2. Islam is
a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion
articulated by the Qur'an, a text considered by
its adherents to be the verbatim word
of God and by the teachings and normative
example (called the Sunnah and composed
of Hadith) of Muhammad, considered by them
to be the last prophet of God. An adherent of
Islam is called a Muslim.

3. The majority of Muslims are Sunni, being 75–90% of all
Muslims. The second largest sect, Shia, makes up 10–
20%. The most populous Muslim-majority country
is Indonesia home to 12.7% of the world's Muslims
followed
by Pakistan (11.0%), Bangladesh (9.2%), and Egypt (4.9
%). Sizable minorities are also found
in India, China, Russia, and parts of Europe. With
about 1.6 to 1.7 billion followers or 22 to 24%
of earth's population,Islam is the second-largest and
one of the fastest-growing religions in the world.

4. Criticism of Islam
Criticism of Islam has existed since Islam's formative
stages. Early written criticism came from
Christians, prior to the ninth century, many of whom
viewed Islam as a radical Christian heresy. Later there
appeared criticism from the Muslim world itself, and
also from Jewish writers and from ecclesiastical
Christians.
Objects of criticism include the morality of the life
of Muhammad, the last prophet of Islam, both in his
public and personal life. Issues relating to the
authenticity and morality of the Qur'an, the Islamic
holy book, are also discussed by critics. Other
criticisms focus on the question of human rights in
modern Islamic nations, and the treatment of women
in Islamic law and practice.In wake of the
recent multiculturalism trend, Islam's influence on the
ability of Muslim immigrants in the West to assimilate
has been criticized.

5. Mainstream Islamic law does not distinguish
between "matters of church" and "matters of
state"; the scholars function as both jurists and
theologians. In practice, Islamic rulers
frequently bypassed the Sharia courts with a
parallel system of so-called "Grievance courts"
over which they had sole control. As the Muslim
world came into contact with European secular
ideals, Muslim societies responded in different
ways. Turkey has been governed as a secular
state ever since the reforms of Mustafa Kemal
Atatürk in 1923. In contrast, the 1979 Iranian
Revolution replaced a mostly secular regime
with an Islamic republic led by the Ayatollah
Khomeini.

6. PRAYER
Ritual prayers, called Ṣalāh or
Ṣalāt must be performed five
times a day. Salah is intended
to focus the mind on God, and
is seen as a personal
communication with him that
expresses gratitude
and worship. Salah is
compulsory, but flexibility in
the specifics is allowed
depending on circumstances.
The prayers are recited in
the Arabic language, and
consist of verses from the
Qur'an.

7. Five pillars
The Pillars of Islam (arkan al-Islam; also arkan ad-
din, "pillars of religion") are five basic acts in
Islam, considered obligatory for all believers.
The Qur’an presents them as a framework for worship
and a sign of commitment to the faith. They are:
(1) the shahadah (creed),
(2) daily prayers (salat),
(3) almsgiving (zakah),
(4) fasting during Ramadan and
(5) the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj) at least once in a
lifetime. The Shia and Sunni sects both agree on the
essential details for the performance of these acts.

8. In accordance with the Islamic belief
in predestination, or divine preordainment
(al-qadā wa'l-qadar), God has full knowledge
and control over all that occurs. This is
explained in Qur'anic verses such as "Say:
'Nothing will happen to us except what Allah
has decreed for us: He is our
protector'..."For Muslims, everything in the
world that occurs, good or evil, has been
preordained and nothing can happen unless
permitted by God. According to Muslim
theologians, although events are pre-
ordained, man possesses free will in that he
has the faculty to choose between right and
wrong, and is thus responsible for his
actions. According to Islamic tradition, all
that has been decreed by God is written
in al-Lawh al-Mahfūz, the "Preserved
Tablet".

9. Revelations
The Islamic holy books are the
records which most Muslims believe
were dictated by God to various
prophets. Muslims believe that parts
of the previously revealed
scriptures, the Tawrat (Torah) and
the Injil (Gospels), had
become distorted—either in
interpretation, in text, or both. The
Qur'an (literally, ―Reading‖ or
―Recitation‖) is viewed by Muslims
as the final revelation and literal
word of God and is widely regarded
as the finest piece of literature work
in the Arabic language.

10. QUIZ
The majority of Muslims are Sunni, being 75–90% of all
Muslims. T F
Criticism of Islam has existed since Islam's formative
stages. T F
The most populous Muslim-majority country
is Indonesia home to 12,2% of the world's. T F
As the Muslim world came into contact with
European secular ideals, Muslim societies
responded in different ways. T F
Salah is compulsory but flexibility in the specifics
is allowed depending on circumstances. T F