Islam

Islam, one of the most prominent religions in the world, is basically a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the Qur'an. Its prominence can be well gauged from the fact that today it has nearly 1.3 billion followers in the different corners of the world.

Followers of Islam are referred as Muslims who are guided by this prime belief that God (Allāh) revealed his word to humanity through many earlier prophets but Mohammed (pbuh) was the final prophet. According to them, the central message of Islam is complete submission to God. Despite some extreme turbulent phase in the initial period of its beginning, Islam gradually expanded to all parts of the world after Prophet Mohammed's (pbuh) death in the 7th century, and today it is the second largest religion in terms of population of its adherents.

In Arabic, word Islam derives from the triconsonantal root Sīn-Lām-Mīm which literally means "to surrender". Islam is an abstract nominal derived from this root which means "submission to 'The God' (Allah)".

The basic principle of Islam is found in the shahādatān ("two testimonies") which clearly underlines the central idea of the religion as: "There is no deity other than God (Allah) and Mohammed (pbuh) is the messenger of God (Allah)."  Islam fundamentally propagates idea of oneness of God which is Arabic is referred as tawhid. Essential monotheism which Islam underlines should be viewed as an absolute term. Various scholars of Islam have also referred this great religion as dīn meaning "way of life" and/or "guidance".

Islam has earmarked a set of guidelines for its followers so that he/she leads a pious, religious life in conformity with the concept of oneness of God. Theses guidelines are often referred as "The Five Pillars of Islam" and they can be classified as:

1. Shahadah, the profession of faith in Allah
2. Salāt, prayer
3. Sawm, fasting
4. Zakāh, the paying of alms to poor and needy  
5. Hajj, the pilgrimage to Makkah (Mecca) at least once in life