Islam

Islam, which means literally "submission", is a religion that was founded in 610 CE. In addition to being considered a guidance to personal conduct, Islam has been a powerful political ideology since its inception to this very day.

Islam has rules governing "all institutions, social, economic, political, military, civil, legal, educational, and even private affairs."

Contents

• Brief history
• Islamic fundamentalism
• References
• External links
  • Favorable
  • Critical
  • Videos

Brief history

Islam was founded by Muhammed. He claimed to be the last prophet of Allah, a name he used for the God of the Old Testament but which at the time was a local moon god, hence the crescent moon of Islam. Muhammed wrote the Koran, which he said was a holy book that existed eternally in heaven but was revealed to him by an angel of Allah. Islam claims to exist peacefully with Judaism and Christianity, claiming that Jews and Christians are "people of the book", and while certain passages in the Koran support this, others say that Jews and Christians are pagans and should be killed. Islam denies that God ever had a son or became human, saying that Jesus was a prophet, as well as denying that He ever died on a cross or otherwise, saying he ascended to heaven like Muhammed. Whereas biblical Christianity spread under heavy persecution in the Roman empire and later through the Reformation and up to the present day, Islam spread primarily by military conquest and forced conversions.

Islamic fundamentalism

Islamic fundamentalism is seen by some analysts as a global threat.

External links

• WikiPedia article on Islam

Favorable

• Islam at the British Broadcasting Corporation
• IslamOnline.net
• University of Southern California Compendium of Muslim Texts
• ReligiousTolerance on Islam

Critical

• IslamWatch
• ISLAM UNDRESSED, a book of 29 chapters available for free
• JihadWatch

Videos

• Suicide bombers holed up in mosque, 30 June 2007

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