Islam...

I am going to start talking about other religions to try and not only learn a thing or two about other religions, but to hopefully educate other people. Some blogs may be longer than others. If there is anything anyone would like to say, please feel free to say it. I am not an expert or a scholarly reference of any sort... there are things I have learned and am still learning about other religions. I am going to start with Islam, which is the fastest growing religion in the world.

The word Islam is actually translated as 'submission'. The religion is all about submitting themselves to God, or Allah. It is a monotheistic religion, meaning they believe in one supreme God or deity. That would make Islamic people Muslims, which means 'one who submits himself to God'. I know a lot of people think Muslim is a religion and Islam is a separate religion, but they go together.  The book, which is their source, is the Koran or Qur'an which is believed to have been inspired through God to Muhammad, who was the last prophet. The Koran is what Islam base their lives upon.  Islam is the second largest religion in the world, next to Christianity, but it is said that it will be larger than Christianity by the end of the 21st century.  Muslims believe in Jesus and that he was a prophet, but they believe that the savior is yet to come. They believe that Christians and Jews distorted the bible centuries ago by altering the text of the bible.  Muhammad isn't the founder of the religion, but he is the restorer. That is basically what I know about Islam. I know that there are five pillars of Islam, but I don't know too much about them yet.  Please educate me is any of this is false, or if you would like to add something.

I looked up the 5 pillars and this is what I got:

The 'Five Pillars' of Islam are the foundation of Muslim life:

• Faith or belief in the Oneness of God and the finality of the prophethood of Muhammad;
• Establishment of the daily prayers;
• Concern for and almsgiving to the needy;
• Self-purification through fasting; and
• The pilgrimage to Makkah for those who are able.

that is from:

http://www.islam101.com/dawah/pillars.html

I hope this helps some of you to better understand Islam and what it is about. I still have so much to learn!