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Islam, along with the other major world religions, professes monotheism, or the belief in one God. The Arabic term islam, is derived from the word "salam," which is often interpreted as meaning "peace." However, it literally means "surrender" or "submission" as the better translation. One who follows the religion of Islam is called a Muslim, which in Arabic means "one who surrenders to God."

The Arabic word for God is Allah, Allah is viewed as the sole God–creator, sustainer, and restorer of the world and this refers to the same God worshipped by Christians and Jews. The most important and central teaching of Islam is that there is only one all-knowing God who created the universe. It is also taught that all Muslims are equal in God's eyes, which creates a community that welcomes and accepts all classes, races, nationalities, and religious practices.

The will of Allah, to which man must submit, is made known through the sacred scriptures, the Qur'an (Koran), which Allah revealed to his messenger, Muhammad. In 570 AD the prophet of Islam, Muhammad, was born in the city of Mecca, which at the time was the central city of the Arabian Peninsula. He lived from about 570 to 632 CE. The religion started in Mecca, when Muhammad was commanded by an Angel of God to preach. Though it is the youngest of the world's great religions, Muslims do not view it as a new religion. They belief that it is the same faith taught by the prophets, Abraham, David, Moses and Jesus. In Islam Muhammad is considered the last of a series of prophets and his message simultaneously consummates and abrogates the "revelations" attributed to these earlier prophets.

Terrorism and suicide missions have been commonly associated with the religion of Islam. The Koran does not encourage suicide missions or terrorism, and deems them to be Un-Islamic. Jihad, which the media and western culture have translated into "holy war", in Arabic actually means struggle or striving. Islam teaches it is "unholy" to start a war (though some wars are justified).

Retaining its emphasis on an uncompromisng monotheism and a strict adherence to certain essential religious practices, the religion taught by Muhammad to a small group of followers spread rapidly through the Middle East to Africa, Europe, the Indian subcontinent, the Malay Peninsula, and China. Although many sectarian movements have arisen within Islam, all Muslims are bound by a common faith and a sense of belonging to a single community. Islam is the youngest of the world's very large religions–those with over 300 million members–which include Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. Islam is the world's second largest religion with a following of over one billion people called Muslims.

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