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Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number 2 billion worldwide and are the world's second-largest religious population after Christians. Muslims believe that Islam is the complete and universal version of a Fitra that was revealed many times through earlier prophets and messengers, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Muslims consider the Quran to be the verbatim word of God and the unaltered, final revelation. Alongside the Quran, Muslims also believe in previous revelations, such as the Tawrat (the Torah), the Zabur (Psalms), and the Injil (Gospel). They believe that Muhammad is the main and Last prophet of God's prophets, through whom the religion was completed. The teachings and normative examples of Muhammad, called the Sunnah, documented in accounts called the hadith, provide a constitutional model for Muslims. Islam is based on the belief in the oneness and uniqueness of God (), and belief in an afterlife () with the Last Judgment—wherein the righteous will be rewarded in paradise () and the unrighteous will be punished in hell (). The Five Pillars, considered Fard acts of worship, are the Islamic oath and creed (), daily prayers (), almsgiving (), fasting () in the month of Ramadan, and a pilgrimage () to Mecca. Islamic law, , touches on virtually every aspect of life, from banking and finance and Zakat to men's and women's roles and the environment. The two main Islamic holidays are Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. The three holiest sites in Islam are Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Prophet's Mosque in Medina, and al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
The religion of Islam originated in Mecca in 610 CE. Muslims believe this is when Muhammad received his first revelation. By the time of his death, most of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam. Muslim rule expanded outside Arabia under the Rashidun Caliphate and the subsequent Umayyad Caliphate ruled from the Al-Andalus to the Indus Valley. In the Islamic Golden Age, specifically during the reign of the Abbasid Caliphate, most of the Muslim world experienced a scientific, economic and Islamic culture. The expansion of the Muslim world involved various states and caliphates as well as extensive trade and religious conversion as a result of Islamic missionary activities (), as well as through conquests, imperialism, and colonialism.
The two main Islamic branches are Sunni Islam (87–90%) and Shia Islam (10–13%). While the Shia–Sunni divide initially arose from disagreements over the succession to Muhammad, they grew to cover a broader dimension, both theologically and Fiqh. The Sunni canonical hadith collection consists of Kutub al-Sittah, while the Shia canonical hadith collection consists of four books. Muslims make up a majority of the population in 53 countries. Approximately 12% of the world's Muslims live in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim-majority country; % live in South Asia; 20% live in the Middle East–North Africa; and 15% live in sub-Saharan Africa. Muslim communities are also present in the Americas, China, and Europe. Muslims are the world's fastest-growing major religious group, according to Pew Research. This is primarily due to a higher fertility rate and younger age structure compared to other major religions.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Muslim." Lexico. UK: Oxford University Press. 2020. is the Participle of the same verb form, and means "submitter (to God)" or "one who surrenders (to God)". However, Quranic studies scholar Mohsen Goudarzi has argued that in the Quran the word dīn means "worship", the islām means "monotheism" and the muslim means "monotheist". In the Hadith of Gabriel, Islam is presented as one part of a triad that also includes (faith), and (excellence).
Islam itself was historically called Mohammedan in the English-speaking world. This term has fallen out of use and is sometimes said to be offensive, as it suggests that a human being, rather than God, is central to Muslims' religion.
Islam teaches that the creation of everything in the universe was brought into being by God's command as expressed by the wording, "Be, and it is," and that the purpose of existence is to worship God.Leeming, David. 2005. The Oxford Companion to World Mythology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. . p. 209. He is viewed as a personal god and there are no intermediaries, such as clergy, to contact God. Consciousness and awareness of God is referred to as Taqwa. Allāh is a term with no plural or gender being ascribed to it and is also used by Muslims and Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews in reference to God, whereas (إله) is a term used for a deity or a god in general.
Islam also holds that God has sent revelations, called wahy, to different prophets numerous times throughout history. However, Islam teaches that parts of the previously revealed scriptures, such as the Tawrat (Torah) and the Injil (Gospel), have become tahrif—either in interpretation, in text, or both, while the Quran () is viewed as the final, verbatim and unaltered word of God.
Muslims believe that God sent Muhammad as the final prophet ("Seal of the prophets") to convey the completed message of Islam.Esposito, John L. 2009. "Islam." In , edited by J. L. Esposito. Oxford: Oxford University Press. . (See also: quick reference .) "Profession of Faith...affirms Islam's absolute monotheism and acceptance of Muḥammad as the messenger of Allah, the last and final prophet."Peters, F. E. 2009. "Allāh." In , edited by J. L. Esposito. Oxford: Oxford University Press. . (See also: quick reference .) "The Muslims' understanding of Allāh is based...on the Qurʿān's public witness. Allāh is Unique, the Creator, Sovereign, and Judge of mankind. It is Allāh who directs the universe through his direct action on nature and who has guided human history through his prophets, Abraham, with whom he made his covenant, Moses/Moosa, Jesus/Eesa, and Muḥammad, through all of whom he founded his chosen communities, the 'Peoples of the Book. In Islam, the "normative" example of Muhammad's life is called the sunnah (literally "trodden path"). Muslims are encouraged to emulate Muhammad's moral behaviors in their daily lives, and the sunnah is seen as crucial to guiding interpretation of the Quran. This example is preserved in traditions known as hadith, which are accounts of his words, actions, and personal characteristics. Hadith qudsi is a sub-category of hadith, regarded as God's verbatim words quoted by Muhammad that are not part of the Quran. A hadith involves two elements: a chain of narrators, called sanad, and the actual wording, called Hadith studies. There are various methodologies to classify the authenticity of hadiths, with the commonly used grading scale being "authentic" or "correct" (); "good" (); or "weak" (), among others. The Kutub al-Sittah are a collection of six books, regarded as the most authentic reports in Sunni Islam. Among them is Sahih al-Bukhari, often considered by Sunnis to be one of the most authentic sources after the Quran.al-Rahman, Aisha Abd, ed. 1990. Muqaddimah Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ. Cairo: Dar al-Ma'arif, 1990. pp. 160–69 Another well-known source of hadiths is known as The Four Books, which Shias consider as the most authentic hadith reference.Awliya'i, Mustafa. " The Four Books ." In Outlines of the Development of the Science of Hadith 1, translated by A. Q. Qara'i. – via Al-Islam.org. Retrieved 24 May 2020.Rizvi, Sayyid Sa'eed Akhtar. " The Hadith §The Four Books (Al-Kutubu'l-Arb'ah) ." Ch 4 in The Qur'an and Hadith. Tanzania: Bilal Muslim Mission. – via Al-Islam.org. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
On Yawm al-Qiyāmah, Muslims believe all humankind will be judged by their good and bad deeds and consigned to Jannah (paradise) or Jahannam (hell). The Quran in Surat al-Zalzalah describes this as: "So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it. And whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it." The Quran lists several sins that can condemn a person to hell. However, the Quran makes it clear that God will forgive the sins of those who repent if he wishes. Good deeds, like charity, prayer, and compassion towards animals will be rewarded with entry to heaven. Muslims view heaven as a place of joy and blessings, with Quranic references describing its features. Mystical traditions in Islam place these heavenly delights in the context of an ecstatic awareness of God.; Encyclopedia of Islam and Muslim World, p. 565 Yawm al-Qiyāmah is also identified in the Quran as Yawm ad-Dīn (يوم الدين "Day of Religion");; as-Sāʿah (الساعة "the Last Hour");; and Al-Qaria (القارعة "The Clatterer").
A mosque is a place of worship for Muslims, who often refer to it by its Arabic name masjid. Although the primary purpose of the mosque is to serve as a place of prayer, it is also an important social centre for the ummah. For example, the Masjid an-Nabawi ("Prophetic Mosque") in Medina, Saudi Arabia, used to also serve as a shelter for the poor. are towers used to call the adhan, a vocal call to signal the prayer time.Pedersen, J., R. Hillenbrand, John Burton-Page, et al. 2010. "." Encyclopedia of Islam. Leiden: Brill Publishers. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
Supplication to God, called in Arabic ( ) has its own etiquette such as raising hands as if begging.
Remembrance of God () refers to phrases repeated referencing God. Commonly, this includes Tahmid, declaring Alhamdulillah () during prayer or when feeling thankful, Tasbih, declaring glory to God during prayer or when in awe of something and saying 'Basmala' (بسملة, ) before starting an act such as eating.
During this time, while in Mecca, Muhammad preached first in secret and then in public, imploring his listeners to abandon Arab polytheism and worship one God. Many Early Muslims were women, the poor, foreigners, and slaves like the first muezzin Bilal ibn Rabah al-Habashi.Rabah, Bilal B. Encyclopedia of Islam. The Meccan elite felt Muhammad was destabilizing their social order by preaching about one God and giving questionable ideas to the poor and slaves because they profited from the pilgrimages to the idols of the Kaaba.
After 12 years of the persecution of Muslims by the Meccans, Muhammad and his Sahaba performed the Hegira ("emigration") in 622 to the city of Yathrib (current-day Medina). He established the first Islamic state there with the Medinan converts (the Ansar) and the Meccan migrants (the Muhajirun). The Constitution of Medina was signed by all the tribes of Medina. This established religious freedoms and freedom to use their own laws among the Muslim and non-Muslim communities as well as an agreement to defend Medina from external threats. Meccan forces and their allies lost against the Muslims at the Battle of Badr in 624 and then fought an inconclusive battle in the Battle of Uhud. before unsuccessfully besieging Medina in the Battle of the Trench (March–April 627). In 628, the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah was signed between Mecca and the Muslims, but it was broken by Mecca two years later. As more tribes converted to Islam, Meccan trade routes were cut off by the Muslims. By 629 Muhammad was victorious in the nearly bloodless conquest of Mecca, and by the time of his death in 632 (at age 62) he had united the tribes of Arabia into a single religious polity.
The Umayyad dynasty conquered the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Narbonnese Gaul and Sindh. The Umayyads struggled with a lack of legitimacy and relied on a heavily patronized military. Since the jizya tax was a tax paid by non-Muslims which exempted them from military service, the Umayyads denied recognizing the conversion of non-Arabs, as it reduced revenue. While the Rashidun Caliphate emphasized austerity, with Umar even requiring an inventory of each official's possessions, Umayyad luxury bred dissatisfaction among the pious. The Kharijites led the Berber Revolt, leading to the first Muslim states independent of the Caliphate. In the Abbasid Revolution, non-Arab converts ( mawali), Arab clans pushed aside by the Umayyad clan, and some Shi'a rallied and overthrew the Umayyads, inaugurating the more cosmopolitan Abbasid dynasty in 750.
At this time, theological problems, notably on free will, were prominently tackled, with Hasan al Basri holding that although God knows people's actions, good and evil come from abuse of free will and the Iblis. Greek rationalist philosophy influenced a speculative school of thought known as Muʿtazila, who famously advocated the notion of free-will originated by Wasil ibn Ata. Caliph Mamun al Rashid made it an official creed and unsuccessfully attempted to force this position on the majority. Caliph Al-Mu'tasim carried out Mihna, with the traditionalist Ahmad ibn Hanbal notably refusing to conform to the Muʿtazila idea that the Quran was created rather than being eternal, which resulted in him being tortured and kept in an unlit prison cell for nearly thirty months. However, other schools of Kalam – Maturidi founded by Abu Mansur al-Maturidi and Ash'ari founded by Al-Ash'ari – were more successful in being widely adopted. Philosophers such as Al-Farabi, Avicenna and Averroes sought to harmonize Aristotle's ideas with the teachings of Islam, similar to later scholasticism within Christianity in Europe and Maimonides' work within Judaism, while others like Al-Ghazali argued against such syncretism and ultimately prevailed. This era is sometimes called the "Islamic Golden Age". Islamic scientific achievements spanned a wide range of subject areas including medicine, mathematics, astronomy, and agriculture as well as physics, economics, engineering and Ibn al-Haytham.Hassan, Ahmad Y. 1996. " Factors Behind the Decline of Islamic Science After the Sixteenth Century." Pp. 351–99 in Islam and the Challenge of Modernity, edited by S. S. Al-Attas. Kuala Lumpur: International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Avicenna was a pioneer in Medical research,Jacquart, Danielle (2008). "Islamic Pharmacology in the Middle Ages: Theories and Substances". European Review (Cambridge University Press) 16: 219–227.David W. Tschanz, MSPH, PhD (August 2003). "Arab Roots of European Medicine", Heart Views 4 (2). and his The Canon of Medicine was used as a standard medicinal text in the Islamic world and Europe for centuries. Rhazes was the first to identify the diseases smallpox and measles. of the time issued the first medical diplomas to license doctors. Ibn al-Haytham is regarded as the father of the modern scientific method and often referred to as the "world's first true scientist", in particular regarding his work in optics. In engineering, the Banū Mūsā brothers' Automaton flute player is considered to have been the first programmable machine. In mathematics, the concept of the algorithm is named after Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, who is considered a founder of algebra, which is named after his book al-jabr, while others developed the concept of a function. The government paid scientists the equivalent salary of professional athletes today. Guinness World Records recognizes the University of Al Karaouine, founded in 859, as the world's oldest degree-granting university. Many non-Muslims, such as Christians, Jews and Sabians, contributed to the Islamic civilization in various fields,Hill, Donald. Islamic Science and Engineering. 1993. Edinburgh Univ. Press. , p.4Rémi Brague, Assyrians contributions to the Islamic civilization and the institution known as the House of Wisdom employed Christian and Persian scholars to both translate works into Arabic and to develop new knowledge.Meri, Josef W. and Jere L. Bacharach. "Medieval Islamic Civilization". Vol. 1 Index A–K . 2006, p. 304.George Saliba. 1994. A History of Arabic Astronomy: Planetary Theories During the Golden Age of Islam. New York: New York University Press. . pp. 245, 250, 256–57.
Soldiers broke away from the Abbasid empire and established their own dynasties, such as the in 868 in Egypt and the Ghaznavid in 977 in Central Asia. In this fragmentation came the Shi'a Century, roughly between 945 and 1055, which saw the rise of the millennialist Isma'ili Shi'a missionary movement. One Isma'ili group, the Fatimid dynasty, took control of North Africa in the 10th centuryNeue Fischer Weltgeschichte "Islamisierung in Zentralasien bis zur Mongolenzeit" Band 10: Zentralasien, 2012, p. 191 (German) and another Isma'ili group, the Qarmatians, sacked Mecca and stole the Black Stone, a rock placed within the Kaaba, in their unsuccessful rebellion. Yet another Isma'ili group, the Buyid dynasty, conquered Baghdad and turned the Abbasids into a figurehead monarchy. The Sunni Seljuk dynasty campaigned to Sunni Revival by promulgating the scholarly opinions of the time, notably with the construction of educational institutions known as Nezamiyeh, which are associated with Al-Ghazali and Saadi Shirazi.Andreas Graeser Zenon von Kition: Positionen u. Probleme Walter de Gruyter 1975 p. 260
The expansion of the Muslim world continued with religious missions converting Volga Bulgaria to Islam. The Delhi Sultanate reached deep into the Indian Subcontinent and many converted to Islam, in particular Dalit whose descendants make up the vast majority of Indian Muslims. Trade brought many Muslims to China, where they virtually dominated the import and export industry of the Song dynasty. Muslims were recruited as a Semu in the Yuan dynasty.
Under the Ottoman Empire, Islam spread to Southeast Europe. Conversion to Islam often involved a degree of syncretism, as illustrated by Muhammad's appearance in Hinduism folklore. Muslim Turks incorporated elements of Tengrism to Islam. Muslims in Ming Dynasty China who were descended from earlier immigrants were assimilated, sometimes through laws mandating assimilation, by adopting Chinese names and Chinese culture while Nanjing became an important centre of Islamic study.Israeli, Raphael (2002). Islam in China. p. 292. Lexington Books. .
Cultural shifts were evident with the decrease in Arab influence after the Mongol destruction of the Abbasid Caliphate. The Muslim Mongol Khanates in Ilkhanate and Chagatai Khanate benefited from increased cross-cultural access to East Asia under Pax Mongolica and thus flourished and developed more distinctively from Arab influence, such as the Timurid Renaissance under the Timurid dynasty. Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (1201–1274) proposed the Tusi couple that was later argued to be adopted by Copernicus unrevised in his heliocentrism model, and Jamshīd al-Kāshī's estimate of pi would not be surpassed for 180 years.
After the introduction of gunpowder weapons, large and centralized Muslim states consolidated around gunpowder empires, these had been previously splintered amongst various territories. The caliphate was claimed by the Ottoman dynasty of the Ottoman Empire and its claims were strengthened in 1517 as Selim I became the ruler of Mecca and Medina. The Shia Safavid dynasty rose to power in 1501 and later conquered all of Iran.Peter B. Golden: An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples; In: Osman Karatay, Ankara 2002, p. 321 In South Asia, Babur founded the Mughal Empire.
The religion of the centralized states of the gunpowder empires influenced the religious practice of their constituent populations. A symbiosis between Ottoman rulers and Sufism strongly influenced Islamic reign by the Ottomans from the beginning. The Mevlevi Order and the Bektashis had a close relation to the sultans,Ga ́bor A ́goston, Bruce Alan Masters Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire Infobase Publishing 2010 p. 540 as Sufi-mystical as well as heterodox and syncretic approaches to Islam flourished. The often forceful Safavid conversion of Iran to the Twelver Shia Islam of the Safavid Empire ensured the final dominance of the Twelver within Shia Islam. Persian migrants to South Asia, as influential bureaucrats and landholders, helped spread Shia Islam, forming some of the largest Shia populations outside Iran. Nader Shah, who overthrew the Safavids, attempted to improve relations with Sunnis by propagating the integration of Twelverism into Sunni Islam as a fifth madhhab, called Ja'farism, which failed to gain recognition from the Ottomans.
The Muslim world was generally in political decline starting the 1800s, especially compared to non-Muslim European powers. Earlier, in the 15th century, the Reconquista succeeded in ending the Taifa. By the 19th century, the British East India Company had formally annexed the Mughal dynasty in India. As a response to Imperialism, many intellectuals sought to Islamic revival. Islamic modernism, initially labelled by Western scholars as Salafi movement, embraced modern values and institutions such as democracy while being scripture oriented. Notable forerunners in the movement include Muhammad Abduh and Jamal al-Din al-Afghani. Abul A'la Maududi helped influence modern political Islam. (2025). 9780691030302, Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691030302 Similar to contemporary Civil code, sharia was for the first time partially codified into law in 1869 in the Ottoman Empire's Mecelle code.
The Ottoman Empire dissolved after World War I, the Ottoman Caliphate was abolished in 1924 and the subsequent Sharifian Caliphate fell quickly,قصص الخلافة الإسلامية والخلفاء (2023). 9781398492516, Austin Macauley Publishers. . ISBN 9781398492516 thus leaving Islam without a Caliphate. attempted to unify Muslims and competed with growing nationalist forces, such as pan-Arabism. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), consisting of Muslim-majority countries, was established in 1969 after the burning of the Qibli Mosque in Jerusalem.
Contact with industrialized nations brought Muslim populations to new areas through economic migration. Many Muslims migrated as indentured servants (mostly from India and Indonesia) to the Caribbean, forming the largest Muslim populations by percentage in the Americas. Migration from Syria and Lebanon contributed to the Muslim population in Latin America. The resulting urbanization and increase in trade in sub-Saharan Africa brought Muslims to settle in new areas and spread their faith, likely doubling its Muslim population between 1869 and 1914.
In opposition to Islamic political movements, in 20th century Turkey, the military carried out coups to oust Islamist governments, and headscarves were legally restricted, as also happened in Tunisia. In other places, religious authority was co-opted and is now often seen as puppets of the state. For example, in Saudi Arabia, the state monopolized religious scholarship and, in Egypt, the state nationalized Al-Azhar University, previously an independent voice checking state power. (2025). 9780691134840, Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691134840 Salafism was funded in the Middle East for its quietism. Saudi Arabia campaigned against revolutionary Islamist movements in the Middle East, in opposition to Iran.
Muslim minorities of various ethnicities have been persecuted as a religious group. This has been undertaken by communist forces like the Khmer Rouge, who viewed them as their primary enemy to be exterminated since their religious practice made them stand out from the rest of the population, the Chinese Communist Party in Xinjiang and by nationalist forces such as during the Bosnian genocide. Myanmar military's Tatmadaw targeting of Rohingya people has been labeled as a crime against humanity by the UN and Amnesty International, while the OHCHR Fact-Finding Mission identified genocide, ethnic cleansing, and other crimes against humanity.
The advancement of global communication has facilitated the widespread dissemination of religious knowledge. The adoption of the hijab has grown more common and some Muslim intellectuals are increasingly striving to separate scriptural Islamic beliefs from cultural traditions. Among other groups, this access to information has led to the rise of popular "televangelist" preachers, such as Amr Khaled, who compete with the traditional ulema in their reach and have decentralized religious authority. More "individualized" interpretations of IslamV. Šisler: The Internet and the Construction of Islamic Knowledge in Europe p. 212 notably involve Liberal Muslims who attempt to align religious traditions with contemporary secular governance, an approach that has been criticized by some regarding its compatibility. Moreover, secularism is perceived as a foreign ideology imposed by invaders and perpetuated by post-colonial Ruling class, and is frequently understood to be equivalent to Antireligion.
Pew Research estimates that 87–90% of Muslims are Sunni and 10–13% are Shia. Approximately 49 countries are Muslim-majority,Pew Forum. December 2012. " The Global Religious Landscape: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Major Religious Groups as of 2010 ." DC: Pew Research Center. Article . with 62% of the world's Muslims living in Asia, and 683 million adherents in Indonesia,Pew Forum for Religion and Public Life. April 2015. " 10 Countries With the Largest Muslim Populations, 2010 and 2050 " (projections table). Pew Research Center. Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh alone. Information provided by the International Population Center, Department of Geography, San Diego State University (2005). Arab Muslims form the largest ethnic group among Muslims in the world,Margaret Kleffner Nydell Understanding Arabs: A Guide For Modern Times , Intercultural Press, 2005, , page xxiii, 14 followed by Bengali Muslims and Punjabi Muslims.. Most estimates indicate China has approximately 20 to 30 million Muslims (1.5% to 2% of the population). Islam in Europe is the second-largest religion after Christianity in many countries, with growth rates due primarily to immigration and higher birth rates of Muslims in 2005, accounting for 4.9% of all of Europe's population in 2016.
Religious conversion has no net impact on the Muslim population growth as "the number of people who become Muslims through conversion seems to be roughly equal to the number of Muslims who leave the faith." Although, Islam is expected to experience a modest gain of 3 million through religious conversion between 2010 and 2050, mostly from Sub Saharan Africa (2.9 million). According to a 2020 Pew study, about 1% of adults raised Muslim leave the faith, while an equal proportion —about 1%— convert to Islam from other religions, resulting in low levels of religious switching both into and out of Islam.
According to a report by CNN, "Islam has drawn converts from all walks of life, most notably African-Americans". In Britain, around 6,000 people convert to Islam per year and, according to an article in the British Muslims Monthly Survey, the majority of new Muslim converts in Britain were women. According to The Huffington Post, "observers estimate that as many as 20,000 Americans convert to Islam annually", most of them being women and African-Americans.
By both percentage and total numbers, Islam is the world's fastest growing major religious group, and is projected to be the world's largest by the end of the 21st century, surpassing that of Christianity. It is estimated that, by 2050, the number of Muslims will nearly equal the number of Christians around the world, "due to the young age and high fertility rate of Muslims relative to other religious groups."Pew Forum for Religion & Public Life. April 2015. " The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010–2050 ." Pew Research Center. p. 70 Article .
Traditionalist theology is a Sunni school of thought, prominently advocated by Ahmad ibn Hanbal (780–855 CE), that is characterized by its adherence to a Textualism understanding of the Quran and the sunnah, the belief that the Quran is uncreated and eternal, and opposition to speculative theology, called kalam, in religious and ethical matters.Hadi Enayat Islam and Secularism in Post-Colonial Thought: A Cartography of Asadian Genealogies Springer Publishing, 30 June 2017 p.48 Maturidism, founded by Abu Mansur al-Maturidi (853–944 CE), asserts that scripture is not needed for basic ethics and that good and evil can be understood by reason alone,Rico Isaacs, Alessandro Frigerio Theorizing Central Asian Politics: The State, Ideology and Power Springer Publishing 2018 p. 108 but people rely on revelation, for matters beyond human's comprehension. Ash'arism, founded by Al-Ashʿarī (c. 874–936), holds that ethics can derive just from divine revelation but accepts reason regarding exegetical matters and combines Muʿtazila approaches with traditionalist ideas.
Salafism is a revival movement advocating the return to the practices of the earliest generations of Muslims. In the 18th century, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab led a Salafi movement, referred by outsiders as Wahhabism, in modern-day Saudi Arabia.Richard Gauvain Salafi Ritual Purity: In the Presence of God Routledge 2013 page 8 A similar movement called Ahl al-Hadith also de-emphasized the centuries' old Sunni legal tradition, preferring to directly follow the Quran and Hadith. The Nur movement Sunni movement was by Said Nursi (1877–1960);Svante E. Cornell Azerbaijan Since Independence M.E. Sharpe p. 283 it incorporates elements of Sufism and science.Robert W. Hefner Shariʻa Politics: Islamic Law and Society in the Modern World Indiana University Press 2011 p. 170
According to both Sunni and Shia Muslims, a significant event took place at Ghadir Khumm during Muhammad's return from his final pilgrimage to Mecca, where he stopped thousands of Muslims in the midday heat. (2025). 9780791470336, State University of New York Press. ISBN 9780791470336 Muhammad appointed his cousin Ali as the executor of his last will and testament, as well as his Wali (authority). Shias recognize that Muhammad designated Ali as his successor (khalīfa) and Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, but was prevented from succeeding Muhammad as the leader of the Muslims because of some other companions who selected Abu Bakr as Caliphate. Sunnis, instead believe that Muhammad did not appoint a successor before his death and consider Abū Bakr to be the first Rashidun caliph after Muhammad. Shias state the community deliberately ignored Ali's nomination, citing Umar's appointment by Abu Bakr, (2025). 9781850435921, I.B. Tauris. ISBN 9781850435921 other historical evidence, and the Quran stance that majority does not imply legitimacy.
Some of the first Shia Imams are revered by all Shia and Sunnis Muslims, such as Ali and Husayn. Twelvers, the largest Shia branch and most influential, believe in Twelve Imams, the last of whom went into occultation to return one day. They recognize that the prophecy of the Twelve Imams has been foretold in the Hadith of the Twelve Successors which is recorded by both Sunni and Shia sources. Zaydism rejects infallibility of Imams and were sometimes regarded a 'fifth school' of Sunni Islam rather than a Shia denomination. They differed with other Shias over the status of the fifth imam and are sometimes known as "Fivers". The Ismailism split with the Twelvers over who was the seventh Imam and have further fragmented into more groups over the status of successive Imams, with the largest group being the Nizaris.
For Shias, the Imam Ali Shrine in Najaf, the Imam Husayn Shrine in Karbala, and the Fatima Masumeh Shrine in Qom are also among the Islamic Holy sites.
Sufis see tasawwuf as an inseparable part of Islam. Traditional Sufis, such as Bayazid Bastami, Jalaluddin Rumi, Haji Bektash Veli, Junaid Baghdadi, and Al-Ghazali, argued for Sufism as being based upon the tenets of Islam and the teachings of the prophet. Historian Nile Green argued that Islam in the medieval period was more or less Sufism. Followers of the Sunni Islamic revival movement known as Salafism have viewed popular devotional practices, such as the veneration of Sufi saints, as innovations from the original religion. Salafists have sometimes physically attacked Sufis, leading to a deterioration in Sufi–Salafi relations.
Sufi congregations form orders ( tariqa) centred around a teacher ( wali) who traces a spiritual chain back to Muhammad. Sufis played an important role in the formation of Muslim societies through their missionary and educational activities. The Sufism-influenced Ahle Sunnat movement or Barelvi movement claims over 200 million followers in South Asia. – via Oxford Reference. Sufism is prominent in Central Asia, as well as in African countries like Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Senegal, Chad and Niger.
The primary sources of Shariah are the Quran and Sunnah. (2025). 9780815629085, Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9780815629085 Quote: "..., by the ninth century, the classical theory of law fixed the sources of Islamic law at four: the Quran, the Sunnah of the Prophet, qiyas (analogical reasoning), and ijma (consensus)." A common third source is qiyas (analogical reasoning) which is used for legal questions not dealt with literally in the Qur’ān or Sunnah. Parallels would be searched for to find the ‘’illah’’, or effective cause, which is the reason behind the existing ruling. For example, from the specific prohibition of wine is deduced a broad prohibition on alcohol as they share the operative cause identified as the mind-altering nature of all alcoholic drinks. (2025). 9781461460855, Springer. ISBN 9781461460855 The Zahiri school adheres to strict literalism and thus rejects qiyas. Consensus of opinion is ijma, while ikhtilaf refers to scholarly disagreement. Rulings assign actions to one of five categories called ahkam: mandatory ( fard), recommended ( mustahabb), permitted ( mubah), abhorred ( makruh), and prohibited ( haram).
In the modern era, sharia-based criminal laws were widely replaced by statutes inspired by European models. The Ottoman Empire's 19th century Tanzimat reforms led to the Mecelle civil code and represented the first attempt to codify sharia. While the constitutions of most Muslim-majority states contain references to sharia, its classical rules were largely retained only in personal status (family) laws. Legislative bodies which codified these laws sought to modernize them without abandoning their foundations in traditional jurisprudence.Mayer, Ann Elizabeth. 2009. " Law. Modern Legal Reform." In The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World, edited by J. L. Esposito. Oxford: Oxford University Press. The Islamic revival of the late 20th century brought along calls by Islamist movements for complete implementation of sharia. The role of sharia has become a contested topic around the world. There are ongoing debates as to whether sharia is compatible with secular forms of government, human rights, freedom of thought, and women's rights.
Jihad means "to strive or struggle in" and, in its broadest sense, is "exerting one's utmost power, efforts, endeavors, or ability in contending with an object of ". Shias in particular emphasize the "greater jihad" of striving to attain spiritual self-improvement while the "lesser jihad" is defined as warfare.. When used without a qualifier, jihad is often understood in its military form. Jihad is the only form of warfare permissible in Islamic law and may be declared against illegal works, terrorists, criminal groups, rebels, apostates, and leaders or states who oppress Muslims. Most Muslims today interpret Jihad as only a defensive form of warfare.Habeck, Mary R. Knowing the Enemy: Jihadist Ideology and the War on Terror. Yale University Press. pp. 108–109, 118. Jihad only becomes an individual duty for those vested with authority. For the rest of the populace, this happens only in the case of a general mobilization. For most Twelver, offensive jihad can only be declared by a divinely appointed leader of the Muslim community, and as such, is suspended since Muhammad al-Mahdi's occultation in 868 CE.
In Islamic marriage, the groom is required to pay a bridal gift ( mahr).
Most families in the Islamic world are monogamous. Muslim men are allowed to practice polygyny and can have up to four wives simultaneously. Islamic teachings strongly advise that if a man cannot ensure equal financial and emotional support for each of his wives, it is recommended that he marry just one woman. One reason cited for polygyny is that it allows a man to give financial protection to multiple women, who might otherwise not have any support (e.g. widows). However, the first wife can set a condition in the marriage contract that the husband cannot marry another woman during their marriage. There are also cultural variations in weddings. Polyandry, a practice wherein a woman takes on two or more husbands, is prohibited in Islam.
After the birth of a child, the adhan is pronounced in the right ear. On the seventh day, the aqiqah ceremony is performed, in which an animal is sacrificed and its meat is distributed among the poor. The child's head is shaved, and an amount of money equaling the weight of its hair is donated to the poor. Male circumcision, called khitan, is often practised in the Muslim world. Respecting and obeying one's parents, and taking care of them especially in their old age is a religious obligation.
A dying Muslim is encouraged to pronounce the Shahada as their last words.
Islamic art encompasses the visual arts including fields as varied as architecture, calligraphy, painting, and Islamic ceramics, among others. While the making of images of animate beings has often been frowned upon in connection with laws against idolatry, this rule has been interpreted in different ways by different scholars and in different historical periods. This stricture has been used to explain the prevalence of calligraphy, tessellation, and pattern as key aspects of Islamic artistic culture. Additionally, the depiction of Muhammad is a contentious issue among Muslims. In Islamic architecture, varying cultures show influence such as North African and Spanish Islamic architecture such as the Great Mosque of Kairouan containing marble and porphyry columns from Roman and Byzantine buildings, while mosques in Indonesia often have multi-tiered roofs from local styles.
The Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar that begins with the Hegira of 622 CE, a date that was reportedly chosen by Caliph Umar as it was an important turning point in Muhammad's fortunes. Islamic Muslim holidays fall on fixed dates of the lunar calendar, meaning they occur in seasons in different years in the Gregorian calendar. The most important Islamic festivals are Eid al-Fitr () on the 1st of Shawwal, marking the end of the fasting month Ramadan, and Eid al-Adha (عيد الأضحى) on the 10th of Dhu al-Hijjah, coinciding with the end of the Hajj (pilgrimage).
Cultural Muslims are religiously non-practicing individuals who still identify with Islam due to family backgrounds, personal experiences, or the social and cultural environment in which they grew up.
Christian writers criticized Islam's sensual descriptions of paradise. Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari defended the Quranic description of paradise by asserting that the Bible also implies such ideas, such as drinking wine in heaven in the Gospel of Matthew. Catholic theologian Augustine of Hippo's doctrines led to the broad repudiation of bodily pleasure in both life and the afterlife.
Defamatory images of Muhammad, derived from early 7th-century depictions of the Byzantine Church,Minou Reeves, and P. J. Stewart. 2003. Muhammad in Europe: A Thousand Years of Western Myth-Making. NYU Press. . p. 93–96. appear in the 14th-century epic poem Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri.Stone, G. 2006. Dante's Pluralism and the Islamic Philosophy of Religion. Springer Publishing. . p. 53-54. Here, Muhammad is depicted in the eighth circle of hell, along with Ali. Dante does not blame Islam as a whole but accuses Muhammad of schism, by establishing another religion after Christianity.
Other criticisms centre on the treatment of individuals within modern Muslim-majority countries, including issues related to human rights, particularly in relation to the application of Islamic law. Furthermore, in the wake of the recent multiculturalism trend, Islam's influence on the ability of Muslim diaspora in the West to assimilate has been criticized.
Society
Religious personages
Islam has no clergy in the sacerdotalism sense, such as priests who mediate between God and people. Imam () is the religious title used to refer to an Islamic leadership position, often in the context of conducting an Islamic worship service. Religious interpretation is presided over by the 'ulama (Arabic: علماء), a term used describe the body of Muslim scholars who have received training in Islamic studies. A scholar of the hadith is called a muhaddith, a scholar of jurisprudence is called a faqih (), a jurist who is qualified to issue legal opinions or fatwas is called a mufti, and a qadi is an Islamic judge. Honorific titles given to scholars include sheikh, mullah and mawlawi. Some Muslims also venerate saints associated with miracles ().
Governance
In Islamic economic jurisprudence, hoarding of wealth is reviled and thus monopoly behavior is frowned upon.Iqbal, Zamir, Abbas Mirakhor, Noureddine Krichenne, and Hossein Askari. The Stability of Islamic Finance: Creating a Resilient Financial Environment. p. 75. Attempts to comply with sharia has led to the development of Islamic banking. Islam prohibits riba, usually translated as usury, which refers to any unfair gain in trade and is most commonly used to mean interest. Instead, Islamic banks go into partnership with the borrower, and both share from the profits and any losses from the venture. Another feature is the avoidance of uncertainty, which is seen as gambling and Islamic banks traditionally avoid derivative instruments such as futures or options which has historically protected them from market downturns. The Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphate used to be involved in distribution of charity from the treasury, known as Bayt al-mal, before it became a largely individual pursuit around the year 720. The first Caliph, Abu Bakr, distributed zakat as one of the first examples of a guaranteed minimum income, with each citizen getting 10 to 20 dirhams annually. During the reign of the second Caliph Umar, child support was introduced and the old and disabled were entitled to stipends, (2025). 9789090261089, IUR Press. ISBN 9789090261089 while the Umayyad Caliph Umar II assigned a servant for each blind person and for every two chronically ill persons.
Daily and family life
Many daily practices fall in the category of adab, or etiquette. Specific prohibited foods include pork products, blood and carrion. Health is viewed as a trust from God and khamr, such as , are prohibited. All meat must come from a herbivorous animal slaughtered in the name of God by a Muslim, Jew, or Christian, except for game that one has hunted or fished for oneself. Beards are often encouraged among men as something natural and body modifications, such as permanent tattoos, are usually forbidden as violating the creation. Silk and gold are prohibited for men in Islam to maintain a state of sobriety. Haya, often translated as "shame" or "modesty", is sometimes described as the innate character of Islam and informs much of Muslim daily life. For example, Islamic clothing emphasizes a standard of modesty, which has included the hijab for women. Similarly, personal hygiene is encouraged with certain requirements.
(2025). 9783643900678, Lit. ISBN 9783643900678 Paying respects to the dead and attending funerals in the community are considered among the virtuous acts. In Islamic funeral, burial is encouraged as soon as possible, usually within 24 hours. The body is washed, except for martyrs, by members of the same gender and enshrouded in a garment that must not be elaborate called kafan. A "funeral prayer" called Salat al-Janazah is performed. Wailing, or loud, mournful outcrying, is discouraged. Coffins are often not preferred and graves are often unmarked, even for kings.
Arts and culture
The term "Islamic culture" can be used to mean aspects of culture that pertain to the religion, such as festivals and Islamic clothing. It is also controversially used to denote the cultural aspects of traditionally Muslim people. Finally, "Islamic civilization" may also refer to the aspects of the synthesized culture of the early Caliphates, including that of non-Muslims, sometimes referred to as "".
Influences on other religions
Some movements, such as the Druze, Berghouata and Ha-Mim, either emerged from Islam or came to share certain beliefs with Islam, and whether each is a separate religion or a sect of Islam is sometimes controversial. The Druze faith further split from Isma'ilism as it developed its own unique doctrines, and finally separated from both Ismāʿīlīsm and Islam altogether; these include the belief that the Imam Al-Ḥākim bi-Amr Allāh was Incarnation. Yazdânism is seen as a blend of local Kurdish beliefs and Islamic Sufi doctrine introduced to Kurdistan by Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir in the 12th century. Bábism stems from Twelver Shia passed through Siyyid 'Ali Muhammad i-Shirazi al-Bab while one of his followers Mirza Husayn 'Ali Nuri Baha'u'llah founded the Baháʼí Faith. Yarsanism,Z. Mir-Hosseini, "Inner Truth and Outer History: The Two Worlds of the Ahl-e Haqq of Kurdistan", International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol.26, 1994, p.267–268 Din-i Ilahi, and Ali-Illahism are considered separations from Islam. Sikhism, founded by Guru Nanak in late 15th century Punjab, primarily incorporates aspects of Islam and Hinduism.Elsberg, Constance (2003), Graceful Women. University of Tennessee Press. . pp. 27–28.
Criticism
Criticism of Islam has existed since its formative stages. Early criticism came from Jewish authors, such as Ibn Kammuna, and Christian authors, many of whom viewed Islam as a Christian heresy or a form of idolatry, often explaining it in apocalyptic terms.
See also
Footnotes
Quran and hadith
Citations
Sources
(2025). 9780801883705, Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 9780801883705
(1977). 9780521291361, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521291361
(1977). 9780521291378, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521291378
Encyclopedias and dictionaries
Further reading
(1999). 9789960740799, Dar-us-Salam Publications. ISBN 9789960740799
(1999). 9789652240408, Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9789652240408
(2025). 9781629488998, Nova Science Publishers. ISBN 9781629488998 Prepublication text available at:
External links
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