Islam

Islam is the second largest religion in terms of numbers of members across the world today. Muslims account for roughly one-fifth of the world's population with over 1 billion adherents. The word Islam literally means submission. And the word Muslim[Page 213]derives from the same root, meaning “one who submits.” The roots of the word Islam are also used to denote peace, soundness, and safety. Briefly, Muslims profess that there is no god but God, and embrace the message of the Prophet Muhammad, believing that he is the last messenger of God. Muslims across the world profess daily that “there is no god but God, and Muhammad is his prophet.” This is the shahadah, or profession of belief, which, when proclaimed three times in front of a witness, is all that is needed to become a Muslim. But as with many religions, although it is easy to become a member, it is a much more involved matter to live a Muslim life.

Muslims believe Islam to be the final and most complete form of the family of religious traditions that includes Judaism and Christianity. Indeed, Muslims deeply revere many of the same figures found in the Jewish and Christian sacred scriptures. For Muslims, the most important people found in the Jewish and Christian scriptures are Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. These four along with the Prophet Muhammad are all regarded as prophets or God's messengers. Therefore, although Muslims believe that Islam is closer to what was intended by God to be communicated through all of God's true messengers, Muslims generally consider Judaism and Christianity to be part of their religious family, referring to Jews and Christians as “people of the Book.”

Many non-Muslims in North America believe that Islam is primarily the religion of Arabic-speaking peoples. However, not all Arabs are Muslims, and not all Muslims are Arabs. There is a significant population of Christian, Jewish, and secular Arabs, and Arabs are in fact a minority ethnicity within the worldwide Muslim population. The greatest concentration of Muslims is actually found in Indonesia, and Muslims of South Asian descent, primarily from India and Pakistan, currently account for the majority of Muslims in North America overall.