Islam

Islam arose in the western part of the Arabian Peninsula in the seventh century and rapidly spread throughout the Middle East. Today, Islam is the second largest religion in the world with adherents in all parts of the globe. Muslims believe that in 610 CE Muhammad ibn Abd Allah, then a forty year-old merchant, began receiving revelations from God through the Archangel Gabriel (Jibrail), charging him to call humanity to the religion of Islam. Islam is an Arabic word derived from the root s-l-m connoting ‘peace’ and ‘prosperity.’ In its current form, islam means ‘submission’ or ‘surrendering.’ The word islam implies the peace and prosperity attained through utter submission of one’s self to God, known to Muslims as the sole Creator and Lord of all of existence.

The revelations received by Muhammad, collected in a scripture known as the Quran, is believed to be God’s last and best source of guidance for humanity. The Quran, however, does not provide specific guidance for all occasions, but is interpreted by Muslims to make its message applicable to their daily lives. As the chosen messenger of God, Muhammad is the first and most authoritative interpreter of the Quran. After Muhammad’s death in 632 CE, Muslims were left without this authority. Using the Quran and the example of Prophet Muhammad, they have developed varying and intricate means of approaching God and interpreting the divine will. The message of Islam—submission to the will of the one God—is simple to comprehend; the genius and the richness of the Islamic tradition are in the multifaceted ways in which individual Muslims seek to realize God and God’s will in their every day lives.