five messengers of firm resolve)Abraham
LutLot
Isma'ilIshmael
IshaqIsaac
Ya'qubJacob
YusufJoseph
AyyubJob
Shu'aybsent to the people of Midian
Musa (one of the five messengers of firm resolve)Moses
HarunAaron
Dhul-Kifla prophet praised for his patience
DawudDavid
SulaymanSolomon
IlyasElijah
Al-Yasa'Elisha
YunusJonah
ZakariyyaZechariah, the father of John
YahyaJohn the Baptist
'Isa (one of the five messengers of firm resolve)Jesus
Muhammad (ﷺ) (one of the five messengers of firm resolve; the last of the prophets)the last of the prophets
Numbers such as 5:44 point to a chapter and verse of the Qur'an. The order is the one usually taught: the Qur'an does not give the prophets' dates.
Jesus ('Isa) is one of the greatest of them. Muslims believe he was born miraculously to the Virgin Mary, worked miracles by God's (﷾) permission, and is the Messiah. But he is a prophet of God (﷾), not God or the son of God.
What Muslims believe: the six articles of faith
The angel Jibril once asked the Prophet (ﷺ) what faith is, and he named six things. A Muslim believes in: Sahih Muslim 8
God (Allah (﷾)): one, with no partner.
His angels, created to carry out His commands.
His books, as God (﷾) first revealed them: the Scrolls to Abraham, the Torah to Moses, the Psalms to David, the Injil (the Gospel Jesus preached) to Jesus and, last of all, the Qur'an. The Qur'an teaches that the earlier books were changed over time, so today's Bible, Torah included, does not hold those original, uncorrupted revelations. Only the Qur'an is kept exactly as it was revealed.
His prophets and messengers, from Adam to Muhammad (ﷺ).
The Last Day, when everyone will be raised and judged.
God's (﷾) decree: nothing happens outside His knowledge and will, yet each of us freely chooses, and answers for, what we do.
| Book | What Muslims believe in | What it is not |
|---|---|---|
| The Torah (Tawrat) | What God (﷾) revealed to Moses, as it came to him | The first five books of today's Bible, which Muslims believe were changed over time |
| The Psalms (Zabur) | What God (﷾) revealed to David | The Book of Psalms in today's Bible: 150 songs and prayers, fewer than half of them credited to David |
| The Injil (the Gospel Jesus preached) | The message God (﷾) revealed to Jesus, which Jesus preached himself | The four New Testament Gospels: accounts about Jesus, written by other people decades after him |
The Qur'an says God (﷾) sent down the Torah and the Injil as guidance and light, and gave David the Psalms. It also says that some people later changed God's (﷾) words, and wrote books with their own hands claiming they were from God (﷾). Qur’an 5:44–46Qur’an 4:163Qur’an 5:13Qur’an 2:79
What Muslims do: the five pillars
The Prophet (ﷺ) said that Islam is built on five things: Sahih al-Bukhari 8 Sahih Muslim 16
| Pillar | What it is | Key detail |
|---|---|---|
| Shahada | Declaring your faith | Saying, and meaning it, that there is no god but Allah (﷾) and that Muhammad (ﷺ) is His messenger. This is what makes someone a Muslim. |
| Salah | Prayer, five times a day | Before sunrise, just after midday, in the afternoon, just after sunset and at night, facing the Kaaba in Mecca. Muslims face it together, but they worship God (﷾) alone, not the building. |
| Zakat | Giving to those in need | Each year, 2.5 per cent of savings and other wealth (such as gold and business goods) that has stayed at or above a set minimum for a whole lunar year (about 354 days). It goes to the poor and the others named in the Qur'an (9:60). |
| Sawm | Fasting in Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic year | No food, drink or sexual relations from dawn to sunset, every day of the month, for those able to fast. |
| Hajj | Pilgrimage to the Kaaba in Mecca, the house of worship Abraham and Ishmael built for the one God (Qur'an 2:127) | Once in a lifetime, for those who are physically and financially able. It takes place in Dhul Hijjah, the twelfth month. |
What is life for?
Islam teaches that God (﷾) made us to know Him and worship Him, and that this life is a test: a short time in which each of us shows, by what we do, who we are. Worship is not only prayer. Honesty, good work, kindness to parents and care for the poor are worship too, when they are done for God (﷾). That is why Islam is a whole way of life. (The verse below also speaks of the jinn: beings God (﷾) made from fire, whom we cannot see.)
I have only created Jinns and men, that they may serve Me.
Everyone is born with a natural sense of God (﷾), called the fitra.
God (﷾) made us to worship Him. He does not need our worship: we are the ones who need Him.
Worship keeps God (﷾) in our minds. We pray to remember and praise Him, fast to learn self-control, and remember Him often.
Whoever believes and does good, whatever they were before, is among the best of God's (﷾) creation. With God (﷾), what counts is not race or wealth but how mindful of Him a person is.
How do Muslims hope to reach Paradise?
Through faith in the one God (﷾) and His messenger Muhammad (ﷺ), good deeds done sincerely for God (﷾), and above all God's (﷾) mercy. The Qur'an promises Paradise to everyone who believes and does good, man or woman:
If any do deeds of righteousness,- be they male or female - and have faith, they will enter Heaven, and not the least injustice will be done to them.
Believe in the one God (﷾), and that Muhammad (ﷺ) is His messenger. This is Islam, the religion God (﷾) accepts: a complete way of life.
Do good, sincerely for God (﷾). Each deed counts by the intention behind it.
Sins along the way?
Turn back to God (﷾) and ask His forgiveness. He forgives every sin of those who repent.
The one exception: if a person dies still worshipping others beside God (﷾), or rejecting Him and His messenger after the message has reached them, that is not forgiven. God (﷾) punishes no one until a messenger has come to them.
Paradise is God's (﷾) gift: everyone who enters it enters by His mercy. No one earns it by good deeds alone, and the Prophet (ﷺ) humbly said this of himself too.
Paradise: gardens with rivers flowing beneath, a home forever.
No priest stands in between. Anyone can turn to God (﷾) directly and ask His forgiveness:
Say: "O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
God (﷾) is generous in how He writes down what we do. The Prophet (ﷺ) taught that He counts even a good deed we only meant to do, and multiplies the good we do: Sahih Muslim 131
| The deed | Meant, but not done | Done |
|---|---|---|
| A good deed | Written down as one good deed | Written down as ten good deeds, up to seven hundred times over, or more |
| A bad deed | Written down as one good deed, if given up for God's (﷾) sake | Written down as one bad deed only |
Where to start
If you are thinking of becoming Muslim, start with three simple steps. You do not have to finish them first: if you already believe, you can say the shahada today (see below).
First, read a translation of the Qur'an in your own language, a little each day, to learn what God (﷾) says in it. A translation gives the meaning; the Qur'an itself, God's (﷾) own words, is the Arabic.
Second, learn what the prayer is. Salah is five set prayers each day, at set times, with set words and movements. Learn what each part means, so you understand what you would be saying to God (﷾). Salah is separate from dua, which is simply asking God (﷾) for anything in your own words. You can make dua at any time, in any language.
Third, visit your local mosque. You will be welcome there, and people will be glad to help you learn.
How to read the Qur'anHow to pray (salah)How to make duaFind a mosque near youThe Becoming Muslim path
How does someone become a Muslim?
By believing and saying the shahada: "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah." There is no ceremony, and no one else needs to be there.
Many people who embrace Islam call it reverting. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that every child is born with a natural faith in God (﷾), the fitra, so becoming Muslim is coming home. Sahih al-Bukhari 1358
Whatever came before is forgiven. The Qur'an says that if people turn from disbelief, their past is forgiven. The Prophet (ﷺ) told Amr ibn al-As, a former enemy who came to him to accept Islam, that Islam wipes out everything before it. God (﷾) even changes the bad deeds of those who repent, believe and do good into good ones. A new Muslim starts with a clean slate. Qur’an 8:38 Sahih Muslim 121 Qur’an 25:70
Key points
- There is nothing to pay, no priest to find and no ceremony to wait for.
- Believe it and say it, knowingly and sincerely: there is no god but Allah (﷾), and Muhammad (ﷺ) is the messenger of Allah (﷾).
- Your past is wiped clean: Islam wipes out everything that came before it. Sahih Muslim 121
- Never lose hope in God's (﷾) mercy: He forgives all sins. Qur’an 39:53
- You do not leave Jesus behind. Muslims believe in him and love him as one of God's (﷾) greatest prophets.
The shahadaWhat happens to my past sins?How do I become a Muslim?