Islam

A monotheistic faith and the world's second-largest religion.

Followers of Islam, known as Muslims, believe that God (or, in Arabic, Allah) revealed his direct word for mankind to Muhammad and other prophets, including Adam, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.

Muslims assert that the main written record of revelation to humankind is the Qur'an, which they believe to be flawless, immutable, and the final revelation of God. Muslims believe that parts of the Bible and the Torah have been forgotten, misinterpreted, or distorted by their followers. With that perspective they view the Qur'an as corrective of Jewish and Christian scriptures.

Muslims hold that Islam is essentially the same belief as that of all the messengers sent by God to mankind since Adam, with the Qur'ān (the one definitive text of the Muslim faith) codifying the final revelation of God.

Islamic teaching sees Judaism and Christianity as derivations of the teachings of certain of these prophets - notably Abraham - and therefore acknowledges their Abrahamic roots, whilst the Qur'an calls them People of the Book.

Islam has two primary branches of belief, based largely on a historical disagreement over the succession of authority after Muhammad's death; these are known as Sunni and Shi'ite.

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