Islam is a monotheistic religion originating with the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th-century Arab religious and political figure. The word Islam means "submission," or the total surrender of one's self to God. Islam's adherents are known as Muslims, meaning "one who submits (to God)". There are between 1 billion and 1.8 billion Muslims, making Islam the second-largest religion in the world, after Christianity. Muslims believe that God revealed the Qur'an to Muhammad, God's final prophet, and regard the Qur'an and the Sunnah (the words and deeds of Muhammad) as the fundamental sources of Islam. They do not regard Muhammad as the founder of a new religion, but as the restorer of the original monotheistic faith of Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. Islamic tradition holds that Judaism and Christianity distorted the messages of these prophets over time either in interpretation, in text, or both. Adherents are generally required to observe the Five Pillars of Islam, five duties that unite Muslims into a community. In addition to the Five Pillars, Islamic law (Sharia) has developed a tradition of rulings that touch on virtually all aspects of life and society. Almost all Muslims belong to one of two major denominations, the Sunni and Shi'a. The schism developed in the late 7th century following disagreements over the religious and political leadership of the Muslim community. Roughly 85 percent of Muslims are Sunni and 15 percent are Shi'a. The Battle of Uhud was fought on 23 March, 625 (3 Shawwal 3 AH in the Islamic calendar) at Mount Uhud, in what is now north-western Arabia. It occurred between a force from the Muslim community of Medina led by Muhammad, and a force led by Abu Sufyan from Mecca, the town from which many of the Muslims had previously emigrated ( hijra). The Battle of Uhud was the second military encounter between the Meccans and the Muslims, preceded by the Battle of Badr in 624, where a small Muslim army had defeated the larger Meccan army. Marching out from Mecca towards Medina on 11 March, 625, the Meccans desired to avenge their losses at Badr and strike back at Muhammad. The Muslims readied for war soon afterwards and the two armies fought on the slopes and plains of Uhud. Whilst heavily outnumbered, the Muslims gained the early initiative and forced the Meccan lines back, thus leaving much of the Meccan camp unprotected. As the Muslims left their assigned posts to despoil the Meccan camp, a surprise attack from the Meccan cavalry brought chaos to the Muslim ranks. Many Muslims were killed, and they withdrew up the slopes of Uhud. The Meccans did not pursue the Muslims further, but marched back to Mecca declaring victory. For the Muslims, the battle was a significant setback: although they had been close to routing the Meccans a second time, their desire for the Meccan spoils reaped severe consequences. The two armies would meet again in 627, at the Battle of the Trench. | Credit: Meadville, Pa. : Keystone View Company (edited by Durova) | 1905 Stereoscope. Original caption reads: The native mode of grinding coffee, Palestine. Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou on 21 July 1948), best known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is a British musician of Greek Cypriot and Swedish ancestry. He is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist and prominent convert to Islam. As Cat Stevens, he sold over 60 million albums around the world since the late 1960s. His albums Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Firecat were both certified as Triple Platinum by the RIAA in the United States; his album Catch Bull at Four sold half a million copies in the first two weeks of release alone, and was Billboard's number-one LP for three consecutive weeks. His songwriting has also earned him two ASCAP songwriting awards in consecutive years, for " The First Cut Is the Deepest," which has been a hit single for four different artists, and has been instrumental for others in establishing their musical careers. Stevens converted to Islam at the height of his fame in December, 1977. The following year, he adopted his Muslim name Yusuf Islam, auctioned all his guitars away for charity in 1979, and left his music career to devote himself to educational and philanthropic causes in the Muslim community. He has been given several awards for his work in promoting peace in the world, including 2003's World Award, the 2004 Man for Peace Award and the 2007 Mediterranean Prize for Peace. In 2006, he returned to pop music, with his first album of new pop songs in 28 years, entitled An Other Cup. | There are approximately 100,000 clerics in Iran and over 60,000 of them are in Qom. Most of them are theology students who have been studying there for many years, between 10-25 years on average.... Every student has to study a minimum of 25 years before he can attain the status of ‘ayatollah’, however most students spend 10 years studying in the hawza. |  | - Add {{Portal|Islam|Allah.svg}} to the See also section of Islam-related articles.
- Tag the talk pages of Islam-related articles with {{WikiProject Islam}}
- Join WikiProject Islam and list yourself as a Participant in the project.
- Attention: A list of articles needing immediate attention is available.
- Cleanup: A cleanup listing for this project is available, updated by WolterBot. More information...
- Deletion discussions: listed at Wikipedia:WikiProject Deletion sorting/Islam
- Notability: Articles with notability concerns, listed at WikiProject Notability
- Rate the Unassessed Islam articles in the Islam WikiProject.
- Requested articles: Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam, Lahore, Inc.; Ahmadiyya Movement of Islam; Prosperos
- Stubs: Islamic biography stubs, Mosque stubs, Islamic organization stubs, Quran stubs, Islam by country stubs, Islamic studies book stubs, More...
|  |
