Islam: Origins, Beliefs, and Influence

Islam is one of the world’s major religions. It began on the Arabian Peninsula in the 600s C.E. Today, Muslims live in countries throughout the world, and Islam has influenced societies in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

The word Islam is commonly understood to mean submission to God. A person who follows Islam is called a Muslim. Muslims believe in one God, whom Arabic speakers call Allah. Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews also use the word Allah for God.

Islam shares some beliefs and figures with Judaism and Christianity. Muslims recognize figures such as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus as prophets. Muslims believe that Muhammad was the final prophet in a long line of prophets sent by God.

Muhammad was born in Mecca around 570 C.E. Mecca was an important trading and religious center on the Arabian Peninsula. The city was also home to the Kaaba, an ancient structure that would later become Islam’s holiest site.

According to Muslim belief, Muhammad was about 40 years old when he was praying and reflecting in a cave near Mecca in 610 C.E. Muslims believe that the angel Gabriel appeared to Muhammad and delivered the first of a series of revelations from God. These revelations continued for many years and were later collected in the Quran, the sacred text of Islam.

Muhammad began teaching that there was only one God and calling on people to worship God and care for others. Some people in Mecca accepted his teachings, while others strongly opposed them.

In 622 C.E., Muhammad and his followers left Mecca and traveled to the city of Yathrib, later called Medina. This migration is known as the Hijra. It was such an important event in the history of Islam that it marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar.

In Medina, Muhammad became both a religious and community leader. Over time, the Muslim community grew. In 630 C.E., Muhammad and his followers returned to Mecca. The Kaaba was rededicated to the worship of one God and became the center toward which Muslims face when they pray.

Muhammad died in 632 C.E. By that time, much of the Arabian Peninsula had become connected to the growing Muslim community.

The Quran is the sacred text of Islam. Muslims believe that it contains revelations from God given to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel. Because Muslims believe the Quran was revealed in Arabic, Arabic has remained especially important in Islamic worship even though most Muslims around the world speak other languages in their everyday lives.

Muslims believe that there is one God and that people are responsible for the choices they make. They believe in prophets, angels, sacred revelations, and a Day of Judgment when people are held accountable for their actions.

Another important source of guidance is the hadith, collections of reports about Muhammad’s words and actions. Muslim scholars have studied the Quran and hadith for centuries, and different Muslim communities and scholars sometimes interpret religious teachings in different ways.

Five important acts of worship are commonly known as the Five Pillars of Islam. They provide a basic framework for Muslim religious practice.

The shahada is the declaration that there is only one God and that Muhammad is God’s messenger. It expresses the central belief in one God and Muhammad’s role as a prophet.

Muslims are called to pray five times each day. During these prayers, Muslims face toward the Kaaba in Mecca. People may pray individually or together, and mosques are important places for communal worship.

Zakat is the practice of giving a portion of one’s wealth to people in need. It reflects the idea that Muslims have responsibilities to others in their communities.

During the month of Ramadan, most adult Muslims who are able to do so fast from dawn until sunset. Ramadan is also a time for prayer, reflection, generosity, and spending time with family and community. People who are ill or face certain other circumstances may be excused from fasting.

Ramadan ends with Eid al-Fitr, a major celebration that often includes prayer, meals, visits with family and friends, and charitable giving.

Muslims who are physically and financially able are expected to make the Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, once in their lifetime. During the Hajj, Muslims from many parts of the world gather to worship together.

The Hajj demonstrates both the importance of Mecca and the global nature of Islam. Muslims may speak different languages, come from different countries, and follow different cultural traditions while sharing this religious practice.

After Muhammad’s death, Muslim leaders called caliphs led the growing Muslim community. Muslim-controlled territory expanded rapidly beyond the Arabian Peninsula.

During the 630s, Muslim armies entered areas that are now Syria, Palestine, and Iraq. By the 640s, Muslim rule had also expanded into Egypt, and later across much of North Africa.

Military expansion was one way Islam reached new places, but it was not the only way. Islam also spread through trade, migration, teaching, and contact among communities. Conversion usually happened gradually. People living under Muslim governments did not all immediately become Muslim, and Christian, Jewish, and other religious communities continued to live in many Muslim-ruled areas.

Islam eventually spread east into parts of Central, South, and Southeast Asia and west across North Africa and into the Iberian Peninsula. Muslim merchants were especially important in spreading Islam along trade routes in Africa and around the Indian Ocean.

Because Islam spread among many different peoples, Muslim societies developed a wide range of languages, foods, clothing traditions, architecture, music, and customs. There has never been one single Muslim culture.

After Muhammad’s death, Muslims disagreed about who should lead the community. These disagreements eventually contributed to the development of Islam’s two largest branches, Sunni and Shia Islam.

Sunni and Shia Muslims share the central beliefs of Islam, including belief in one God, the Quran, Muhammad as a prophet, and the importance of prayer, charity, fasting, and pilgrimage. They differ in some beliefs about religious leadership, history, and religious practices.

Other Islamic traditions also developed. For example, Ibadi Islam has a long history and is especially important in Oman today.

As Muslim-ruled territories expanded, cities such as Damascus, Baghdad, Cairo, and Córdoba became important centers of government, trade, scholarship, and culture.

Muslim scholars studied subjects including mathematics, medicine, astronomy, geography, philosophy, and literature. They built upon knowledge from earlier Greek, Persian, Indian, and other traditions while developing new ideas of their own. Trade networks also connected Muslim societies with communities across Africa, Europe, and Asia.

These exchanges helped knowledge, technologies, goods, and ideas move between regions.

Jerusalem is sacred to Muslims, Christians, and Jews. Muslims connect the city with Muhammad’s Night Journey and Ascension, while Christians and Jews also connect Jerusalem with important events and places in their religious traditions.

Beginning in the late 1000s, Christian armies from Europe known as Crusaders traveled to the eastern Mediterranean. In 1099, Christian Crusaders captured Jerusalem from Muslim rulers. Control of Jerusalem and other territories changed several times during conflicts between Crusader states and Muslim powers.

The Crusades were both religious and political conflicts, and their history involved people from many societies. For Muslims and Christians in the region, they became an important part of a much longer history of interaction that included not only warfare but also trade and cultural exchange.

Over the centuries, Islam became a global religion. Most Muslims today do not live on the Arabian Peninsula, and Muslims belong to many different ethnic, national, linguistic, and cultural communities.

Shared beliefs and practices, including the Five Pillars, connect Muslims around the world. At the same time, the ways Muslims practice their faith can differ among individuals and communities. Local traditions, history, family, and culture can all influence how people experience religion.

Studying Islam therefore involves understanding both its shared religious foundations and the variety of societies and cultures in which Muslims have lived.