قُلْ هُوَ ٱللَّهُ أَحَدٌ ﴿١﴾ ٱللَّهُ ٱلصَّمَدُ ﴿٢﴾ لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ ﴿٣﴾ وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُۥ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌۢ ﴿٤﴾
Say, "He is Allah, [who is] One, Allah, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born, Nor is there to Him any equivalent."
Short answer
Islam is the religion of submission to the one God. The word means peaceful submission to God's will. Muslims believe it is the same message that God sent through every prophet, from Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus to the last prophet, Muhammad ﷺ.
The fuller answer
A person who follows Islam is called a Muslim, which means one who submits to God. Islam has about two billion followers, one in four people on earth, in every country and from every race. Most Muslims are not Arab: the largest Muslim countries are Indonesia, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.
Islam is built on belief in one God who has no partner, no son and no equal, and on living by His guidance: prayer, charity, fasting, honesty, kindness to parents and neighbours, and justice to all people. Its source is the Quran, which Muslims believe is the word of God, and the example of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
From the Quran
Please note
This answer follows the mainstream Sunni understanding and is general learning, not a fatwa. Where Muslims differ, the answer says so. Have a question of your own? Write to us.