Islam

Islam is a monotheistic religion whose adherents, Muslims, believe that Muhammad received revelations from God in seventh-century Arabia. These revelations form the Quran, Islam's central scripture. Muslims regard Muhammad as the final prophet in a line that includes Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Islam teaches worship of one God, moral accountability and a community bound by faith and practice.

Islamic life is shaped by the Quran, reports about Muhammad's words and actions, legal scholarship, theology and local custom. The Five Pillars—profession of faith, prayer, almsgiving, fasting during Ramadan and pilgrimage to Mecca—are central acts of worship. The world's Muslim population includes many ethnicities, languages and schools of thought. Sunni and Shia are the largest branches, each containing internal diversity.

Islam began in western Arabia and expanded across the Middle East, North Africa, Asia and beyond. Muslim societies developed influential traditions in law, philosophy, science, literature, architecture and trade. Their histories include periods of political unity and fragmentation, coexistence and conflict, intellectual flourishing and social change. Islam is not identical to the actions of any one government or movement; Muslim beliefs and political views are diverse.

Etymology

The Arabic word islām is related to the root s-l-m, associated with peace and submission. In religious usage it refers to submission to God. A Muslim is one who submits to God. The word Allah is the Arabic term for God and is used by Arabic-speaking Muslims and Christians. The term Islam came to designate both a religious faith and the civilization shaped by Muslim peoples and institutions.

Muslims understand Islam as the continuation and completion of the monotheistic message conveyed by earlier prophets. The Quran refers to figures also known from Jewish and Christian scriptures and presents Abraham as a model of devotion to one God. Islam recognizes the Torah and Gospel as earlier revelations, while holding that the Quran is the final and authoritative scripture. This relationship places Islam within a broader Abrahamic religious history while preserving distinct beliefs and practices.

Articles of faith

Islamic theology centers on tawhid, the absolute oneness of God. God is understood as creator, sustainer and judge, incomparable to creation. The Quran describes divine attributes including mercy, knowledge and justice. Muslims are called to worship God alone and avoid associating partners with God. This principle shapes Islamic prayer, theology and ethical responsibility.

Common summaries of Sunni belief include faith in God, angels, revealed books, prophets, the Day of Judgment and divine decree. Other theological traditions organize doctrine differently, and Muslim scholars have debated free will, predestination, divine attributes and the nature of the Quran. The centrality of monotheism is shared, while schools of theology developed distinct arguments and terminology.

Muslims believe that God sent prophets to guide humanity. Muhammad is regarded as the final prophet, or “Seal of the Prophets.” Earlier prophets include Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus. The Quran recounts aspects of their stories and presents them as messengers of divine guidance. Muslims honor Jesus as a prophet and Messiah but do not accept Christian doctrines of his divinity or the Trinity.

Belief in the afterlife and judgment gives ethical significance to human action. The Quran describes resurrection, accountability, paradise and punishment. Islamic teachings emphasize repentance and God's mercy alongside justice. The exact nature of the afterlife has been discussed by theologians, but moral responsibility and eventual judgment are foundational themes.

Acts of worship

The Five Pillars provide a widely recognized framework for Muslim worship. The shahada, profession of faith, affirms that there is no deity but God and that Muhammad is God's messenger. It expresses the core of Islamic belief and is recited in prayer and conversion. Its meaning includes both theological conviction and entry into the Muslim community.

Salat, ritual prayer, is performed five times daily at prescribed times. Worshippers face the Kaaba in Mecca and recite Quranic passages while standing, bowing and prostrating. Congregational prayer is especially important on Fridays, when Muslims gather for a sermon and communal worship. Prayer can take place in mosques or other clean locations, and practices have local variations.

Zakat is obligatory almsgiving, intended to support eligible recipients and purify wealth. Islamic law sets rules for the amount and categories of wealth subject to zakat. Voluntary charity, sadaqa, is also encouraged. The institutions through which aid is distributed have varied from household giving to charitable endowments and modern organizations.

Sawm, fasting during Ramadan, requires adult Muslims who are able to do so to abstain from food and drink from dawn to sunset. Ramadan commemorates the revelation of the Quran and emphasizes self-discipline, prayer and generosity. The month ends with Eid al-Fitr. Exemptions apply in circumstances such as illness, travel and pregnancy, with make-up fasts or other remedies determined by Islamic teaching.

Hajj is pilgrimage to Mecca, required once in a lifetime for Muslims who are physically and financially able. Pilgrims perform rites associated with Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael, including circumambulation of the Kaaba and standing at Arafat. The annual pilgrimage brings together Muslims from around the world. Umrah is a lesser pilgrimage that can be performed at other times.

History

Origins and early community

Islam emerged in the Hijaz region of western Arabia in the seventh century. Muhammad was born in Mecca around 570 CE and began receiving revelations around 610, according to Islamic tradition. His preaching called people to worship one God, care for the poor and abandon idolatry. Opposition in Mecca led some early Muslims to migrate to Abyssinia, while Muhammad and his followers later emigrated to Medina in 622, an event known as the Hijra and the start of the Islamic calendar.

In Medina, Muhammad served as religious leader and political authority. The community included migrants from Mecca and local supporters, alongside Jewish tribes and other groups. Relations varied and were shaped by alliances, political conflict and religious disagreement. Muhammad's followers eventually gained control of Mecca, and by the time of his death in 632 much of Arabia had entered the new Muslim community.

After Muhammad's death, leaders known as caliphs governed the expanding community. The early caliphate conquered territories of the Byzantine and Sasanian empires, extending Muslim rule through the Levant, Egypt, Persia and beyond. These conquests established political authority but did not produce immediate mass conversion; many populations remained Christian, Jewish, Zoroastrian or other faith communities for generations.

Caliphates and regional societies

The Umayyad Caliphate, based in Damascus, expanded from Iberia to Central Asia. The Abbasid revolution in 750 moved the political center to Baghdad, where the caliphate presided over a flourishing period of scholarship, commerce and urban life. Muslim civilization encompassed Arabic-speaking regions as well as Persian, Turkish, Berber and other peoples. Political power was often shared with local dynasties, and religious authority developed through scholars and legal schools.

Islam spread through trade, migration, scholarship and state expansion. In North Africa and parts of Asia, conversion took place over centuries. Sufi teachers and merchants played roles in the spread of Islam in regions such as West Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia. The routes and pace of conversion differed; coercion occurred in some settings, but it does not explain the broad history of Islam's expansion.

From the eleventh century onward, Turkic dynasties such as the Seljuks and later the Ottomans shaped Muslim political history. The Mongol conquests devastated parts of the Islamic world but were followed by conversion of Mongol rulers and the growth of Muslim states. The Ottoman Empire became a major power across southeastern Europe, western Asia and North Africa. Other centers included the Safavid Empire in Persia and the Mughal Empire in South Asia.

Modern period

European imperial expansion transformed Muslim societies from the eighteenth through twentieth centuries. The Ottoman Empire weakened and ended after the First World War, while Britain, France, Italy and other powers controlled or influenced much of the Middle East and North Africa. Reformers debated education, law, political authority and responses to European power. New nation-states emerged, and religious and secular movements competed to define public life.

The twentieth century brought independence movements, oil wealth, urbanization and new communications. Muslim-majority states adopted varied political systems, from monarchies to republics and theocracies. Religious institutions adapted to modern schooling, print media and government regulation. Islamist movements sought to shape law and politics through Islamic principles, but they differed greatly in methods and objectives. Many Muslims supported secular nationalist or democratic parties, or pursued religious life outside party politics.

Contemporary Islam is globally diverse. Indonesia has the largest Muslim population, while large communities live in South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Americas. Migration has expanded Muslim communities in Western countries. Muslims participate in varied professions and political systems, and debates continue over religious authority, gender, law, minority rights and the relationship between faith and state.

Demographics

Islam is one of the world's largest religions, with adherents across nearly every country. Muslim populations are concentrated in Asia and Africa, and most Muslims do not live in the Arab world. Indonesia, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh each have very large Muslim populations. The Middle East contains Islam's holiest sites and many historic centers, but it is only one region of global Muslim life.

Muslims speak hundreds of languages and belong to a wide range of ethnic groups. Arabic has special significance as the language of the Quran and Islamic prayer, but most Muslims are not native Arabic speakers. Translation, commentary and local teaching make Islamic texts accessible across linguistic communities. Local cultural traditions influence architecture, music, clothing and celebration while religious practices connect Muslims across borders.

Population estimates vary according to census methods, self-identification and religious affiliation. In some countries, religion is recorded by the state; in others, estimates rely on surveys. Conversion, migration, birth rates and secularization affect demographic change. Numbers should be understood as estimates rather than precise measures of individual belief or practice.

Main branches or denominations

The largest branches of Islam are Sunni and Shia. Their separation originated in disputes about leadership after Muhammad's death. Sunni Muslims accepted the authority of the early caliphs and developed a tradition centered on the Quran, prophetic precedent and scholarly consensus. Shia Muslims maintain that leadership belonged to Ali, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, and his descendants. Over time, both branches developed legal and theological institutions.

Sunni Islam includes four major schools of jurisprudence: Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali. They share core beliefs but differ in methods and some legal rulings. Sunni communities also vary in theology, devotional practice and approaches to modernity. Sufi orders have been influential across many Sunni societies, while reformist movements have challenged or adapted traditional institutions.

Shia Islam includes Twelver, Ismaili and Zaidi traditions. Twelver Shiism, the largest Shia branch, recognizes a line of twelve Imams and is predominant in Iran and significant in Iraq, Lebanon and other countries. Ismaili communities include several branches with distinct leadership structures. Zaidis have historically been concentrated in Yemen. Shia religious observance includes distinctive commemorations, particularly the mourning of Husayn, killed at Karbala in 680.

Other Muslim communities include Ibadi Muslims, especially in Oman and parts of North Africa, as well as Ahmadiyya communities, whose status is disputed by many other Muslims. Sufi traditions are not a separate branch in the same sense as Sunni and Shia; they are mystical paths that exist across communities. The boundaries and labels of Islamic groups are shaped by theology, history and political context.

Mysticism

Islamic mysticism is commonly associated with Sufism, which emphasizes spiritual purification, remembrance of God and cultivation of inner virtues. Sufi teachers and orders developed from early ascetic traditions and became influential across Muslim societies. Practices may include recitation, devotional poetry, instruction under a spiritual guide and communal ceremonies. Orders vary in doctrine and ritual, and not all Muslims identify with Sufism.

Sufi scholars contributed to Islamic philosophy, poetry and education. Figures such as Rumi, al-Ghazali and Ibn Arabi are widely studied, though their ideas have been interpreted in different ways. Sufi networks helped transmit Islam through trade and teaching, particularly in Africa and Asia. Some reform movements criticized particular practices as innovations, producing debate over the boundaries of acceptable devotion.

Law and jurisprudence

Sharia refers broadly to the religious path and moral principles grounded in revelation, while fiqh is the human scholarly effort to understand and apply those principles. Islamic jurisprudence draws on the Quran and Sunnah, reports of Muhammad's teachings and practice. Sunni legal theory also uses consensus and analogical reasoning, while Shia schools developed their own methods and sources.

Classical legal schools addressed worship, family relations, commerce, crime and public authority. Their rulings developed through scholarship and varied by region. Islamic law was not administered uniformly across all Muslim societies; rulers, judges, local custom and religious scholars shared authority in different ways. Modern states have codified selected rules, while others have established secular legal systems or mixed arrangements.

Contemporary debates concern interpretation, reform and human rights. Muslim scholars disagree over how legal traditions should address gender equality, religious freedom, finance, criminal law and democratic governance. The term sharia is often used in political debate as if it named one fixed code, but its interpretation and implementation have varied widely throughout history.

Society

Muslim societies have been socially diverse, shaped by local languages, economies and political institutions. Islamic teachings emphasize charity, family obligations, learning and justice, while actual societies have reflected both these ideals and human inequalities. Muslim women have participated in scholarship, trade, public life and religious institutions in different periods, though legal and social opportunities varied.

Islamic architecture includes mosques, schools, tombs, palaces and civic buildings. The mosque is a place of prayer and community gathering, often with a prayer niche indicating the direction of Mecca. Calligraphy, geometric design and regional building traditions developed across the Islamic world. Music and visual art also vary by culture and religious interpretation.

Muslim charitable institutions have included zakat, waqf endowments, hospitals and schools. These institutions supported public services and scholarship across centuries. In modern states, governments and civil organizations have taken on roles once performed by religious endowments, while charities continue to provide relief and education. Practices differ across countries and legal systems.

Islamist movements

Islamism refers to political movements that seek to organize public life according to interpretations of Islam. The term covers a wide range of groups, from parties participating in elections to revolutionary and militant organizations. Their goals, methods and attitudes toward pluralism vary considerably. Islamism should not be treated as synonymous with Islam or with Muslim identity.

Some Islamist parties operate within electoral systems and advocate gradual reform. Others reject existing governments or seek revolutionary change. Jihadist organizations have used violence against civilians and states, often declaring other Muslims apostates and imposing coercive rule. Their actions are rejected by many Muslim scholars and communities. Analysis should distinguish religious belief from political ideology and identify specific organizations and conduct.

Islamist politics grew amid colonial rule, authoritarian government, social change and debates over identity. The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in 1928, became an influential model for later movements, though branches developed in different contexts. The Iranian Revolution of 1979 established a theocratic republic under Shia clerical authority, distinct from Sunni Islamist parties and movements. Across the region, states and societies have responded to Islamist movements through elections, repression, accommodation and public debate.

Influences on other religions

Islam developed in conversation with the religious traditions of the late antique Middle East. The Quran refers to Jewish and Christian scripture and figures, while presenting its own account of revelation and prophecy. Muslim scholars engaged with Greek philosophy, Syriac Christian learning, Persian administration and Indian mathematics. These exchanges contributed to Islamic intellectual traditions and to the transmission of knowledge across regions.

Islamic theology and law influenced societies under Muslim rule and interacted with Jewish and Christian communities. Jewish philosophers wrote in Arabic and engaged with Islamic thought; Christian theologians debated Muslim scholars. In medieval Iberia and other centers, translation and scholarship moved between Arabic, Hebrew, Latin and Greek. Relations included intellectual collaboration as well as theological dispute and political inequality.

Criticism

Islam has been criticized by religious and secular thinkers on theological, ethical and political grounds. Critics question doctrines, legal rules, historical accounts or the role of religion in government. Muslim scholars and communities have debated these matters internally for centuries. Criticism of religious ideas should be distinguished from hostility directed at Muslims as a group or from claims that treat all Muslims as responsible for the actions of particular states or movements.

Public debate about Islam is often shaped by conflict, migration and security concerns. Some criticism addresses real issues such as religious coercion or extremist violence; other rhetoric relies on stereotypes that portray Muslims as inherently violent or incapable of democratic life. Accuracy requires attention to evidence, distinctions among groups and comparison with the practices of other religious and political movements.

Muslim reformers have argued for reinterpretation of scripture and law, greater religious freedom and equality before the law. Others emphasize continuity with classical jurisprudence or community identity. These debates take place across universities, religious institutions, political parties and families. The diversity of views is a central fact of contemporary Islam.