Islam

Core beliefs & worldview

Ask a Muslim what Islam is about and you will probably hear first about God. The heart of the faith is tawhid, God’s absolute oneness: there is one God, without partner, child or equal, who created everything, is merciful and just, and is closer to each person, as the Qur’an says, than their own jugular vein.^•

The simple declaration that makes someone a Muslim, the shahada, says it in a single line: “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God.”^•

Muslims do not see Islam as a brand-new religion. The Qur’an presents it as the same message God sent through a long line of prophets, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus, which people had partly forgotten or altered. Muhammad is the last of them, the “seal of the prophets”. Jesus (Isa) is honoured as a great prophet born of the Virgin Mary, who has a whole chapter of the Qur’an named after her, though Muslims do not believe he is divine.^•

Six articles of faith. Muslims traditionally summarise belief in six things: God; the angels; the revealed books, including the Torah, the Psalms, the Gospel and the Qur’an; the prophets; the Day of Judgement; and God’s decree, meaning that nothing happens outside God’s knowledge and will.^•

Life is seen as a test. Each person is responsible for their own deeds, there is no original sin to inherit, and God’s mercy is stressed again and again: all but one of the Qur’an’s 114 chapters open with “In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy”.^•

The Five Pillars. Practice is built on five acts:^•

• Shahada, the declaration of faith.
• Salat, prayer five times a day, at dawn, midday, afternoon, sunset and night, facing the Kaaba in Mecca, with a congregational prayer at midday on Friday.
• Zakat, giving a portion of one’s wealth each year, traditionally 2.5% of savings above a set minimum, to the poor and others in need.
• Sawm, fasting from dawn to sunset during the month of Ramadan.
• Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, required once in a lifetime of those who are physically and financially able.

The Qur’an and the Sunna. The Qur’an is the first source of guidance. The second is the Sunna, the Prophet’s example, known through thousands of reports called hadith. Muslim scholars developed a careful science for judging which reports are reliable, and Sunnis regard the collections of al-Bukhari and Muslim as the most authoritative.^•

Sharia. In Western headlines, “sharia” usually means harsh punishments. For Muslims it means something much broader: God’s guidance for the whole of life, covering prayer, fasting, family, business ethics, food and manners as well as law. The word originally meant a path to water. Scholars distinguish sharia, the ideal, from fiqh, the human effort to understand it, which is why there are several schools of law and constant debate among them.^•

For most Muslims day to day, “following sharia” mostly means praying, fasting, eating halal and being honest in business.^•

Daily life & customs

Prayer. The five prayers set the rhythm of the day. Before praying, Muslims perform wudu, washing the hands, mouth, face, arms and feet. Prayer involves standing, bowing, prostrating with the forehead to the ground, and sitting, reciting in Arabic. It can be done almost anywhere clean, which is why you may see someone praying on a small mat in an office or at an airport.^•

How regularly people pray varies widely. Pew’s surveys found that in some countries most Muslims pray several times a day, and in others, especially in parts of Central Asia and the Balkans, only a minority do.^•

Ramadan. The month of fasting is the high point of the year. From dawn to sunset Muslims go without food, drink and smoking, getting up before dawn for a meal called suhur and breaking the fast at sunset with iftar, often with dates and water, followed by a shared meal. Evenings bring extra prayers in the mosque. Children, the sick, the elderly, travellers and pregnant or nursing women are exempt.^•

Because the Islamic calendar is lunar, Ramadan moves about eleven days earlier each year, so a fast can mean short winter days or long summer ones. Many Muslims who rarely pray still fast, and the month is as much about family, charity and community as hunger.^•

The two Eids. Eid al-Fitr ends Ramadan with prayers, new clothes, visits and sweets. Eid al-Adha, at the time of the Hajj, recalls Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son, whom Muslims usually identify as Ishmael. Families who can afford it sacrifice a sheep, goat or cow and share the meat with relatives and the poor.^•

Food and drink. Muslims eat halal (“permitted”) food. Pork and alcohol are forbidden, and meat should come from animals slaughtered in God’s name.^•

Practice varies, and some Muslims do drink, but offering someone a choice without pressure is always kind.

Life events. Tradition encourages whispering the call to prayer into a newborn’s ear. Marriage (nikah) is a contract with witnesses, in which the groom gives the bride a gift, the mahr, that belongs to her. The dead are washed, wrapped in a simple shroud and buried as soon as possible, ideally within a day, lying on their right side facing Mecca. Cremation is not permitted.^•

Everyday words. You will hear as-salamu alaykum (“peace be upon you”) as a greeting, insha’Allah (“if God wills”) for anything in the future, alhamdulillah (“praise be to God”) in good news and bad, and masha’Allah to admire something without envy. Muslims add “peace be upon him” after the Prophet’s name.^•

Wounds & sensitivities

Images and insults of the Prophet. Most Muslims avoid depicting the Prophet in any image, out of reverence and to prevent anything like idol worship. The tradition is not entirely uniform: some medieval Persian and Ottoman manuscripts did show him, often with his face veiled.^•

But mockery of him wounds Muslims deeply, much as an attack on a beloved parent would. The Danish cartoons of 2005 set off protests worldwide, and the 2015 murder of journalists at the French magazine Charlie Hebdo, which had published caricatures, was condemned by Muslim leaders even as many felt their feelings were dismissed in the debate over free speech.^•

Colonialism. Nearly the whole Muslim world was ruled by European powers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and many of today’s borders, from the Middle East to South Asia, were drawn by them. That memory shapes how many Muslims hear Western lectures about democracy or women’s rights.^•

See Colonialism and the End of the Caliphate.

After 9/11. Muslims in the West have lived for two decades with suspicion, surveillance and hate crimes, and with being asked to apologise for terrorists who, they stress, kill Muslims too.^•

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo, left deep anger.^• See 9/11 and the “War on Terror”.

Palestine and Jerusalem. Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque is Islam’s third-holiest site, tied to the Prophet’s Night Journey. The displacement of some 700,000 Palestinians in the 1948 war, which Palestinians call the Nakba (“catastrophe”), and the long occupation since 1967, are felt as a wound by Muslims far beyond the Arab world, though Palestinians include Christians as well as Muslims.^•

The war in Gaza since October 2023 has intensified those feelings enormously.^• Conversations about it need care and real listening.

Being defined by extremists. Groups like al-Qaeda and the so-called Islamic State killed far more Muslims than anyone else, and their claim to speak for Islam is rejected by most Muslim scholars. Being lumped together with them is among the most painful experiences many Muslims describe.^•

Sectarian wounds. The Sunni–Shia divide goes back to the succession and Karbala, but it has been sharpened in recent decades by the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran and the wars in Iraq and Syria. Asking someone “which kind” of Muslim they are can be sensitive.^•

Modern attitudes

Muslims hold every possible opinion about how faith and modern life fit together, and surveys show striking differences between countries.

Faith remains important. In Pew’s 2012 survey of Muslims in 39 countries, belief in one God and in Muhammad as His prophet was nearly universal. But levels of practice ranged widely, from very high in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia to much lower in parts of Central Asia and the Balkans, where decades of Soviet or communist rule left a more cultural Islam.^•

Sharia and the state. In Pew’s 2013 survey, support for making sharia the official law varied enormously: 99% of Afghan Muslims favoured it, but only 12% in Turkey and 8% in Azerbaijan. Many of those who favoured it said it should apply only to Muslims, and views on what sharia means in practice, such as harsh criminal punishments, were very divided.^•

Most Muslims in the same survey said religious freedom for people of other faiths is a good thing.^•

Reform and revival. Since the nineteenth century Muslims have argued over how to respond to modernity. Some call for reform and fresh interpretation (ijtihad); others for a return to the ways of the first generations, as Salafi movements do; and political Islamist movements, from the Muslim Brotherhood to Iran’s revolution, have sought an Islamic state.^•

Women’s roles, including dress, education and leadership, are debated vigorously within Muslim communities themselves, and Muslim-majority Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Turkey have all had women heads of government.^•

In the West. Muslims in Europe, about 25.8 million or 4.9% of the population in 2016 by Pew’s estimate, and in the United States, about 3.45 million in 2017, are younger than average and growing.^•

In Pew’s 2017 survey of US Muslims, most (58% of adults) were born abroad, about half reported discrimination in the past year, and yet the large majority said they were proud to be American.^•

Not all Muslims are the same

Most Muslims are not Arabs. Arabic is the language of the Qur’an and of prayer, but only about one in five Muslims lives in the Middle East and North Africa. The countries with the most Muslims in 2020 were Indonesia (about 239 million), Pakistan (227 million), India (213 million) and Bangladesh (151 million). Nigeria, Egypt, Iran and Turkey also have very large Muslim populations.^•

Sunni, Shia and Ibadi. About 87–90% of Muslims are Sunni and 10–13% Shia, according to Pew’s 2009 estimate. Shia are the majority in Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan and Bahrain, with large communities in Lebanon, Pakistan, India and elsewhere.^•

Most Shia are “Twelvers”, who follow twelve Imams descended from Ali; smaller Shia branches include the Ismailis, led today by the Aga Khan, and the Zaydis of Yemen.^• The Ibadis, a third, smaller tradition, are the majority in Oman.^• In many countries, especially in Central Asia and Indonesia, many Muslims tell pollsters they are “just a Muslim”.^•

Schools of law. Sunnis follow one of four recognised schools of law: the Hanafi, widespread in Turkey, Central and South Asia; the Maliki, in North and West Africa; the Shafi’i, in East Africa and Southeast Asia; and the Hanbali, in Saudi Arabia. Most Shia follow the Ja’fari school. They differ on details of prayer, family law and more, and all are generally accepted as legitimate.^•

Sufism. Sufism is the mystical path of Islam, seeking a direct experience of God’s love through prayer, chanting (dhikr), music and poetry. Sufi brotherhoods spread Islam across Africa and Asia, and poets like Rumi made it famous. Some Muslims, especially Salafis, criticise practices such as visiting saints’ shrines.^•

Devout to secular. Some Muslims pray five times a day and cover their hair; others fast in Ramadan but rarely go to a mosque; others are culturally Muslim but not religious at all. All of them may call themselves Muslim.^•

Converts and old communities. Islam has deep roots in the West too: in Bosnia, Albania and among the Tatars of Russia, Muslim communities are centuries old, and many of the Africans enslaved in the Americas were Muslims. In the US, African Americans, including converts inspired by figures like Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali, are a significant part of the Muslim community, and converts of every background are found throughout Europe and North America.^•

Meeting someone

Conversation starters

• Ramadan and Eid. Asking how someone is finding the fast, what they eat at iftar or how their family celebrates Eid is usually welcome. “Ramadan Mubarak” or “Eid Mubarak” are warm greetings for anyone to use.
• Food. Muslim cuisines range from Moroccan tagines to Indonesian rendang to Pakistani biryani. Everyone has a favourite family dish.
• Where their family is from. Muslims come from everywhere. Ask about the place, not about “Muslim culture” in general.
• Poetry, calligraphy, music. Rumi, qawwali, calligraphy or the beauty of a famous mosque are great openings into what people love about their heritage.^•
  • Mystical Dimensions of Islam — Annemarie Schimmel, University of North Carolina Press (1975)
  • The Art and Architecture of Islam, 1250-1800 — Sheila S. Blair and Jonathan M. Bloom, Yale University Press (1994)

Topics to approach carefully

• Terrorism. Don’t ask a Muslim to explain or condemn attacks they had nothing to do with. Most find it exhausting and hurtful.^•
  • U.S. Muslims Concerned About Their Place in Society, but Continue to Believe in the American Dream — Pew Research Center (2017)
• The Prophet. Avoid jokes about Muhammad or images of him. Even many non-practising Muslims feel strongly about this.^•
  • The Cartoons That Shook the World — Jytte Klausen, Yale University Press (2009)
• Palestine, Kashmir and other conflicts. Many Muslims have strong feelings or family ties. Listen first.
• Sunni or Shia? It’s not usually a first-meeting question, especially with people from Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Pakistan or the Gulf.^•
  • An Introduction to Shi'i Islam — Moojan Momen, Yale University Press (1985)
• Hospitality during Ramadan. Don’t press food or drink on someone who is fasting, but don’t feel you have to hide your own lunch either. Most fasting Muslims are relaxed about that.
• Personal practice. Don’t assume what someone eats, drinks, wears or believes. Ask, and accept the answer.

Common misconceptions

• “Jihad means holy war.” Jihad means “striving” or “struggle” in God’s path. Muslims commonly speak of the struggle against one’s own ego and temptations as the “greater jihad”, after a well-known saying whose authenticity scholars debate. Armed jihad exists in Islamic law, but classical law limits it to defence or legitimate war declared by proper authority, and forbids attacks on non-combatants. Terrorist groups’ use of the word is rejected by most scholars.^•
  • Islam: The Straight Path — John L. Esposito, Oxford University Press
  • Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet's Legacy — Jonathan A. C. Brown, Oneworld (2014)
  • The Oxford Dictionary of Islam — John L. Esposito (ed.), Oxford University Press (2003)
• “Allah is a different God.” Allah is the Arabic word for God, used by Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews too. Muslims believe they worship the God of Abraham, Moses and Jesus, though they understand God differently from Christians, without the Trinity.^•
  • Islam: The Straight Path — John L. Esposito, Oxford University Press
  • Islam — Encyclopaedia Britannica
• “Muslims are Arabs.” Only around a fifth of Muslims live in the Arab world. The typical Muslim is more likely to be Indonesian, Pakistani, Indian or Bangladeshi.^•
  • Islam was the world's fastest-growing religion from 2010 to 2020 — Pew Research Center (2025)
  And many Arabs are Christians.
• “Muslim women are forced to cover.” Many Muslim women wear the headscarf (hijab) by their own choice, as an act of faith and identity; many others do not cover at all. The face veil (niqab) is worn by a small minority. A few states, such as Iran, impose dress codes by law, while some Western countries, like France, restrict religious dress. Both are controversial among Muslims.^•
  • Islam: The Straight Path — John L. Esposito, Oxford University Press
  • A History of Modern Iran — Ervand Abrahamian, Cambridge University Press (2008)
  • Mahsa Amini protests — Encyclopaedia Britannica
• “Sharia just means cutting off hands.” Sharia is a broad idea of divine guidance, mostly about worship, ethics and daily life. Harsh criminal punishments exist in classical law but were hedged with strict conditions, and most Muslim-majority countries do not apply them.^•
  • An Introduction to Islamic Law — Wael B. Hallaq, Cambridge University Press (2009)
  • Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet's Legacy — Jonathan A. C. Brown, Oneworld (2014)
• “Islam was spread by the sword.” The early Arab conquests were military, but conversion in conquered lands took centuries, and the countries with the most Muslims today, such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh, became Muslim largely through traders, Sufi teachers and gradual conversion rather than conquest.^•
  • The Great Arab Conquests — Hugh Kennedy, Weidenfeld & Nicolson (2007)
  • The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization — Marshall G. S. Hodgson, University of Chicago Press (1974)
  • The Muslim Empires of the Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals — Stephen F. Dale, Cambridge University Press (2010)