Muslims and the Religion of Islam

Muslims and the Religion of Islam

A Muslim is a person who practices Islam. Islam is the name of the religion. Muslims sometimes claim that there is no Muslim culture, only a Muslim religion. However, people in today's world do not acknowledge this distinction since we view religion as one aspect of one's culture.

Muslim culture generally includes all the practices which have developed around the religion of Islam. Muslims are obligated to follow the practices of Islam in every detail in daily life. These practices are dictated by the Qur'an of Koran. The Muslim's sacred book, which is considered to be the final workd of God. These practices are reported to be the practices and sayings of the prophet Muhammad.

There are several cultural aspects of the Islam religion that Muslims practice. For example, there are five major tenets (pillars) in the Islam religion a Muslim is expected to follow. The first is "There is only on God (Allah) and Muhammad is the Messenger of God". The other four are the practical obligations of daily prayer, fasting, paying annual money to be distributed among the poor, and making the pilgrimage to Mecca.

Islam is considered the fastest growing religion in the world. There are approximately 1.3 billion Muslims constituting a fifth of humanity. Most are under 25. The US has an estimated 5.7 million Muslims.

Although Christianity still is the world's leading religion, Islam is a close second. Muslims wish to educate Christians in their religion. Muslims fear that with all the negative press they have received, Christians take a negative view of their religion. Muslims also believe their religion and Christianity are closely related in what they believe and why they believe it.