Islam, Major world religion founded by Muhammad in Arabia in the early 7th century ce. The Arabic word islām means “surrender”—specifically, 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 Qurʾān, which contains God’s revelations to Muhammad. The sayings and deeds of the Prophet recounted in the Sunnah 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 the profession of faith (shahādah) in God and his Prophet, prayer (ṣalāt), charity (zakāt), pilgrimage (hajj), and fasting (ṣawm). The fundamental concept of Islam is the sharia—its 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 a mosque, where worship is led by an imam. Every believer is required to make a pilgrimage to Mecca, the holiest city, at least once in a lifetime, barring poverty or physical incapacity. The month of Ramadan is set aside for fasting. Alcohol and pork are always forbidden, as are gambling, usury, fraud, slander, and the making of images. In addition to Eid al-Fitr, which celebrates the breaking of the fast of Ramadan, Muslims celebrate Muhammad’s birthday and his ascension into heaven. Eid al-Adha marks the culmination of pilgrimage to Mecca.
Divisions occurred early in Islam, brought about by disputes over the succession to the leadership of the Muslim community (ummah). The Shiʿah argued that Muhammad had designated his son-in-law ʿAli ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor. The Sunnis, who today make up the majority of Muslims, argued he did not designate a specific successor. Another significant element in Islam is the mysticism known as Sufism. The encounters with the West in the 19th and 20th centuries prompted the rise of fundamentalist movements that have voiced grievances they attribute to colonialism and a perceived decadence of Islamic society. In the early 21st century there were more than 1.5 billion Muslims in the world.
