Islam (Arabic: الإسلام) is a religion whose holy book is called the Qur’an. People who follow Islam are called Muslims. Muslims believe that there is only one god, who is called Allah (الله‎, al-lāh) in the Arabic language. In English, Allah can be called "God" or by one of many other names).

Muslims also believe that Muhammad was the last of many prophets from God. They believe that the Qur'an is the exact word of God, as revealed to Muhammad. Muslims also call Muhammad a "messenger of God".

After Muhammad died, Muslims wrote down stories about what he had said and done. Muslims call these stories Hadith. Muslim scholars collected all of these Hadith in books and compared them to each other. They decided which Hadith were most likely to be true records of the Sunnah, that is, the words and actions of Muhammad. Muslims see the Sunnah as an important source of guidance, along with the Qur'an. Islam has rules based on the Qur'an and the Sunnah. These laws are called "Sharia". Muslim lawyers have studied Sharia and written down their ideas about how to judge different cases. These ideas about Sharia are called Fiqh.

The word Islam literally translates in English to "acceptance, submission, self-surrender". Muslims believe that the ummah (global community of Muslims), are all brothers and sisters of Islam and should be treated with utmost respect.

According to Islamic Tradition, there are five basic things that Muslims should do. They are called "The Five Pillars of Islam":

1. Faith: The Testimony (shahadah in Arabic) is the Muslim belief that there is no god but God himself, and that Muhammad is his messenger.
2. Prayer: Muslims pray five times at special times of the day. This is facing the holy city Mecca. Prayer is called salat in Arabic and namaz in Persian, Turkish and Urdu. Shias and Quranists however pray 3 times a day.
3. Charity: Muslims who have money must give alms (zakah in Arabic) to help those less fortunate in the world.
4. Fasting: Muslims fast (saum in Arabic) during Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic year. They do not eat or drink from sunrise till sunset for one lunar month. After Ramadan, there is a holiday called Eid al-Fitr (English: Festival of end-fast). Muslims usually have a party with families and friends and go to the mosque in the morning for a special service.   
5. Pilgrimage (Hajj in Arabic): During the pilgrimage season, many Muslims go to Makkah, the holiest city of Islam, which is in Saudi Arabia. Muslims must make the hajj at least once in their life if they can afford to do so. There is no need if a Muslim does not have the money or health to make the Hajj. At the end of Hajj season, there is a holiday called Eid al-Adha (English: Festival of Sacrifice). Muslims who can afford to do so or who have made the Hajj must buy an animal which they are allowed to eat (Halal), usually a goat, to sacrifice according to Islamic laws and cook as food or give away to the poor, if they have the money for it. Muslims believe that Abraham, one of God's earliest messengers, was told by God on the day of Eid al-Adha to sacrifice his son in Jerusalem. But the angel Gabriel congratulated Abraham's obedience to God and gave him a lamb instead.

The Qur'an is the holy book of Islam. Muslims believe the Qur'an is the sayings of God.

Islam teaches that the Qur'an was revealed by God to Muhammad with the help of an angel called Gabriel. The Quraan teaches the muslims to follow the right path by only doing good to please God alone. The muslims (in most cases, all religions) believe that if they do good in this life time without being indulged with sinful acts and behaviours, will certainly go to Jannah.Quran has a total of 114 chapters. In each chapter there are many verses. Many Muslims try to memorize the entire Qur'an and ones who do are called a Hafiz or Hafez.

Other important books are the Sunnah, or biographies of Muhammad and Hadith compilations, which are collections of sayings attributed to Muhammad.

 

Muslims pray in a place of worship called the mosque. The Muslims place of worship is properly known as a masjid in Arabic. Most masjids have at least one dome, and some have one or more towers. But a masjid does not need to have a dome or tower. Muslims take their shoes off before entering the masjid to pray. Prayer is one of the most important things that a Muslim does.

 

Sometimes, Muslims pray on a carpet, which is called prayer carpet, or prayer rug in English. Common Arabic names include sajjāda and namazlık. At the times of prayer, they will determine the direction of Qibla (Mecca), roll out their prayer carpet, and say their prayers to God.

 

 

Muslim population by percentage worldwide

 

 

Countries where more than half the people are Muslims

In 2009, a study was done in 232 countries and territories. This study found that 23% of the global population or 1.57 billion people are Muslims. Of those, between 75% and 90% are Sunni and between ten and twenty percent are Shi'a. A small minority belong to other Islamic sects. In approximately fifty countries, the majority of people are Muslims. Arabs account for around twenty percent of all Muslims worldwide.

The majority of Muslims live in Asia and Africa. Approximately 62% of the world's Muslims live in Asia, with over 683 million followers in Indonesia, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. In the Middle East, non-Arab countries such as Turkey and Iran are the largest Muslim-majority countries; in Africa, Egypt and Nigeria have the most populous Muslim communities.
Most estimates indicate that the People's Republic of China has approximately 20 to 30 million Muslims (1.5% to 2% of the population). However,data provided by the San Diego State University's International Population Center to U.S. News & World Report suggests that China has 65.3 million Muslims. Islam is the second largest religion after Christianity in many European countries, and is slowly catching up to that status in the Americas.
 
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